Portsmouth High boys capture first track class title in 15 years

Bielawa, Fahrney, Kluth and Maedke lead the way

Posted 6/15/21

PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth High boys’ outdoor track and field team won the Class B Championship at Conley Stadium in Providence on Sunday, its first in 15 years and fifth …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Portsmouth High boys capture first track class title in 15 years

Bielawa, Fahrney, Kluth and Maedke lead the way

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth High boys’ outdoor track and field team won the Class B Championship at Conley Stadium in Providence on Sunday, its first in 15 years and fifth overall.

The boys collecting 122 point, well ahead of second-place Classical with 91. 

Colby Fahrney took first place in the long jump (21 feet, 8.25 inches) and in the 100 meters (11.49 seconds). He took third in the 200 meters, with a time of 23.25.

“Colby Fahrney far exceeded any expectations I had for him,” said head coach Shaun Horgan. “He had a great day in long jump and an awesome day on the track. He's such a driven kid, very focused. He put up a lot of big points for our team score; that was helpful.”

Sam Bielawa won the triple jump (43 feet, 2.5 inches) and took second in the long jump (20 feet, 6.25 inches). “Sam Bielawa had a big day for us in all his events. His 43-footer in the triple was incredible. He's got a legitimate shot at that school record — 44-0, set in ’92 by Chris Edenbach,” said Mr. Horgan.

John Maedke set a new meet record in the 400 meters, with a time of 50.79 seconds. He also ran a leg on the winning 4x100 relay team — joined by Fahrney and Sam and Jack Bielawa — which set another new meet record. 

Jack Bielawa took second in the triple jump with a best leap of 41 feet, 1.75 inches. He also took third in both the 110 hurdles (17.18) and 400 (52.59).

“Jack Bielawa was scooping up points all over the place. He's a team player and a natural athlete. This was the first time he ever ran the 110 hurdles and he placed third. Assistant Coach Evan Denard worked his magic with Jack to get him up to speed quickly,” said Mr. Horgan.

Kaden Kluth had a busy day, taking second in both the 1,500 (4:01.36) and 800 (2:00.87). He joined Sam Bielawa, Maedke and Jeff Brady in coming in second in the 4x400 relay (3:39.85), and teamed up for third place in the 4x800 relay with Kluth, Brady, Wake Zani and Jae Defalco (8:48.02).

“Kaden Kluth was in top form,” said Mr. Horgan. “He placed second in the 15 and 8 but he knows what he needs to do next time. Kaden's very smart and very gritty on the track. I know he's looking at that 15 state championship, and I like his odds.”

Girls take 2nd

The lady Patriots were runners-up in the Class B championship, with South Kingston taking the top prize at Conley Stadium on Sunday.

The first-place winners were Morgan Casey, high jump, 5 feet, 5 inches; Maura Dennis, pole vault, 8 feet, 6 inches; the 4x400 relay team (Casey, Abbie Armijo, Katie Spaner and Kitty Damon), 4:12.65; and the 4x800 relay team (Damon, Katie Yalanis, Sabrina Leary and Abby Gilpin), 10:20.34.

The Patriots, who captured the Eastern Division title the previous week, totaled 132 points in finishing 18 points behind the Rebels.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.