GLOCESTER -- Shortly before Jeanne Mack and Jean Christiansen took the starting line yesterday, their coach offered some final words of advice.

"Forget about the competition," La Salle coach Kelly Martin told them. "Run for yourselves and run for the team."

With that, the Ram teammates not only forgot about the competition, they blew it away.

Her lead never challenged, Mack cruised to victory with a time of 18:43.88 in the Girls Class A race of the R.I. Interscholastic League's Cross Country Class Championships, held yesterday on Ponaganset's Covered Bridge Trail.

Christiansen followed in second place in 18:56.88.

Both helped pace La Salle to a runner-up team finish behind North Kingstown in the Rams' first year competing in Class A.

"I just wanted them to go out there and run the best they possibly can," said Martin. "And they went out and achieved that. I gave them mile times to hit, and they hit them perfectly."

North Kingstown, meanwhile, captured its seventh-straight Class A title with a team total of 29 points, good for a 25-point margin of victory over the Rams.

Coming off a strong first-place finish at the Brown Invitational last weekend and keeping an eye toward next week's State Meet and the New England Championships the week after that, the Skippers say they took a conservative approach.

Running in a tight pack, as the team is known to do, North Kingstown placed five runners in the top eight, led by Siobahn Breagy, who took third in 19:51.15.

Coventry sophomore Kaitlyn Grimshaw squeezed in behind her to grab fourth in 19:51.64, but was closely followed by Skippers Mary Najarian (5th in 19:52.09), Erin Brennan (6th in 19:52.67), Caitlin Crawford (7th in 19:55.07) and Allison Stasiuk (8th in 19:58.78).

"We knew (La Salle) was going out fast. We knew they were going for it," said Breagy, a senior co-captain. "But we didn't panic. With our times this season, we were confident enough to be patient and stick to our plan. We worked well as a team. Everyone was working off of each other, and when we got to the first steep downhill, we just let our strides go and caught up with La Salle's No. 3 and 4 runners."

Cranston West placed third (82 points) behind Nicole Cocozza's ninth-place finish (20:02.59), edging defending state champion Coventry by one point.

In the Class B race, Westerly senior Emily Doucette strayed from her initial plan, but nevertheless came away with a victory in 19:54.60.

"Because of the wind, I was supposed to draft behind a runner, but once the gun goes off your instinct is to just go, so that's what I did," she said. "Then I just tried to work the hills. The wind was pretty bad, but it can't compare to those hills."

The Bulldogs also claimed the Class B team title, as Mackenzie Ferreira, Katie Mangano and Victoria Lima placed 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively, and Lindsay Blitz took 11th.

Amanda Hallworth, Annie McCarthy and Susan O'Connell placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively, behind overall winner Rachel Graham of Ponaganset (20:36.20) in pacing East Greenwich to the Class C crown.

La Salle won the Jayvee title behind freshman Colleen Kenna's winning time of 20:35.87.

CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores 1, N. Kingstown 29; 2, La Salle 54; 3, Cr. West 82; 4, Coventry 83; 5, S. Kingstown 139; 6, Cumberland 176; 7, E. Providence 183; 8, Cr. East 260; 9, Pilgrim 295; 10, Classical 297; 11, Tolman 317; 12, Woonsocket 340.

Individual results

1, Jeanne Mack, LS 18:43.9; 2, Jean Christensen, LS 18:56; 3, Siobhan Breagy, NK 19:51.1; 4, Kaitlyn Grimshaw, Cov. 19:51.6; 5, Mary Najarian, NK 19:52.1; 6, Erin Brennan, NK 19:52.7; 7, Caitlin Crawford, NK 19:55; 8, Allison

Stasiuk, NK 19:58; 9, Nicole Cocozza, CW 20:02; 10, Sydney Lopes, LS 20:10; 11, Anne Monagle, EP 20:14; 12, Alexa Mazur, NK 20:16; 13, Meghan Pinksaw, LS 20:19; 14, Cassie Clarke, CW 20:22; 15, Eryn Wheeler, Cov. 20:30; 16, Hope Nelson, SK 20:36; 17, Samantha Eagleson, Cov. 20:39; 18, Allysa DeQuattro, CW 20:42; 19, Michaela Morgan, Cumb. 20:42; 20, Haley Mathewson, CW 20:43; 21, Kathryn Lynch, NK 20:54.

CLASS B CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores 1, Westerly 27; 2, Lincoln 93; 3, Bay View 94; 4, Toll Gate 110; 5, Portsmouth 120; 6, Barrington 133; 7, Chariho 146; 8, N. Providence 239; 9, Warwick 245; 10, W. Warwick 278.

Individual results

1, Emily Doucette, West. 19:54.6; 2, Stephanie Beaudette, BV 20:09; 3, Melissa Hurley, Char. 20:48; 4, Mackenzie Ferreira, West. 20:52; 5, Katie Mangano, West. 20:56; 6, Vikki Lima, West. 20:57; 7, Christina Nelson, BV 21:04; 8, Kristen Raymond, Linc. 21:11; 9, Alyssa O'Connor, Port. 21:16; 10, Christen Scanlon, Barr. 21:22; 11, Lindsay Blitz, West. 21:22; 12, Marielle Battistoni, Linc. 21:23; 13, Danielle Palms, BV 21:24; 14, Erin Gardner, TG 21:32; 15, Michon Dinwoodie, West. 21:42; 16, Bridgette Murphy, West. 21:43; 17, Caroline Belshe, Linc. 21:54; 18, Chloe Troia, Barr. 21:56; 19, Heather Feeney, TG 21:57; 20, Caitlyn Grant, WV 22:00.0; 21, Sarah Morton, Barr. 22:00.4.

CLASS C CHAMPIONSHIPS Team scores

1, E. Greenwich, 24; 2, Smithfield 64; 3, Prout 105; 4, Ex./W. Greenwich 121; 5, Mount St. Charles 141; 6, Ponaganset 185; 7, N. Smithfield 207; 8, Narragansett 225; 9, Middletown 235; 10, St. Raphael 270; 11, Burrillville 284; 12, Rog

ers 329; 13, Davies 360.

Individual results

1, Rachel Graham, Pon. 20:36.2; 2, Amanda Hallworth, EG 21:05; 3, Annie McCarthy, EG 21:17; 4, Susan O'Connell, EG 21:21; 5, Theresa Donohue, MSC 21:27; 6, Alayna Beebe, Prout 21:28; 7, Spencer Dean, EG 21:29; 8, Jen Belden, EG 21:36; 9, Brittany Davis, EWG 21:38; 10, Kim Piccoli, Smith. 21:43.3; 11, Alexandra Blais, NS 21:43.6; 12, Kathryn Cote, Smith. 21:57.2; 13, Amanda Matteo, Smith. 21:57.5; 14, Nicole Rozzzero, Smith. 21:58; 15, Katie Meinertz, Smith. 21:59; 16, Brile Anderson, EG 22:02; 17, Caroline Capuano, Smith. 22:08; 18, Caroline Ward, EWG 22:22; 19, Alyse Galoski, Smith. 22:25; 20, Hayley Sullivan, EG 22:26; 21, Casandra Archambault, EWG 22:27. Dist. 3.1 miles.

Distance -- 3.1 miles.

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