Dakota Dailey-Harris

2012 Providence Journal Girls Outdoor Track All-State team    

The New Balance Indoor National Championships start Friday morning at the Armory in New York.  MileSplit New England will follow the accomplishments of all the athletes from the region and post updates as they become available. 

  Click on the photo for “People to Watch, Girls Jumps, 2012”.  Photo -  Chyna Ries, George Washington HS, CO, LJi – 20’5.75”.

The buzz about how good Precious Holmes really was began early this winter and continued through the indoor season. The Hillhouse, CT phenom didn’t disappoint the Reggie Lewis Center crowd at Friday night’s 25th New England Interscholastic Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The La Salle Academy girls kicked off the 25th annual New England Indoor Track & Field Championships by smashing a state record in the 4x800-meter relay. That was just the opening act for the Rhode Island contingent that made its way to the March 2 meet.

A bit of gamesmanship is underway by the coaches of prominent teams in New England. The meet rules for the New England Championships state that an athlete can only be entered in four events including relays, and several coaches have their top tier athletes slated for the maximum allowable amount. The fact that an athlete can even qualify in four events is a testament to their tremendous talent, but the likelyhood that it will actually happen is slim.

Chariho Regional put a halt to 17 straight years of dominance by Bishop Hendricken on Saturday by taking the boys’ team title at the  R.I. Interscholastic League Indoor Track and Field Championships with a 68-63 win over the runner-up Hawks.

  The class and division meets highlighted a relatively stable week in the New England rankings.  The field events took center stage this week as Dakota Dailey-Harris continues to improve on her Rhode Island state record in the high jump, and Jake Scinto begins his post-season push in the long jump.

Joseph Velez of Classical High School continues his national dominance in the weight throw.  He was joined in the national rankings by fellow Rhode Island star Dakota Daily-Harrris of La Salle Academy who cleard 5'8" in the high jump for the second time this season.

  A personal best in the 25-pound weigh throw with the nation’s No. 1 distance, a near state mark in the 55-meter dash and a back-and-forth duel for first place in the long jump.  There was a select group of Rhode Island athletes that made their way to the victory stand at the annual R.I. Classic Track & Field Invitational on Dec. 28. And the few that did certainly made their presence known inside the confines of the Providence Career and Technical Academy field house.

Several nationally ranked athletes are scheduled to compete, including the #2 and #4 400m runners in the country.