These 8 Newport County track and field athletes put forth MVP efforts this past season

All of the times and distances have been recorded as another high school track season went into the books. School records were broken and championships were secured.

Here are the MVPs for Newport County boys and girls track teams as selected by the head coaches of those programs:

Jason Hayes, Middletown

Junior, thrower

Hayes was the Eastern Division champion in both the shot put and discus. He also was the Class B champion in the shot put and finished second in the discus at that event.

The junior went on to place third in the discus at the state championship meet, where he also finished fourth in the shot put. He'll be the top returning thrower in the state in both events as only seniors finished ahead of him at states.

Hayes has a personal-best discus throw of 160 feet, 2 inches, which is second best in school history behind 1974 graduate Tim Barrows (163-5).

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Kate Cruikshank, Middletown

Freshman, high jumper

Cruikshank captured the freshman state championship high jump title with a leap of 4 feet, 10 inches. She also placed third in the event with a leap of 4-9 at the Class C championship meet.

She was the only freshman to qualify for the varsity state championships in the high jump, placing seventh overall. She'll be the fourth best returning high jumper in the state with three seniors ahead of her.

Kordell Tate-O'Brien, Rogers

Senior, pole vaulter

O’Brien concluded his high school career with a personal-best effort of 11 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault in the state championship meet. That left him in third place at the event.

Tate-O’Brien was the Class C pole vault champion his junior and senior seasons and captured the Eastern Division pole vault title his final year. He will compete for the Rhode Island College indoor and outdoor track and field teams.

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Katy Serth, Rogers

Senior, pole vaulter

Serth captured the pole vault in the Class C championship meet with a personal-best effort of 8 feet, 6 inches. She vaulted 8-3 in the Eastern Division championships to place third.

“She has a contagious, positive attitude, is a determined student-athlete and exhibits sportsmanship all around,” Rogers coach Tacia Bryant said. “Katy always gives it her all both on and off the field. She is always encouraging her teammates as well as her fellow competitors to strive for their best."

Carlin Phillips, Tiverton

Senior, sprinter/jumper

A novice to track and field, Phillips took to the sport right away. He placed fourth in the long jump at the Class C championship meet with a leap of 19 feet, 8 inches. He also finished among the top 10 in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the same meet.

“Carlin Phillips has extraordinary potential in track and field,” Tiverton coach John DiGangi said. “This season was his first season ever competing in track, and he definitely made a name for himself.”

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Ellery Pacheco, Tiverton

Freshman, middle distance/distance

Pacheco, also a cross country runner and basketball player, was on the cusp of earning her team points in both the 800 and 1,500 meters at both the Class C championship meet and at the Eastern Division championship meet.

In the division event, she finished seventh in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 46.55 seconds and eighth in the 1,500 with a time of 5:36.33. She bettered both her times in the class meet, where she placed eighth in the 800 (2:40.91) and ninth in the 1,500 (5:27.66)

“Ellery has a bright future ahead of her, and it will be exciting to watch her grow as an athlete,” Tiverton coach John DiGangi said.

Kaden Kluth, Portsmouth

Senior, middle distance/distance

Kluth, who will be competing in cross country and track and field at American University beginning in the fall, leaves Portsmouth as the school record holder in the 800 meters (1 minute, 51.49 seconds), the 1,500 (3:56.35) and the 3,000 (8:50.3).

He was the New England champion in the 800 (1:52.48) and placed seventh (1:51.73) in the event at the New Balance national meet.

“Kaden was determined to put himself on an elite level at the 800-meter distance,” Portsmouth coach Shaun Horgan said. “He worked tirelessly all year long, steadily improving. It's been really satisfying to see all his efforts pay off with these outstanding performances.”

Morgan Casey, Portsmouth

Junior, high jumper

Casey took up high jumping competitively in the final dual meet of the 2021 outdoor season. She won that event and three days later won the Eastern Division title. Next came the Class B crown and that was followed by the state championship.

This past season, Casey set a school record in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches. She repeated as outdoor champ in both the division and class meets, then won a second straight state championship with another 5-8 effort. The junior went on to win the New England title with a jump of 5-7.

Casey placed seventh at the New Balance national meet with another 5-8 effort. It was the only event all season that she didn’t win. She is two inches shy of the state record set by La Salle’s Dakota Daily Harris in 2012 as she enters her final high school season.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: RI high school track and field: Newport County MVPs