BURRILLVILLE – A name was added to a banner acknowledging outstanding athletic achievement in the Burrillville High School gymnasium last week, with a ceremony that marked a special generational accomplishment for one Burrillville family.
Mackenzie Cleary’s name was added to the list of track & field/cross country state champions during a ceremony at the school between the varsity and junior varsity games on Friday, Oct. 11. Cleary won the state title with her javelin throw at the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Championship at Conley Stadium in Providence in June, breaking the previous school record in the sport.
Track & Field Coach Erin LaFauci spoke at the event, and among those in attendance was another Bronco athlete whose name hangs on the gymnasium wall: Cleary’s father.
Kevin Cleary won the Rhode Island Championship and was named “most outstanding wrestler,” at the state tournament in 1994.
The proud father wore a t-shirt bearing his daughter’s track & field number, 23, and nickname, “Kenzie,” as he once again watched the Cleary name added to the permanent record of those making Bronco athlete history.
The younger Cleary was a junior on the BHS girls’ outdoor track and field team when she won the state title for javelin with a personal best throw of 120 feet, eight inches. The throw beat Cleary’s own best by almost 9 1/2 feet, and was some 4 1/2 feet beyond the contest’s runner-up.
The school’s previous girls record for javelin of 117 feet was set by Samantha Prario in 2019.
Cleary also placed fifth at the New England Championship at the University of New Hampshire and went onto the National Championship at the University of Pennsylvania. Now a senior, Cleary was chosen for the the All-State Track & Field Team in July.
She also plays volleyball, winning the Division III state championship with that team last year.
On Friday, Cleary’s name was just the second to mark the school’s Cross Country/Track & Field banner, placed below Karlee Cournoyer, who won the state meet for the triple jump in 2018.
And now, the BHS dome holds not one, but two State Championship banners bearing the Cleary name, hung 30 years apart.
