Robbins wins 400m at Middle School Track Championships

Johnston School Committee member Gena Bianco and her husband Dan Robbins stood near the finish line at the recent Rhode Island Middle School Track and Field Championships, nervously awaiting a frantic finish in the 400-meter event.

Four upstart runners – who were in search of that coveted crown – were running neck-and-neck and the race, as Robbins tells it: “Was simply too close to call.”

The couple’s daughter, Bianca Robbins, was among the best in the field and from the finish line through turn four dug down deep. She turned on the jets to pull away from the pack for good on the home stretch and was the first runner to scoot across the finish line.

Bianca Robbins had an impressive time of 62.84 seconds, which was 1.12 seconds better than runner-up Isis Hamlin (63.96 seconds) from Westerly Middle School.

Christine McPhillips of Narragansett Middle School took third in 64.62 seconds while Aliya Barrows of St. Mary’s Academy-Bay View was fourth in 65.17 seconds. Sadie Lafleur of Lincoln Middle School took fifth in 65.31 seconds and Martine Rizzo completed the top-six finishers in 65.73 seconds.

For Bianca Robbins, her first-place finish in 62.84 seconds was both a personal best and the best overall time in the state recorded in the highly competitive 400 meters.