[ccfic caption-text format="plaintext"]
Boasting an undefeated spring season, Dover-Sherborn Regional High School track and field team (both boys and girls) have secured the Tri-Valley League Small championship.
“It has been an amazing season, all around,” said enthused DS head coach Maura Bennett. “This spring our runners, jumpers and throwers worked so hard and as the cliché goes, ‘they left it all out on the field.’” All, that is, except for the coveted TVL Small champion trophy, which the proud DS track and field team will be bringing home.
At TVL dual meets, athletes compete individually, but also accumulate points toward a team win. Highest total point winners for DS during the season for the boys were Danny Bennett, Tylan Mendes, Spencer Robbins, Oliver Fried, Owen Searle, Jacob Robin and Erik Linden. For the girls, top point-earners included Emma Lesser, Sophia Cutler, Tatum Evans, Caitlin Britt, Merritt Sullivan and Sabrina Doyle.
Girls 4x400 relay team – Jillian Davis, Caroline Gray, Caitlin Britt and Tatum Evans will compete in the 4x400 meter relay for DS at Division IV states. Photos by DS Athletics
Highlights from the DS track and field season include Erik Linden’s record time of 4:21.35, for the fastest one-mile in TVL history, which also qualified him for Division IV state championships.
Joining Linden at states for DS are Brooks Burt, who will compete in the 110 meter hurdles, Owen Searle, Oliver Fried and Jacob Robin (qualified to compete in the 800 meter run). Searle and Fried will also join Linden in both the one-mile and two-mile runs.
Danny Bennett has qualified to compete at Division IV states in the javelin throw. Photos by DS Athletics
In field events, Danny Bennett qualified to compete at states in the javelin throw, while Spencer Robbins and Jacob Brown qualified in the long jump. Two relay teams qualified to compete in the 4x100 meter relay: the team of Angus Goodearl, Tylan Mendes, Robbins and Brooks Walsh, as well as the team of Goodearl, Aidan Brit, Robbins and Walsh. In the 4x400 meter relay, the team of Jacob Robin, Searle, Fried and Linden qualified to compete. The team of Searle, Fried, Robin and Linden also qualified to compete in the 4x800 meter relay.
For the DS girls, Sophia Cutler qualified to compete at states in the 100-meter dash. Emma Lesser will compete in the 100 hurdles while Tatum Evans qualified to run in both the 200 and 400-meter dash. Caroline Gray and Caitlin Britt earned qualifying times to compete in the one-mile run.
In field events, Sophia Cutler will compete in the discus throw. Amanda Borden qualified to compete in the high jump while Sabrina Doyle will compete in the javelin throw. Both Lesser and Cutler qualified in the long jump and Lesser also qualified to compete in the triple jump. The relay team of Cutler, Lizzy Jenkins, Riona Crowley and Rachel DaSilva qualified for the 4x100 meter relay. The relay team of Jillian Davis, Gray, Britt and Evans qualified for the 4x400 meter relay and two different relay teams qualified to compete in the 4x800 meter relay: Davis, Merritt Sullivan, Gray and Britt, as well as the team of Davis, Gray, Virginia Borths and Caitlin Britt.
For DS track and field athletes competing in the postseason, training continues.
After a recent track workout, head coach Bennett asked team members gathered around: “Are you tired? Are your muscles sore? Do you feel like you left it all on the track?” The athletes breathed hard, stretched, grinned, and nodded. “Good,” Bennett responded with a proud, satisfied smile, “that is how you should feel after a track workout, and it will pay off in your upcoming races”
