The oval at Dickinson Stadium, in Newton, is a lyric little bandbox of a track facility. It is surrounded by the gray concrete steps of the stadium rising up to the unseen Hull Street, above, and by the red brick of the dark, leaky, and prematurely aged Newton North to the West. Surprisingly, the landscape does little to block the wind which inevitably swoops down from West Newton Hill and over the school, and makes the backstraight seem 150 meters long. The track was built in 1972 and is scheduled for demolition in June. It offers, as do most Newton public projects, an example of a fine facility in its time left to decay untended while new, fancier facilities are being contemplated.
Well, enough of that, and sincere apologies to John Updike.
Yesterday, Newton North teams bade farewell to the old track in the usual way, by running, jumping, and throwing better than their rivals. The Tiger girls won all the events against the Needham team and walked away with a 119-17 win. The boys were just about as dominant, as they scored a 114-22 win over the Rockets. There's a good article in the Daily Tribune that gives details
Victory Lap: North teams land BSC titles
By the way, one of the things I'm going to miss is the quirky way that the boys team reports performances to the newspaper, i.e., from memory. As a result, times, distances, and heights sometimes go through a transformation process on their way from the score sheets to the press. Future historians will have to sort it all out.
One highlight of yesterday's meet was seeing senior Alex Polizzotti break 5:00 for the mile for the first time. Polizzotti ran like a man on a mission, pressing the pace on the third lap and then giving it his all in the final lap. It paid off, as he finished third in 4:57.6. Alex will probably get one more chance, as his performance yesterday means he will compete in the league meet Saturday.
For the record, when Kat Chiong took the baton on the anchor leg of the 4x400 relay, she became the final Newton North runner to compete in a varsity race on the old track.
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6 comments:
Congratulations to Alex......after an epic 3 year battle with the 5 minute mile finally breaking it must have been among the most satisfying accomplishments ever to take place on the north track. I wish i could have been there to see it.
Kat is a fitting kid to run the last lap on the track, one of the many elite kids that have graced North's track. I wonder if JT considered that when he put his relay together. If he did, he really thinks ahead of the curve.
actually, i think that kat requested to run the anchor leg. she deserved it though.
this is kinda sad. it brings back a lot of memories though..
as much as I'll miss the track the outdoor season in MA is so awful weather-wise . . . and the track hasn't been resurfaced in who knows how long (1990ish ?) . . . its more like euthanasia than anything else. Its too bad there were no facility records kept - many good meets have held there.
My first win, however, was at the 'Dick . . . 400 against Wellesley in 1996. My goodness I'm old.
I'm excited for a new track that will finally be on the same level as the amazing NNHS athletes that run on it.
the SOA is another story . . . I'll cry the day the wrecking comes to the back stairways.
You mean you'll cry from joy...right?? The SOA is probably the worst part of the 'old' NNHS building.
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