'It's a big community.' Franklin High track and field throwers set state records

FRANKLIN – Prepare to struggle. Prepare to start over. Prepare to ... stink.

Go back to the days of pop-up soccer goals and T-ball.

“It’s like learning to walk again,” says Lily DeForge.

The Franklin senior is a state record holder. She will continue her track and field career in college. Same for Darby Nicholson, Liz Hopkins and Sarah Dumas. Their heaves have put Panther throwers front and center even while they compete far away from the track – and the action.

They represent the “and field” portion of a meet. And people are noticing.

“Most people are over watching the track and the jumping events and when you see parents coming over, it’s always a big deal,” said Hopkins, last year’s javelin Meet of Champions winner who is headed to UMass-Amherst. “Because usually we’re kind of ignored.

“But I think Franklin as a whole has gotten so much better at becoming one team.”

Franklin's throwers set two state records on the final week of April and Hopkins set a javelin school mark at the State Relays. DeForge, Hopkins and Nicholson took down a 45-year-old record in the shot put while Hopkins, DeForge and Dumas broke an eight-year-old standard in the javelin.

Ella Chandaria joined Hopkins and Nicholson to place second in the discus. Any anonymity has dissipated.

“Some people don’t know what a shot put or a discus is – they're like, ‘oh, is that that Frisbee thing?’” said DeForge. “But when we’re getting this recognition: ‘hey, great job the other day; we saw what you did.’ It’s really nice to be seen in the community and feel recognized.”

“We’ve become a really well-known group, at least on our team,” said Nicholson, who is headed to Bates College. “Throwers may be overshadowed on other teams but (head coach Paul) Trovato gives us a lot of love. We’re also close with teams from other towns. We’ve hung out with them outside of track. It’s a big community.”

This throwing society – which also includes Allie Brown, Maeve Rolston and Kyra McSweeney – started with an awkward throwback, however.

'You're going to stink at this event'

DeForge and Hopkins played varsity soccer as well at Franklin High. Dumas and Chandaria are known as sprinters and hurdlers.

“Almost all of them came into Franklin High thinking another sport was their top sport and we turned them into throwers,” said throwing coach Mark Rudolph. “A lot of kids today in the age of specialization forget about track and field. (There’s) explosion; athletic movement; quickness; power – all the things you need in any other sport.”

But the transition can be difficult.

“The biggest misconception is everybody thinks that you have to bench press a house to be a good thrower, and the throws are leg events,” said Rudolph, who is brutally honest with his new throwers. “I tell them, just to make things clear: you are going to stink at this event. And the reason is, they’ve never done it before.”

DeForge remembers.

“You have to be open to failing,” the Holy Cross signee said, “because the first six months or so, it’s going to feel weird in your hand; it’s not going to come naturally.”

“Freshman year if you told me,” said Nicholson, “I was going to be committed to college for track and field, for this specifically, I would be blown away. I will be the first to say, I was not very good my freshman year.”

Dumas is a three-time All-American and has won nearly a dozen state titles, mostly as a hurdler, jumper or pentathlete. The UPenn-bound standout also throws the javelin and shot put. And, yes, there were throwing pains.

“There’s definitely a lot of things that I didn’t immediately pick up,” she said. “Javelin is probably the most form-based thing I do and it’s important to get out here and practice that. You can only do so much with strength (conditioning). Technique rally comes into play; you plateau if you don’t work on that.”

Panther trio takes down long-standing state record

DeForge, Hopkins and Nicholson had long set their sights on the shot put record at the MSTCA Division 1 State Relays, which were held in Franklin on April 28. Nicholson did, anyhow.

“We had known going into this meet that we wanted to beat this record,” she said. “I actually did the math for it a few months back.”

The mark of 106 feet, 6 inches was set in 1979. The trio fell a few feet short on their first round of throws.

“It sounds really scary at first,” Nicholson said. “That’s a big number for shot put. But I knew it was doable.”

DeForge and Hopkins had strong final throws, as did Nicholson, setting a new mark of 108-5.

“The second that the shot put left my hand, I knew that we had the record,” Nicholson said. “I got out of the circle screaming and hugging Lily. It was electrifying!”

DeForge, the school record-holder in the event, said the victory “set the tone for the day.”

But the feat did not come easy. All that work the Franklin throwers do – off to the side on the other side of the track – paid off. It’s a long walk from the school. And a long way from where they started.

“It was,” DeForge said, “years in the making.”

Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin throwers set state track and field records at Div. 1 Relays