There’s a compelling case to be made that Emily Dodge enjoyed the best day of any student-athlete in the tri-county region.
No, that doesn’t mean merely this spring or this school year. Try ever.
Hard to imagine anybody celebrating such a non-stop series of unprecedented natural highs from fitful Friday night’s sleep to Saturday all-nighter than Dodge did June 6.
By day, Dodge delivered three individual state championships for Edward Little High School, providing 30 points that were just a shade less than the mathematical margin of an authoritative team victory over Scarborough.
Dodge topped the 100-meter hurdles, triple jump and long jump, soaring roughly a foot past her seeded distance in the latter event to break Lindsey Visbaras’ school record.
“She was actually there and was the one who told me about it,” Dodge said. “It was never in my mind. I’d never jumped 17 feet before, never mind 17-10.”
Once the victory lap was complete at Thornton Academy in Saco, Dodge made the 45-minute jaunt northward on the turnpike in time for graduation ceremonies.
Oh, did we mention that Dodge was valedictorian?
“Plenty of time,” Dodge said. “I knew the schedule ahead of time. I knew I had enough time to prepare mentally for each event and even practice my speech in between.”
Time management is one of Dodge’s strengths off the track. Time and distance, working in tandem, made her a star on it.
For juggling it all with excellence and grace, Dodge backed up her status as the Sun Journal’s female indoor track and field all-area athlete of the year with the outdoor honor.
“It was a great season,” Dodge said. “There was definitely a lot of buildup to it. (Winning a state championship) was all anybody ever talked about with us. We went in with that mindset, and it definitely helped with training and being ready for that day.”
Dodge believes that the adrenaline of the day contributed to her record-shattering showing in the long jump.
“I was so pumped. That’s probably why I jumped so well. Everybody jumps about a foot more than usual at states,” Dodge said. “I saw one of my teammates PR (set a personal record) by about that much, and I knew I needed to do it, too.”
One thing Dodge didn’t rush was her college choice.
After taking courses at Bates as an EL senior and applying to several schools in the academically prestigious New England Small College Athletic Conference, Dodge settled on Middlebury College in Vermont.
A former gymnast who focused her attention on track and field in high school, Dodge will join the Panthers’ track team.
True to form, she can’t wait to get started.
“I took one day off after New Englands, and then I was training again,” Dodge said. “I’m looking forward to getting my summer workout program (from Middlebury). I’m ready.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
Brittany Bell, Poland
Emily Chase, Dirigo
Toby Crispin, Lewiston
Emily Dodge, Edward Little
Abby Downs, Edward Little
Abby Dunn, Edward Little
Allison Fereshetian, Leavitt
Katy Fitzgerald, Lisbon
Sierra Guay, Lisbon
Ashten Hackett, Edward Little
Chyla Hoitt, Edward Little
Lindsey Jacques, Jay
Tara Metzger, Lisbon
Hanna Mogensen, Edward Little
Danielle Paul, Edward Little
Amanda Peterson, Gray-New Gloucester
Karen Rice, Winthrop
Muriel Schwinn, Edward Little
Rebekah Sullivan, Lisbon
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