Dodgers Track Looking Forward to a Bright Future

While the 2010 Madison Dodgers boys track team was having its best season since 2004, earning its first .500 record in six years, the 2010 girls track team faced a rebuilding season after losing a strong core of seniors from last season – but both teams are looking forward to continued improvement next season after seeing younger athletes improve this year.

Girls coach Cathy O'Brien acknowledged that the 2010 season would be a struggle from the beginning. Last season the girls were undefeated and won the state sectional title, but all of the Madison point scorers from that meet graduated.

This year, the Dodgers girls squad was looking for younger athletes to step up to fill the holes left by their predecessors.

"Natasha Nikodijevic continuously improved throughout the season to really help out our team in the jumps and sprints.  She has a tremendous work ethic and her efforts definitely paid off," said O'Brien.

The biggest success this year for the Madison girls was Casey Reeve's North 2, Group II State Sectional Championship in the Javelin, with a personal best throw of 109 feet, 3 inches.

The boys had a number of successes in 2010. Besides going 3-3 for their first .500 record in six years, the team broke a number of records along the way.

Two records were broken at the Millburn Invitational Relays, with Carter Buxton, Kyle Flyer, Greg Zitelli, and Jack Mahoney combining their efforts in the distance medley relay to break a 20-year old Madison High School record by 10 seconds.

"I feel that Carter Buxton put together an outstanding senior season…he really stepped up to solidify our school record setting distance medley relay," said boys head coach Kevin Carroll.

Aaron Shinn and Chris Conley also combined at the meet to set a new school record of 21 feet, 6 inches in the pole-vault relay. Buxton and Shinn also broke a record with stand-out all-around athlete R.J. Graddy in the triple jump. Graddy also broke his own triple jump record this season, and Flyer, Zitelli, Mahoney, and Doug Capuder broke another 20-year old record for the 4x800 meter event.

Shinn, a junior, was the lone Dodger to make it to the Meet of Champions, where he took fourth place in the pole-vault with a jump of 13 feet, 6 inches. He took second at the Group II meet in the event, and was joined by Kyle Flyer, who took sixth in the 800, Jack Mahoney with a fourth place finish in the 1600, and RJ Graddy with a third place finish in the triple jump.

Graddy, Mahoney, and Shinn will be returning next season to improve on their performances from the 2010 season, and to combine their efforts with some more up-and-coming Dodger athletes in an attempt to improve on this season's successes.

"We are looking forward to next year with a strong nucleus returning. Conor Reeve, Nick Haobj, Nick Foulke and Spencer Koppenol -- we are looking for big things from," said Carroll.

Both the Dodgers boys and girls track teams may be looking at a strengthened team over the next couple years, although they will be losing stand-out athletes like Caroline Miller and Kyle Flyer, many of the team leaders will be back next year.