Veteran group leads Scarlet Hawks this spring

By Chris Villani

It wasn’t long ago when the Milford High boys’ 4x100 relay team was trying to post a sub-48 second time in the event. This year, they are trying to run sub-43 seconds, a huge improvement for such a short race. The Scarlet Hawks have broken school records in both relays, the 100-meter dash, the high hurdles, and at least two other records were in serious jeopardy heading into the state meet.

“This is a talented team, they have completely rewritten the record book,” said Head Coach Dan Gordon, noting that the 4x100 record broken this year was set back in 1994, well before any of the athletes on this year’s team were born.

John Arruda crouches at the starting line during a recent meet. Courtesy photo

 MHS won the Hockomock League meet in the 4x400 event and finished second in the 4x100. 

Team captain Shawn Pierce is the MVP for Milford this year. He set a school record in the dash this year and has also been a key cog in the sprint relay. 

“He is the energy of this team, you just can’t help but want to be around Shawn,” Gordon said. “He’s just such an awesome kid.”

In the 400, John Arruda has been a standout and blossomed into an elite talent, his coach said. Joining him in the middle distance race are Taylor Feliciano and Sami Ettahari. Feliciano is a consistent runner, Gordon said, and Ettahari is a freshman who has, in his coach’s words, “blown us away” with his ability to compete.

“If he gets the baton and we are not winning, you know by the home stretch, he is going to make it a good race,” Gordon said. “He is someone we are really excited about.”

Arruda, Feliciano, Ettahari, and Pierce make up Milford’s 4x400 relay team. The 4x100 team includes Jarrett Brown, who also qualified for states in the triple jump. 

Aloiye Okhipo qualified for states in the 200-meter dash and the hurdles after capturing a league title in the latter event. He was the number two hurdler in the state heading into the meet and a threat to win it all.

In the throwing events, Liam Sweeney improved by more than 20 feet in the javelin to earn a spot at states. Alex Kerr and Aidan Eastman qualified in the discus, and Sean Mairs earned a spot in the 400-meter run. Distance runner Jayden Madden showed significant improvement this year, with Gordon calling it a “resurgence.”

“He totally changed his approach,” the coach said. “He became a student of the sport.”

While depth has prevented the Scarlet Hawks from winning many dual meets, Milford has shown it has as much top-end talent as anyone.

“We went toe-to-toe with a lot of teams that, in previous years, just totally destroyed us,” Gordon said.