With buses not starting on frigid morning, Medway delivers D-S to Tri-Valley track meet

Plumbers and Triple-A thrived. Not so bus drivers.

This weekend’s Arctic chill put an immovable event in jeopardy – and sent coaches, athletes and athletic directors scrambling.

The Tri-Valley League Showcase indoor track and field meet represents the only time all 12 member schools can compete against each other. Because another meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury was scheduled directly after, Saturday’s 9 a.m. start was non-negotiable.

And when bus engines refused to turn over on a minus-10-degree morning, the drive into the city from the Interstate 495 belt proved impossible for some and required teamwork and carpooling for others.

Bellingham, Holliston and Millis completed the commute with few problems. Norton, Dedham and most of Norwood’s team never arrived. Hopkinton’s buses would not start forcing the Hillers to make the drive with their own vehicles.

The same scenario happened at Dover-Sherborn: dead buses.

Medway, on its fourth bus of the morning, gave D-S life, forming a de facto mixed-school relay for a lift to the meet.

“They came by and saved the day,” said D-S coach Maura Bennett. “It was really a true act of sportsmanship.”

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Bennett, after enduring power loss and a lack of heat at her house, arrived at the school just prior to a scheduled 7:15 a.m. departure. But there was no bus to shuttle the 44 athletes to the meet, forcing students and coaches to wait in their vehicles to stay warm.

With Dover-Sherborn athletic director Emily Sullivan in contact with other TVL ADs via a text chain, Medway’s Jeff Parcells threw D-S a lifeline. But only after Medway had its own issues.

A first bus did not start, sending a driver back to Norfolk to try a backup, but that broke down on the way back to Medway. A different driver picked up Medway’s team of 25 athletes at the school, but because that vehicle would not go any faster than 25 mph, a fourth bus met the Mustangs in Millis along Route 109.

By this time, Parcells had told D-S that a little more than 20 seats were available if anyone required a ride. D-S, meanwhile, began making other plans: Some parents shuttled athletes into Roxbury, which left fewer than half of the 44-member team in need of a ride.

“Hey, we’re going to be coming down 109 if you want us to pick you up,” Parcells told the Raiders, who gladly – and gratefully – accepted.

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Bennett hurried the team onto the bus, which was welcoming in more than one way.

“It was nice and toasty,” she said.

“It was great that we were able to help somebody else out,” Parcells, Medway's AD, said. “It was one of those days that was very challenging. I can’t give enough credit to our (bus) company that we use (Holmes Transportation). They were just great.”

After trying 10 buses, Hopkinton carpools to meet

Roughly 13 miles from Dover-Sherborn High, Hopkinton – with 38 boys and 36 girls awaiting a lift – was having its own problems.

The Hillers’ bus driver, Charlie Oberg, rose at 4 a.m. in order to start his own vehicle and was at the school before sunrise working with a mechanic to try and get a bus engine to turn over. They tried 10 of them.

None worked.

Plan B. Medway offered to help, but the series of breakdowns stifled that idea.

Plan C. Athletes who had early events drove themselves and Hopkinton head coach Jean Cann loaded up her minivan. The meet started on time, with many athletes from different schools dashing into the Reggie Lewis Center for an abbreviated warm-up.

“It was just this big collaborative effort to try and get everybody there,” Cann said. “It was a little hectic, but I think their adrenaline was all going and they were wide awake by the time we got there.”

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The Medway/D-S bus arrived at 8:55 a.m. Five minutes to spare but little time to prepare.

“We ran off the bus right when the meet started,” Medway coach Andy Nassiff said.

The haste during warm-ups caused Medway junior Camellia Meredith to trip over a hurdle and scrape her leg and elbow. But moments later, she placed fourth in the 55-meter hurdles. Jaina Campbell and Izzy Basso also ran hurdles after, as Nassiff said, “departing a cold bus and a harrowing ride.”

Campbell placed fifth and later third in the long jump. Meredith finished second in the high jump.

Hillers win both TVL titles

Hopkinton won both the boys’ and girls’ team titles, although without a fourth of the teams at the meet, “there’s a little asterisk there,” Cann said. “Norton has some phenomenal individuals. I think we’re a deeper team, but with just six people scoring and (if there were) 12 teams there, that could have tipped the scales.”

The Hiller girls totaled 107 points to outdistance Westwood (82), Holliston (69) and Medway (51). Hopkinton junior Loryn Canty won the 55-meter dash and the shot put, an event where three of her teammates (Marissa Smith, Shelby Jones and Maura Souza) placed 3-4-5. Elyse Srodawa and Autumn Tumbleton finished 1-2 in the 2-mile as did Ellie Driscoll and Kiley Locke in the 55 hurdles.

Hopkinton’s boys finished with 117 points, ahead of Holliston (68) and D-S (42). Sean Golembiewski was a triple winner for the Hillers, winning the 55 dash and hurdles, plus the high jump. Hopkinton placed six of the top seven in the hurdles. Craig Salois and Stephen Leighton placed 1-2 in the 2-mile. Leo Shimmura won the long jump and Kavin Prasanna won the shot put.

Kevin Rooney won the mile for D-S and also chased down Hopkinton’s final runner to win the 4x400. Owen Comiskey won the 600.  Dylan Rogers and William Lombard teamed up with Rooney and Comiskey in the 4x4.

When the meet ended, Medway again provided a ride for Dover-Sherborn. Upon arriving back at school at 2 p.m., Bennett discovered that – because of the chaotic departure – she did not shut off her car’s ignition, leaving it running the entire time.

The good news?

“It was like a sauna in there,” she said.

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: Medway helps stranded Dover-Sherborn track and field team get to meet