By BOB LEDDY
R.I. Track & Field Foundation
It’s official: Classical High senior Maddy Berkson will attend Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in the fall. She will receive a partial scholarship.
“I’m excited,’’ said Berkson, who also visited Yale, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown. She visited Stanford in September.
“My first impression [of Stanford] was this big, spacious campus. The facilities are incredible. I’d been thinking about it for a while: Where to go to school? It’s a great opportunity, a great adventure. The [track] team is amazing,’’ Berkson said of the Cardinal program, which is directed by Chris Miltenberg. “A lot of people on the team I’d been closely following. I was completely in awe.
“I’m interested in the sciences, biology in particular [Stanford] has that,’’ she contiunued. “They’ve got Computer Languages, and it’s right near the Silicon Valley."
The experience?
“It was a pretty fun process to go through; meeting different coaches,’’ Berkson said. “A little stressful, but all very exciting.’’
Since her freshman year, Berkson has provided plenty of excitement on the local and regional track scene. A thoroughly protean athlete, Berkson excelled at middle and long distances, and events such as the indoor 600 meters, and 400-meter sprints as part of Classical relay teams. She tackled field events with similar elan. Her best javelin distance in the outdoor season was 111 feet (33.83 meters). Indoors, she posted a long jump mark of 19 feet, ¼ inch (5.80 meters), three inches shy of a state record that has stood for 28 years.
A notable “triple’’
At last February’s State Indoor Championships on the PCTA oval, Berkson showed a capacity crowd the measure of her talent. She captured all three distance events (1000, 1500 and 300 meters) and anchored the Purple’s second-place 4x400 relay. Her 38 points propelled Classical to a first-place team tie with La Salle.
Indoors, Berkson currently holds three Rhode Island records, and one New England mark (2:06.67 in the 800 meters). Her state standards are in the 400 meters (56.30 at the New Balance Nationals in New York City); the 3000 (9:53.34 at the Yale Invitational). She also established a R.I. record for the mile on an over-sized track (4:50.50 at the Brooks Invitational in Seattle, WA). At last March’s New England Indoor Championship on the banked Reggie Lewis track, Berkson took the regional 1000-meter crown.
Records-wise, Berkson currently holds two in outdoor track: a 4:27.92 in the 1500 (at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina), and a 2:08.40 800, which she clocked at the same North Carolina venue. Next spring, she will defend her state 1500-meter title (4:34.27), and her New England title in the 800.
Early indicator of things to come
As a freshman, Berkson made it clear to track fans that she would be a formidable presence on the oval. She won the ‘11 State Indoor 1500 in 4:52.69, and went 3:02.12 to take the 1000; in both cases beating La Salle’s talented junior, Madison Meehan. She finished second in the 1000 meters that season at the New England meet (2:57.74). After finishing second in the state indoor 1500 and fifth in the 1000 as a sophomore, Berkson came out of the unseeded heat of the New England 1000 to win in a meet record 2:50.11.
“People knew about Maddy coming to Classical before I did,’’ said Classical track coach Mike Green. “This was my first athlete of that caliber. Stanford fit what she wanted, both athletically and academically. For me, the most enjoyable was to watch her grow into a well-adjusted teenager. We went though the learning process together. It’s been great.’’