By Philip R. Devlin
(June 21, 2022) — Last year, Aidan Law won the long jump event at the Shoreline outdoor championship meet despite spiking his arm—an injury requiring stitches—and then went on to finish 6th in the state championship meet. Those feats, however, pale in comparison to his most impressive progress during his senior year. During the winter indoor track season, Law won the long jump in the Shoreline meet championship. Then he finished 4th in the state sectional meet, qualifying him to compete in the state open championship meet. Finding his best stride, Aidan then won the State Open with a personal best jump. Winning the Open qualified him to compete in the indoor New England Championship Meet in Boston. His progress continued in the Boston meet where he finished 2nd, missing 1st by an inch. According to HKHS track coach Dick Dupuis, that’s the highest New England Championship finish in the history of the storied HK track program.
Law’s progress continued in the spring of this year. He won 1st in the long jump in each regular season meet then at the Shoreline Championship meet he captured 1st in the long jump, 2nd in the 200 meter run, 3rd in the 100 meters, and 4th in the high jump. Aidan then proceeded to the state sectional meet where he finished 4th but jumped far enough to compete in the State Open Meet at Willowbrook Park. At Willowbrook Law found his best stride once again, doing a personal best of 22 feet, 5.5 inches. He finished 3rd in that meet, missing 2nd by about an inch. That jump qualified him to compete in Philadelphia last Saturday in the New Balance National Rising Stars event. Despite injuring his back during his 3rd jump, Law still managed to finish 8th out of 28 East coast competitors. He was unable to finish his last 3 jumps due to the back injury.
When asked about the reason for his success, Aidan had this to say:
“I believe what led to my success over these past few track seasons is the amount of support I have received from my coaches and teammates. I would always be shooting for a high goal, and I would always hear back, “Oh, you can do that.” Having encouraging teammates can really improve a person’s strength, both mental and physical. Everybody together has helped along the way, and I would not be here with my accomplishments without every interaction. I also believe that the athletes from other schools pushed me to be better since I am a very competitive person.“
Next year, Aidan plans to attend Keene State where he will certainly be a welcome addition to their track team.
Photos by David Law
