Indoor track teammates Tim Barry and Amalia Dorion made program history at the NCAA Division III indoor track & field championships, becoming the first pair of Suffolk University athletes to represent Suffolk together in the one mile run.
On top of being the first pair to represent Suffolk together, it was the first time in program history that someone from the men’s and women’s teams earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches All-East honors in the same year.
“It was a really cool experience to go for indoor track, being the second Ram to ever go on the men’s side. It was nice to go with Amalia, who I think was the third on the women’s side,” said Barry.
Placing 15th with a time of 5:00.47, Dorion was selected to the USTFCCCA All-America second team. Dorion became the second Ram in Suffolk history to earn this honor in indoor track and field, following Emily Manfra in 2019.
With many athletes completing the mile within a second or less of each other, it can be difficult for a runner to know exactly where they placed right away. Dorion recalled looking up at the results and realizing she did better in the mile than she originally thought.
“All-America in general is such a high honor, you have to be top 16 in the country in any event. I was pretty hyped about that,” said Dorion. “At first I was kind of sad, I thought I got last or second to last. Then I looked at the results and saw I got 15th, so it was kind of bittersweet.”
“It was amazing. That was the best top-20 girls in the country, so it was a really competitive and deep field. Everyone was just so good,” said Dorion.
Though Dorion wished she had placed higher, she noted the intensity of national competition and was glad to be competing with such talented runners.
“I went in ranked 10th, so I was expecting to make the final but that’s the hard thing about the mile. There’s a prelim. So you have to qualify and run two races, which are amazing. I can’t really be that upset,” said Dorion.
On the men’s side, Barry ran the mile in 4:26.74, placing 19th overall.
Though Barry wished that he had placed higher, he noted his excitement to be running at such a big stage. He recalled in the days leading up to the event not knowing whether or not he had qualified.
“Once I found my name on the list there was a really big sense of relief because I felt like I did enough to get in this year. The way they pick for indoors is really strange, so we weren’t sure. I was really stressed the week before,” said Barry. “I was going out to watch a Celtics game and I checked the list to see where I was ranked. The night before it didn’t look like I was going to make it. For those next 24 hours I wasn’t sure I did enough.”
Repeatedly refreshing the NCAA’s website looking for any updates on whether or not he made it to nationals, Barry would eventually feel a sense of relief upon seeing his name listed on the website.
“I had to refresh the NCAA website and see my name. From 6:50 to 7:05 I was glued to my phone hoping my name would pop up there,” said Barry. “I ended up winning regionals, so that was a really big high, but I tried racing the next day and it didn’t go great. We weren’t really sure if I’d get in, but it ended up working out in my favor.”
After seeing his name on the list and finding out he qualified, Barry noted how his team came out to support and congratulate him on such a prestigious honor.
Most of all, Barry was grateful for how the team checked in on him while he was facing the pressure of competing on such a stage.
“Everyone was checking in on me before the race, asking how I was doing. It can be overwhelming going to nationals, so everyone was just making sure I was all good, which was really cool,” said Barry.
Barry and Dorion’s appearances on the national stage is yet another page in the history book being written by this program over the past few years.
Since the creation of the track and field program in 2017, the program has consistently been one of Suffolk’s most successful, something Dorion attributes to the guidance of head coach Will Feldman.
“The fact that this program has improved from literally nothing to what it is now should be attributed to coach Feldman’s coaching. It shows that he’s a really good coach and everyone on the team keeps improving. Whether they qualified for nationals, for conference, or just trying to get a personal record, everyone’s improving. That’s the culture he’s instilled in everyone, which is really great,” said Dorion.
