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12/02/2009 11:00 PMAdaring sports career move proved to be the right one for Daniel Hand senior Dave Cotton. Growing up an avid soccer player, Dave was bitten by the running bug his freshman year at Hand and has not only not looked back, but persevered through injuries and illness to become an all-conference and All-state runner who is looking to run in college next year.
"My dad was a big runner when he was younger so I thought about trying it out," says Dave. "I actually was going to play soccer up until a week before school started, but I had run a couple of times with my dad and with the cross-country team once and I kind of liked it so I joined the cross-country team freshman year."
Although not having a particularly successful freshman cross-country season, Dave continued to run, joining the indoor and outdoor track team. His breakthrough moment that year was in outdoor track when he ran a 10:13 two-mile that spring.
"When I got into running freshman year, I was really short and just a small kid," says Dave. "I was kind of out of shape and I started out not running fast at all, but throughout the season, I got more in shape and by the end of cross-country season, I was an alternate for the varsity team. After cross-country, I got really serious about running and was training all the time, running a lot more mileage."
After his freshman year, Dave trained hard over the summer and had a successful cross-country season his sophomore year, earning All-State and All-SCC honors. It was after the fall season that Dave suffered an injury to his knees similar to growing pains-he grew six inches in six months-but continued to run in both track seasons. His junior cross-country season was also plagued with injury after he hurt his foot after the first race of the season and returned at the end of the season just in the nick of time to help out his team.
"I was out until the very last meet of the year and it was the State Open meet," says Dave. "The team qualified and I knew I wouldn't do well individually but ran for my team and we made it to New Englands. It felt really good to help out the team after not being able to all season."
Health was finally with him during the indoor and outdoor track seasons that year and Dave was healthy enough to run in both of his events-the mile and two mile-and again made All-State and ran in New Englands.
Dave's senior cross-country season was nothing but a success, despite a bout of illness that almost derailed his chances of high finishes in the big races. As a captain, Dave finished second in both the Windham and Wickham Invitationals and finished fifth in the conference and fourth in Class L, running both races sick. In the State Open, he finished 20th after falling and came in 31st in New Englands and as the 13th Connecticut finisher in the race. He also earned Most Valuable Runner this season.
With college looming in the future, Dave has been in contact with three Division I schools that are all interested in having him run next fall: Villanova University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech.
"I've known for awhile that I've wanted to run in college," says Dave, an honor roll student at Hand who is also a youth group member at North Madison Congregational Church. "I'd be running both cross-country and track in college and I've been in contact with a few coaches who want me to come for a visit. I'd really like to thank my coach, Tim Geary, because he's been great and my dad because he doesn't get too involved, but he gives me good advice and knows what he's talking about."