Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts High School middle distance/distance runners ever… period. Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts collegiate middle distance/distance runners ever… period. Darlene is one of the best if not THE best Massachusetts middle distance/ distance runners ever… period. These statements are extremely difficult to dispute. In addition to her phenomenal resume, she is also one of the pioneers of women’s middle distance/distance running coming out of the 1970’s when women were just beginning to be allowed to run races over ½ mile. She along with the likes of Lynn Jennings, Judi St. Hilaire, and Lesley and Lisa Welch put Massachusetts on the world stage running map. While in high school her resume is quite impressive. She was the U.S. Junior Olympic Mile champion, the U.S. Junior 800m champ, U.S. Junior 1500m champion, the U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Festival 1500m champ and selected as the Most Outstanding Runner at the United States v. West Germany Junior Meet. She also competed in a meet in the old Soviet Union. Her PR’s in high school were, 2:04.6 800m, 4:19.6 1500m and 4:41.9 in the mile. At Harvard University she was the National Collegiate Champ indoors in the 800m, a National Collegiate Champ in the indoor mile, she set the National Collegiate mile record in 1980. She was the Ivy League Champion in both Cross and Track. She was a multiple All-American and never lost a meet on the famed Harvard indoor track. In 1998 Darlene was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame. Her PR’s in college were 2:05.75 for 800m, 4:14.0 for 1500m and 4:32.30 in the mile. After college Darlene was the U.S. Indoor Mile Champion in 1983 and 1987. She was a Bronze medalist in the 1500m at the 1985 World University Games. She was a U.S. Olympic Trials finalist in 1984 which were held in Los Angeles. Her 4:07.42 was just 3 seconds off making the Olympic games that year. At the 1987 WORLD Indoor Championships, she finished 7th with a time of 4:13.57 also held in Indianapolis. Darlene ran 15:53 to set the US women’s 5k road race record. Her final personal best performances are very compelling: 2:02.93 for 800m, 4:04.81 for 1500m, 4:30.12 in the mile and 15:53 in 5k.
Class: 1979 Inducted: 2019