When it came to running in the 1980s, they were the heart and “sole” of cross country in the Mayflower League. The heart was a coach named Dennis Thibeault. The sole represented the collection of athletes who ran for his cross country team at Apponequet Regional High School. Individually, more than a few stood head and shoulders above their peers. Collectively, they were unbeatable. 1980: Mayflower League champions. 1981: Back-to-back league titlists. 1982: Three in-a-row. 1983: Four consecutive crowns. 1984: Five straight. The 1984 season culminated Apponequet’s half-decade of cross country domination in the Mayflower League, where the Lakers literally ran away from the competition. AND THEN THERE’S THIS In addition to being a member of the Apponequet Regional High School Hall of Fame, Thibeault was inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Association Coaches Hall of Fame in 2008. Five consecutive cross country seasons; five straight championships, including 68 dual-meet victories in a row. And just to prove winning wasn’t confined to the Mayflower League, coach Thibeault directed both his 1985 and ’86 teams to back-to-back cross country titles in the first two years of the recently created South Coast Conference. When it came to training and teaching the finer points of running, Thibeault was as good as they come. Boys or girls, men or women, two feet and a willingness to run was all it took for the veteran Apponequet coach to create a competitive athlete. Cross country course or on an indoor or outdoor oval, it didn’t matter. Thibeault had a way of getting the best out of anyone interested in running. Once the fall cross country season was over, Dennis turned his attention to the indoor and outdoor tracks. He was never able to duplicate the consecutive string of undefeated seasons he directed in cross country but it wasn’t long before Thibeault earned a reputation as one of the area’s premiere track coaches. From 1981 through 1983 Dennis led his Lakers to three consecutive Mayflower League Championships and, in 1983, his team was crowned Greater Taunton Indoor kings before finishing the season as the Div. 3 State runner-up. That success continued after Apponequet joined the South Coast Conference and, following a competitive first four years, his teams won back-to-back-to back conference championships in 1989, ’90 and ’91. His girls teams also wore conference crowns in 1999 and 2000. Overall, Thibeault’s career record in the combined sports of cross country and track was an eye-popping 729-236. His teams produced seven state individual champions, four New England titlists, three National Medalists and an All-State runner-up in 1988.
Inducted: 2008