Alan Carlson, whose name is attached to the football field and track complex at D-Y, was a standout runner at Braintree High School and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1954. He then joined the U.S. Army before becoming a teacher in 1956. Shortly after, he launched D-Y’s track program in 1957, convincing the school committee to add it after writing to and receiving a response from Roger Bannister, who became the first man to break 4 minutes in the mile run. A decade later, Carlsen founded the cross country program, and 10 years after that he got the girls program off the ground. His cross country teams won All-State championships in 1974 and 1975, plus 10 state divisional titles from 1967 and 1980. Carlsen was named the best coach in the state in 1976 and by 1983 was inducted into the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Carlsen always had intense training, whether it was 10-mile powerline runs through “Siberia,” downhill sprint workouts or preparing on the double-looped, hilly golf course. “We were just confident because we knew how good a coach he was,” Yakola said. “We knew we were better prepared.” His former athletes said that Carlsen never berated his athletes, but he held them to the highest of standards as competitors and gentlemen. In return, his athletes took his advice to heart and considered it an honor to earn a top-7 varsity spot. “When you went to every meet you knew you were winning, and everybody knew it,” Merrill said
Inducted: 1983