Dartmouth senior Tyler Medeiros ended the last indoor track season by breaking the school record for the 1000 meter run. This season, he broke his own record again. And again. And again. 

The most recent record-smashing time came at a pivotal moment — during the Division 3 state tournament for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association on Saturday, Feb. 17.

“It was always my goal to do this but I never thought I’d be sitting where I’m at,” Medeiros said. 

Going into Saturday, Medeiros’ previous record was 2:32:52. He knew he was going to be in the top two finishers at the division 3 championship — the only runner that rivaled his time was Sean Kerin, from Walpole High School — but only the top spot automatically qualifies for the “Meet of Champions” next week. 

Kerin finished on Saturday with a time of 2:32:43. In other words, if Medieros hadn’t broken his own record Saturday afternoon, he would not have won. Medeiros finished with a time of 2:31:63, shaving nearly a full second off his previous record. 

“I wasn’t really expecting that time while I was racing,” Medeiros said. “It always feels good to improve my time slowly, every race — I just want to kind of stamp my name in school history for a long long time.”

His name is already stamped in the record book, and in multiple places. In addition to leveling up his 1000 meter record this year, Medeiros broke the school mile run record and the record for an individual split on the 4x800 relay, all while putting up extra points for Dartmouth in the high jump and other team relays. 

“Tyler Medeiros has had arguably one of the best seasons of indoor track in our school history,” said boys head coach John Breault. “He’s kind of really rewriting our history board.”

Medeiros qualified for states in the mile run too, but decided to explicitly focus on the 1000 meter run in the postseason. 

“That was the [event] I really focused on last year and I just want to make it better,” he said. “Once I get stuck on something and motivated about it, I’m not going to change it up or stop it until I get where I want to be.”The senior athlete has been working toward this moment since he was a freshman, training with his event coach Caitlin McCarron-Deely the whole time. 

“He is incredibly motivated,” McCarron-Deely said. “He really stood out last year and that kind of laid the foundation going into this year.”

As the top finisher in his event, Medeiros automatically qualifies for the “Meet of Champions” on Feb. 24, when the top athletes from all five divisions face off against each other. 

If he’s able to finish in the top four spots there, he’ll head to the New England championship, where he can test his mettle against the best athletes in the entire northeast. 

Saturday’s race also qualified Medeiros for an entirely separate competition: the New Balance Nationals Indoor, where he can challenge student athletes across the county. 

“It was my dream for three years,” Medeiros said. “Now that I finally am at the point where I’ve accomplished my dream, I just want to keep going.”