Hurricanes To Host Meet in Honor of a Late XC Runner

Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Monticello Hurricane Cross Country teams from both the middle school and high school will be hosting the first ever Brooklyn Dalton Dash, a race to be run in the memory of the late Brooklyn Dalton.

The Lady Cane runner passed last year after battling glioma, a very rare and aggressive form of brain tumor. During last fall’s cross country season, Brooklyn ran with heart, running her last few meets persevering through the pain and anguish that was caused by the tumor.

Brooklyn ran in her last meet on October 13, 2022, which was one week after her 18th birthday. She was determined, and nothing was going to stop her from running. Her mother, cross country coach Dotty Dalton, said, “I tried to pull her out of the race because I could see the pain on her face, but she yelled at me to tell her which way to go, so I did as she wished…and off she went.”

Coach Dalton continued, “As her mom and her coach, I was proud of her and scared for her at the same time.”

Brooklyn finished that race, and she finished that race without walking. Her time, 47:28.09, was not winning any races on the course that day, but it showed her determination, her heart, and her tenacity to keep moving in the face of adversity. It showed that she had fight, and was a winner in the ultimate race. Little did we know that this would be her last race.

One week later, she was in the hospital, and that’s when the race for her life began. Coach Dalton said, “The hydrocephalus had her whole body swollen and aching, the glioma was growing too rapidly, and her fight ended on December 12, 2022. She is now running her best race in Heaven, praise God! I will run next to her again one day, but until then, to paraphrase Hebrews 1:2, ‘I will run this race with endurance, keeping my eyes on Jesus, the perfector of my faith.’”

Coach Dalton found that verse taped to her bookshelf after she passed. Brooklyn had written it to remind her of the race that she ran, the race that we all run in this life.

The Brooklyn Dalton Dash will be run in her memory, in her honor, next Tuesday. This will also serve as Senior Night and eighth grade night for the local teams. The middle school girls race will start at 4 p.m., followed by the middle school boys at 4:20 p.m. The high school races will start at 4:40 p.m.

There will be no entry fee to watch and support the event, but t-shirts and concessions will be sold. The races will finish on the home side of the track.

Coach Dalton asks that all Hurricane cross country alumni and community members come out and wear gray in support of Brooklyn and the team.