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The image of Trinity Chancellor soaring over the bar in a record-tying effort in the pole vault is perhaps the most lasting image of the Redwood High athlete from the 2024 track and field season.
The Redwood senior’s accomplishments in the pole vault are impressive and, perhaps unfortunately, overshadow her abilities as a runner. She placed first at the MCAL Championships and North Coast Section Redwood Empire Championships and eventually placed fifth at the NCS Meet of Champions at 11 feet, 3 inches. Meanwhile, she placed seventh in the 100 (13.71) and was part of the Giants’ MCAL winning team in the 4×100 that also placed fourth at the Redwood Empire meet.
After all that, it’s odd to hear Chancellor say she wasn’t a natural athlete growing up, not until she met coach Ana Levaggi and the Dipsea Kidz Program. The youth development program offers mentoring, training and health education as part of its outreach to Marin County youth.
“Coach Ana is the one who got me involved in running when I was a really unathletic kid before,” said Chancellor, who was awarded the Linda Gill Memorial Scholarship during Friday night’s Dipsea Race Foundation Hall of Fame Dinner. “I really hated sports and then, all of a sudden, I really liked running with the Dipsea Kidz in the fourth grade and that led me to being a track athlete, and I found what I really like to do.”
Chancellor, a past Dipsea runner, ran distance events and cross country in her freshman and sophomore seasons at Redwood before focusing more on the sprints and field events in which she has established herself as one of the best athletes in the Bay Area. Chancellor, who is heading to Santa Barbara City College in the fall, did not enter Sunday’s Dipsea.
Among the other $5,000 scholarship winners were Matisse Buckley, Lucy Bodle, Max Dunmire, David Grijalba, Drew Markovich, Olivia Skiles and Nick Tapia Martinez. Scholarship winners have participated in The Dipsea or volunteered with The Dipsea Foundation events and programs.
Like Chancellor, Tam High’s Dunmire needed a little encouragement to start running, according to Randy Hauke, who introduced the future UC Irvine Anteater during Friday’s ceremony and awarded him the Hauke Memorial Scholarship.
“Max has the love of The Dipsea and the Dipsea community and the determination to succeed,” Hauke said. “Now, Max is not your typical runner. In fact, he didn’t start running until (the COVID pandemic) when his mom gave him a choice to either run or get a job. … He wasn’t a big runner and didn’t take it seriously and didn’t do too well and so he didn’t plan on finishing the (cross country) season his freshman year at Tam. But his mom said ‘No, you’re going to finish the season.’ Just like my dad did with us, (Dunmire’s) parents instilled in him the grit and the hard work ethic to keep going.”
Dunmire won the NCS Division III cross country title in the fall and finished 22nd in D-III at State. In the spring, he placed 20th in the 3,200 meter at the NCS Meet of Champions.
“Running has been such a big part of my life,” said Dunmire, who placed 39th in last year’s Dipsea to win his first black shirt in only his second attempt. “It’s taught me discipline and dedication. And I know that even if you’re having a bad day, you can put on the running shoes and go out to enjoy the freedom of a nice run.”
Buckley, the winner of the Tom Hannigan Memorial Scholarship has been running in The Dipsea every year since 2017, keeping a family tradition alive. In his original entry application, Buckley included a photo of himself as a 2-year-old baby in the arms of his grandfather at the finish line of The Dipsea.
The Marin Academy senior, who committed to Colorado College, capped his high school cross country career with a personal best 16:37.4 finish at the 3-mile NCS Division V championship in November. He also ran relays and the 2-mile during the track season, placing 20th in the 2-mile (10:57.86) at the NCS Class A Championships in May. That’s only part of his running schedule, as he also competed last year in the Tamalpa Headlands 50 KM, as well as the 28.4-mile Quad Dipsea, in which he placed seventh overall among 338 runners.
“I want to thank my mom and my grandpa for showing me The Dipsea and for teachng me to love running,” Buckley said. “Running is something I can love for the rest of my life.”
A past track and cross country runner for Redwood, Bodle, a USC commit, did not compete during her senior year, but has been a volunteer with The Dipsea Race and the Jingle Bells 5K run in Sausalito.
“Thanks to my grandmother and my dad for showing me The Dipsea and for showing me what a cool place in which we live,” said Bodle, a young writers award winner.
While families are celebrating high school graduations, The Dipsea is also celebrating families and graduates. Grijalba, the winner of the William Patterson Memorial Scholarship, joined Alex Grijalba at The Dipsea starting line in downtown Mill Valley. David Grijalba, a Terra Linda High grad, has committed to UC Merced. Redwood’s Markovich, a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo commit, wasn’t running alone either with Audrey Markovich also in the pack. Mill Valley’s Olivia Skiles, who is heading to the University of Arizona, was joined at the starting line by Jack Skiles.
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