Globe Correspondent / February 25, 2010 Waiting in line to see a show in New York City while chaperoning a trip by the Hingham High drama department, Susan Lind-berg decided to chat up the school’s track coach, Fred Jewett.
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“I introduced myself and said, ‘I’ve been trying to get my son to run track, he’s really fast,’ ’’ recalled Lindberg of the conversation nearly four years ago. Coach Jewett “looked at me like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ ’’
When Dana Lindberg (right) started running as a sophomore, his mother asked Jewett: “ ‘Do you remember me? I came up to you and said my son was fast.’ He said, ‘Oh, yeah, you weren’t kidding.’ No, I wasn’t kidding.’’
How fast is Lindberg? On Sunday, the Hingham High senior ran the second-fastest 55-meter dash in school history - in 6.58 seconds - to capture his first individual title at the Division 3 indoor track and field championship at the Reggie Lewis Center.
“He’s the best sprinter in Division 3 and one of the top two or three in the state,’’ said Jewett, taking note of tomorrow’s All-State meet, in which Lindberg will go head-to-head with Andover ace Christopher McConnell. “It’s going to be a real battle between the two of them in the dash.’’
McConnell beat Lindberg at the Coaches Elite meet in January in 6.43 seconds.
Lindberg not only impressed his future track coaches at Yale with his speed, but also with his leaping ability. He owns not only a school record indoors in the long jump (21 feet, 7 inches) but also outdoors (22-10).
On Sunday, however, he was disappointed to finish third in his top event with a jump of 20-7.50.
“I was going into that thinking I had both the long jump and 55 in the bag,’’ Lindberg said. “I wasn’t hitting my mark and that’s a concern in long jump, any fundamental mistake like that can throw you off. I’m not worried, I still qualified and will get a crack at it [tomorrow]; that’s more important to me.’’
The Hingham boys placed third overall, 12 points behind champion Bishop Feehan, quite a feat with just six athletes entered in the meet. The 4 x 200 team nearly fumbled the baton but managed to finish third, while Conor Thompson placed fourth in the 55 hurdles after overcoming a staph infection suffered around Thanksgiving.
“I was just so happy for [Thompson], he’s done so much - so many other kids would’ve quit and said, ‘Forget it, see you in the spring,’ ” Jewett said. “He’s just battled back.
“That’s why Dana was so upset, just a couple more points and we could’ve won it.”
Lindberg has dealt with his share of injuries, too.
Last winter, he finished fourth in the 55 dash at All-States before pulling out of the long jump finals with a pulled hamstring that sidelined him until April. He ended up running a 22.46 in the 200 outdoors at the All-State meet, placing fourth, but failed to qualify in long jump at the divisional meet.
“I’m trying to take care of myself and make sure that doesn’t happen again,’’ said Lindberg, whose goal is to win long jump at New Englands. “This is my senior season and I want to make the most of it.’’
Lindberg also wants to make the most of his senior season as a sprinter, since he’ll likely focus on jumping at Yale.
He’s made quite a leap since freshman year, when he played football, basketball, and baseball - sports he gave up to focus on track. He was hooked once he realized that his impression of track as an individual sport was false.
“At Hingham, it’s all about team and coming together,’’ he said. “That’s why Hingham has a reputation for being such a strong team. With that in mind it’s helped me grow and succeed.
“I realized I wasn’t going to improve my chances of getting into college and achieve my potential sticking with those other sports.’’
Although he came around to that conclusion on his own, his mother has always seemed to know what was best for her son.
She said his Little League coaches called him Legs Lindberg and let him steal bases without taking a sign. When he was 3, his mother and father, Jon, would make Dana race his older sister, Erica, around the house to absorb some of his energy on hot summer nights.
“He’d say, ‘Let’s have a race,’ and he just wouldn’t stop,’’ Susan said. “He wanted to keep going around and around the house, and we didn’t mind because it used to tire him out.’’
All that youthful exuberance was embedded in Lindberg’s genes. Jon Lindberg was a football player and Dana’s grandfather, who died when he was 9, was a hurdler at Winchester High.
Last year Lindberg’s grandmother gave him a picture of his grandfather high jumping, and he pinned it to his bulletin board.
“I had no idea he did track,’’ Lindberg said. “It’s cool, I feel like he would’ve been proud of me if he could be watching now.’’
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