Suzanne Kreiter / Globe Staff
1. Tragedy strikes; dash of triumph follows
The spring season was barely underway when the bombs went off on Boylston Street. Notre Dame o fHingham track coach and Massachusetts Track & Field official Rick Kates was at the Boston Marathon finish line and saw it all. A role that started with assisting wheelchair competitors as they crossed the line quickly became helping the severely injured. Though he was a longtime EMT, nothing prepared Kates for what he saw. In the weeks that followed,his team helped him deal with that day. Notre Dame won the Division2 outdoor title for the first time in school history and had its best season ever. “It’s been an unbelievable season,” said Kates. And it was a spring no one will ever forget.
