OCM Plymouth South Male Athlete of the Year: Dylan Brilliant led … – Wicked Local

PLYMOUTH – A five-time captain and seven-time Patriot League All-Star with two athletic seasons still to go, the awards continue to roll in for Plymouth South senior Dylan Brilliant. Well here’s another one. Brilliant is this year’s Old Colony Memorial Plymouth South Male Athlete of the Year.

Distance running is Brilliant’s sport of choice and he truly is brilliant at it. The sport is a family affair. His dad, Scott, picked up long-distance racing in his 30s and Dylan’s younger brother Noah is one of the building blocks for the future of the Plymouth South cross-country program.

“I guess I got my love of distance running from my dad,” Brilliant explained. “He really got into his sport in his 30s and I followed him down that same path. I quickly developed a love for all of the training and the technique that goes into distance running.”

Brilliant’s passion was there from the start, as was the talent. He was invited to run in the Tommy Cochary High School Mile elite race at the Falmouth Road Race before his junior year against nine of the best cross country runners in the state.

“Running against the top runners around can only help me as a runner,” Brilliant explained about taking on the top competition possible. “I learn a little more from every race that I run, especially when you are going against the top talent.”

A great runner and team leader as well as an honor roll student, South XC Head Coach Rene Melisse said Brilliant is the “overall package” as an athlete and a human being.

“Dylan’s got it all,” Melisse said. “He’s a great runner and he values his spot as a leader in the program. He recruits kids to come out for the team, he checks in with his teammates to make sure everything is good with them, and he treats all of them the respect.

“Dylan has everything you want as a leader for a program.”

Brilliant’s senior year is off to a flying start. He was the Fisher Division XC MVP, winning the Patriot League meet and then placing sixth at the Division 1C meet and 22nd at the All-State Championship.

But Brilliant is far from satisfied or in cruise control as he wraps up his highly decorated high school racing career. The two-mile school record for winter track and field is in reach and he’d like to walk away with the record for the spring one-mile record before all is said and done.

Brilliant’s next stop is a familiar one for the elite high school runners from the town of Plymouth. Earlier this year he signed a Letter of Intent to attend Stonehill College, joining Plymouth South graduate Jill Callahan as well as Plymouth North grads Nick McNamee, and Jason McGettrick in the Skyhawks program.

More:The run continues as Plymouth South boys XC wins another league title

Former Plymouth North XC and Track Head Coach John Laverty is also an assistant coach with the Stonehill track and field program.

“I felt comfortable there right away with head coach (Karen Boen), the rest of the team, and the school campus itself,” Brilliant said, who is undecided as to what he will study. “Funny thing is Jason McGettrick and I played basketball together as kids and know we will be teammates again at Stonehill.”

More:Shriner, Brilliant race to the top at Patriot League XC championship

The relationships he formed with teammates and coaches like Melisse, Sean Clifford, and Jeff Tracey are the lasting memories from high school sports are that Brilliant will carry with him for the rest of his life.

“Sports builds relationships,” explained Brilliant. “I’ve been blessed to do all of this for the last four years.”

Email the reporter at dwolcott@wickedlocal.com and you can follow him on Twitter, @DavidWolcott1.