#69 - Indoor Track Taking Off

Inside This Issue

• Stiverson Booming

• McFarland Joins The Club

• Oh Yeah, Cross Country

• Other Things

Stiverson Booming Big Throws

The biggest story of the indoor season so far is the strong arm of Addy Stiverson, the sophomore from Montrose. Last year as a 9th-grader, she made mincemeat of the national outdoor record for freshman, reaching 51-1.5.

In her first meets of the season, she signaled that big things were coming. She threw 47-3 at the LAB on 12/27, a state sophomore record and the second-longest indoor throw in state history for all grades. At only 6 inches away from the state indoor record, it meant the days were numbered for Kayli Johnson’s 2015 record of 47-9. She also had meets at 45-1.75 and 46-0.

Last weekend she won at the East Coast Throws Festival in Akron. There she made history. After opening with a foul, she threw 46-5.5 in round 2. In round three, she launched a bomb that landed at 50-10, a state record by three-feet and a demolition of the national 10th grade indoor record of 49-1.25. She followed that with a foul, a 47-3.75 and finished with a 48-10.5, the No. 2 throw in state history. Nationwide, she ranks No. 2 this season.

Stiverson will be competing at the University of Michigan on Sunday—we’re hoping we get to see more fireworks there.

McFarland Joins The Club

Utica alum Trent McFarland has done quite well in his brief time in Ann Arbor. Last year, he won the Big 10 1500 title as a true frosh. Now he has another feather in his cap, joining the sub-4:00 mile club with his 3:58.71 victory at the Wolverine Invitational. In doing so he outkicked Pioneer/UM alum Nick Foster, who ran his tenth career track sub-4 with a 3:59.08. Foster, now a pro training with the Very Nice Track Club, is being coached by Ron Warhurst.

Giving Garces Her Due

Our intended wrap-up of the championship cross country season never happened, because of, well… things (more below).

But it would be absolute malpractice not to rave for a while about Victoria Garces, the Midland Dow senior who went from being 5th in the state finals as a junior to one of the nation’s very best distance runners. This fall, she did the double, both Nike XC Nationals and Footlocker—and no Michigander has ever done it better. At the Nike race in Portland (12/7), she outkicked Texas superstar Elizabeth Leachman (9:43.74 PR at 3200) in 17:13 4 to grab 2nd place. She also beat a couple of other big names, Addie Ritzenhein and Sadie Engelhardt.

A week later in San Diego, she finished 2nd to Leachman in 17:39.9. She said on Instagram, “My second national meet of the season and another second place! This truly was the best way to cap off my senior season. Doing these races is something I’ll never take for granted and I’m so blessed to have gotten to end my season in San Diego with the best for a second year in a row!!”

Garces hasn’t hit the track yet this winter, but we can’t wait to see what she does next.

The Dow senior, bound for Duke, wasn’t the only Michigander racing out west. At NXN, TJ Hansen of Freeland also took runner-up honors, finishing 2.5 seconds behind the winner in 15:30.6. On the girls side, Helen Sachs of West Ottawa was 18th in 17:43.8. Annie Hrabovsky finished 36th in 18:03.0, leading her Romeo teammates (competing under the Bruce Township name) to a 6th-place finish out of 22 teams. The rest of the squad: 67. Natalia Guaresimo 18:40.3; 85. Lillian Deskins 18:54.0; 93. Olivia Purdy 19:01.4; 116. Emmie Clor 19:17.5; 145. Violet Hrabovsky 19:41.2; 146. Ella Goodsell 19:41.3.

At Footlocker, Jessie Jazwinski of Shelby finished 24th in 18:37.3; no Michigan boys qualified.

Other Things

RIP Jerry Sinkel: We lost a good one on December 14. Jerry SInkel was a cross country and track state champion in the 1960s for St Anthony HS in Detroit. He also starred at Central Michigan, where he won a Central Collegiate title. He later established the cross country program at Manton High School. His obituary.

RIP: George Devore: The former coach at Belleville passed away January 11 at the age of 58. His obituary.

We didn’t intend to take this long of a break from the newsletter. There was a much-needed vacation, then the holidays, then all kinds of unplanned stuff. Right now I’m writing this from my dad’s hospital bedside as we deal with his broken hip. It’s not the long, complete newsletter that I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to delay it anymore with so much important stuff happening out there. Thanks to all for your patience and continuing support.