From 7th and 8th grade beginners all the way to signing day. For some Cadillac track stars going to the nest level is no surprise. In the last few years Cadillac has had many athletes go on to participate at the collegiate level and even a few have gone even farther, achieving the professional athlete status. I have even had the privilege of competing alongside several athletes who are now competing in college and doing great.
The most recent athletes are Trevor Thiebaut, and Cody Stillwell. Trevor has been cleared to run at Saginaw Valley State University for both cross country and track and field. In cross season Trevor did very well in his 8000 meter run with a time of 26:18. Trevor's cross team was very good in their conference this year and are on the rise now that indoor has started. In indoor track, Trevor has ran very good times in the 3000 meter run and the 800 meter run and also the 1600 meter run. Trevor's most recent times in the 800 are 2:04, in the 3000 meter 9:04, and 4:27 in the 1600 meter run. Trevor has done a fantastic job in representing the 49601 club back home. Cody Stillwell has been accepted to throw at Ferris State University. Cody has been training all Fall and Winter to finally get ready for the indoor season. He has, however, not been in a meet yet but his hard work has still reached home. Cody has been bulking up for this season and has achieved a new squat max of 610 pounds which will definitely help out his performance later on this winter!
Another great athlete I was able to compete with was Aaron Hodges. Aaron was a great sprinter for Cadillac but was more famous for his pole vault abilities. At the 2014 Cadillac News Meet, Aaron placed a new school record at 14 feet 9 inches! With this outstanding performance he was quickly signed to Aquinas College to pole vault. In recent years, Aaron has done superb in the pole vault and has even gone to nationals. As of a few days ago Aaron placed second in the indoor championship meet and cleared his old record by almost a foot! His indoor championship qualifying height was 15 feet 7 inches! That is amazing! I am truly honored to have been apart of the same team with all these great athletes.
While all of these men are still in college (for now I should say) there is one man who graduated before my time and his name is Paul McMullen. Paul was born in Cadillac in 1972 and was in the 1996 Olympic Games in Georgia for the 1500 meter run where he placed 19th! Before that though Paul conquered several championships and even set the indoor mile record at 3:55! Now that is some true athleticism from our own little town. Paul McMullen has also been inducted into several Hall of Fame appearances including Cadillac High School's, Eastern Michigan University's, and Drake Relay's Hall of Fame.
This was very informative as it is my first year for track. So lets keep up the momentum!
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