Wilson and Mackison Combine Talent and Grit to Reach Junior Olympics

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By Gail Wood

les schwabAs a youth track coach, Drew Stevick looks for two basic things in the kids who turn out for his Olympia club team.

Naturally, there’s talent – the skill that makes them athletic. Then there’s the “want to,” the having-fun desire to be at practice or at a meet.

barron park striders
This was the first year of competitive runner with the Barron Park Striders for 8-year-old Clara Mackison.

Both 8-year-old Clara Mackison and 12-year-old Colby Wilson have those ingredients – skill and desire. That combination was why they both qualified for USATF National Junior Olympics earlier this summer while training with Stevick’s Barron Park Striders.

Despite her young age, Clara, in her first year of track, showed the discipline and determination to work hard at practice. Then on meet days, she wasn’t overcome with nervousness or the anxiety of a challenge. At nationals, she threw a personal best in the javelin to place third.

“She’s a gifted girl, very focused,” Stevick said. “She’s competitive. Competing doesn’t bother her. She thrives on it.”

Beside the javelin, Mackleson also qualified for nationals, which were held in Humboldt, Texas, just outside of Houston, in 800 and 1,500 meters.

“She’s quit the combination of somebody who is powerful in a throwing sense and can also run,” Stevick said.

Colby is also a mix of talent. As a runner, thrower and jumper, Colby qualified for nationals in the pentathlon, high jump and hurdles, placing eighth in the high jump.

“He’s been an incredible athlete,” Stevick said.

Unfortunately, Colby had the flu the week before nationals and still he wasn’t feeling great at nationals.

“He wasn’t at his best,” Stevick said. “He could have been fourth or fifth in the pentathlon.”

Both Colby and Clara have parents with the proper perspective, Stevick said. They’re supporters, not pushers.

barron park striders
Colby Wilson, a 12-year-old student at Griffin School, qualified for the USATF Junior Olympics in pentathlon, high jump and hurdles.

“Clara has a great family,” Stevick said. “They don’t push her. Part of our club philosophy is that we give parents and kids an excuse to go places together. She’s a perfect example of that.”

Clara, now a second grader at Roosevelt Elementary School, has surprised even her parents, Amanda and James Mackison, with her quick rise from rookie to national qualifier.

“This is her first time trying track,” Amanda said. “We don’t have a track background, so we were surprised how well she did.”

With the Barron Park Striders, which Stevick has directed since 1991, parents are invited to come to practice and work out with their kids. Colby’s parents, Craig and Cristin Wilson, turned out for track when they were in school.

Craig said he grew up around track since his dad was a track coach and his wife was a hurdler and high jumper.

“Colby will be able to outdo us when it’s all said and done,” Craig said. “Colby grew up playing everything in sports and everything fell in line with track.”

At nationals, Clara dropped to sixth place in the javelin after four throws, but then she popped a personal best, breaking the club record with a throw of 54′ 1″ to earn a bronze medal. The top six finishers all threw over 50 feet.

Junior Olympics Regionals 061Clara ran the 800 in 3:07 and the 1,500 in 6:29. Colby ran the 80-meter hurdles in 12.9 and cleared 4-9 in the high jump. At regionals, Clara broke the meet record in the javelin by over 2 feet.

“She just got better as the season went on,” Stevick said. “She was working on her steps and working on lining it all up. It was fun to see her do it on a big stage like that.”

Stevick, who threw the javelin in college and was invited to the Olympic Trials, said Clara isn’t afraid to push herself in practice. She’s a hard worker. But Stevick always makes sure no one on his club team pushes themselves too hard.

“We have to error on the side of underdoing it in terms of training,” Stevick said. “That’s because you don’t want them to hate it.”

Working too hard, pushing too hard, can lead to burnout. The time will come when the hard workout is appropriate.

“There will always be time in high school and college to maximize training,” Stevick said. “You want kids to really enjoy it. You want them to wish they could work more.”

Clara had run with the South Sound YMCA before and showed an interest in turning out, as her parents suggested, for the Barren Park Striders.

“She just likes to run,” Amanda said. “So, we said let’s try track. And she had some success. She rose to the occasion. We look forward to what happens next.”

At first, Amanda was hesitant to let her young daughter go to nationals.

barron park striders
Colby Wilson (left) trained with Capital’s Ryan Chase over the summer.

“We debated if she should go to nationals because she’s so young,” Amanda said. “But she wanted to go.”

The objective of Stevick’s track club isn’t to see how many national championships his team can win. It’s about helping kids realize their talent and helping families come together.

The Barron Park Striders started in 1988 by Stevick in Palo Alto, Calif. He moved to Olympia in 1991. The club is open to youths ages 5 to 15. In 2013, over 100 kids were on the track and cross country teams. There were 12 who qualified for nationals that year and 23 club records were broken.

This year three from the Olympia club advanced to the USATF National Junior Olympics. Besides Clara and Colby, Ryan Chase from Capital High School qualified in the decathlon and finished second and James Rodeman from Yelm High School finished fifth. Over the summer, Ryan worked out with Colby, becoming a mentor and a coach.

“It’s a cool relationship they started up,” Craig said. “He’s passing it on.”

 

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