Marvin Seeking Record-Setting End to Marvelous Byron Career
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2021
BYRON — In a bare-bones weight room that appears more like a garage to passers-by, Sarah Marvin is working to finish her quest to rewrite the record books in the shot put for girls track & field.
Not just in the Lower Peninsula’s Division 3, in which she won Finals titles in both the shot put and discus in 2019, but for all divisions.
Marvin, who has a track scholarship to the University of Michigan, has had 11 throws this season beyond the LPD3 Finals record of 46 feet, 9 inches, set by Becky Breish of Edwardsburg in 2001.
She twice has surpassed the all-Finals record of 49 feet, 11.75 inches set by Division 1’s Corinne Jemison of East Kentwood in 2018 – the first time during last summer’s National Scholastic Athletic Foundation’s virtual meet, and then again May 26 at a meet in Comstock Park with a throw of 50 feet, 9 inches.
“Throwing is so technical,” she said, “and you have those days where you’re just clicking and firing on all cylinders. I think I’ll be close to being there soon in these few meets I have left.”
It starts with the Division 3 Finals on Saturday at Jenison.
Marvin and her fraternal twin sister, Becky (a strong thrower in her own right) are familiar with the Jenison layout, which was the site of the 2019 Division 3 Finals.
“We’ll get there Friday,” Marvin said. “We like to go to the throwing rings and feel it out, get a good dinner, then stay at a hotel so we don’t have to ride for an hour and a half in a car (before the competition).”
Throwing is a sport that comes naturally to the Marvins, both for the twins, their sister Jessica and their mother, Theresa, who competed at Michigan after winning two state titles in the discus for Byron during the 1990s.
“Their older sister (Jessica) and brother T.J.) did AAU, which isn’t as big here, but is in the Detroit area,” Theresa Marvin said. “We started a club and had kids that weren’t ours on the team as well. It was a lot of fun for us. Other families were doing T-ball and soccer, and we were doing track.”
The Marvins installed a pair of throwing rings on their property about a decade ago, and the twins picked it up from there. The family took its vacations at AAU national meets, driving all over the country.
Both of the Marvin twins (Sarah is two minutes older, Becky an inch taller) played multiple sports at Byron. Becky also ran cross country and played basketball and wrestled, while Sarah was a starting offensive lineman on the Byron JV football team and did some wrestling in addition to playing basketball, where she was a three-time Owosso Argus-Press Player of the Year.
After her junior year, Sarah gave up football and wrestling.
“I had switched my (shot put) technique to rotational, and I needed more time, more months that I could devote to throwing,” she said. “I tried to train and throw during football season, but I was just too physically tired to do it the way you need to do it. I decided to put my effort and time into throwing.”
As she mentioned, Marvin had switched her throwing from a glide technique, where one effectively pushes the shot in the throw, to the rotational, where the shot comes out like it is slung.
“I’m very comfortable with it now,” she said. “But I’m looking forward to getting more comfortable with it. It’s so technique-heavy. You have these guys who have been doing it for more than a decade, and I’ve been doing it for two years. The more you do it, the more you develop the muscle memory.”
Certainly the results have been there. All of Marvin’s throws this season have been well beyond the 44-11.5 she threw to win at the 2019 Finals.
“It’s helped me make a big improvement,” she said. “But we knew that it would.”
But Sarah Marvin also has a key element in her makeup that has spurred her success.
Asked what she thinks makes her sister stand out, Becky Marvin said, “her work ethic, for sure. She’s always working harder than everyone else. She’ll go out and lift without me sometimes. She has talent, for sure, but her drive makes her stand out.”
During last year’s pandemic, the Marvin sisters were without a place to work out after Byron High School closed.
“We got online and on Facebook Marketplace and put the word out,” Theresa Marvin said. “People gave us stuff, and we made an at-home weight room in our barn.”
Their sister Jessica, who competes at Northwood University, came home along with her boyfriend, who like Jessica is a thrower at Northwood. They all worked out.
“It was a houseful,” said Theresa, a mother of six.
Theresa Marvin realized early on that her twins would need more specialized coaching than what she could provide, and for the last couple of years they have worked with Dane Miller, a private coach based in Fleetwood, Pa.
“I do still coach them at meets, and I try to facilitate what Dane’s trying to do,” said Marvin, who also coached her daughters on the Byron varsity girls basketball team the last two years.
Speaking of basketball, the extension of the season into late March cut into the Marvins’ training time for track.
“Her strength levels go down in basketball from all the running,” Theresa Marvin said of Sarah. “It took her a good 4-6 weeks to get back to speed, and I don’t think she’s there yet. Last year, she didn’t peak until mid-July.”
The Marvin sisters, whom Byron girls track coach Byron Schartzer calls “The Wonder Twins,” feed off each other in competition.
“Just to have another person to hold you accountable to train with definitely helps,” Sarah said.
And while they’re serious about their sport, they also keep things light-hearted.
“If I throw big, she throws big, sometimes,” Becky said. “I made fun of her at the Comstock Park meet; I fouled on my first throw and made the second.
“Then she fouled on her first throw and made the second, and I’m like, ‘OK, you can just copy me, then,’” she added, chuckling. “But if one of us hits a big throw, we try to drive off that.”
While there are other amateur meets later this month, the Marvins have their attention set on Saturday’s Finals.
In the shot put, Sarah Marvin has the top throw this season entering the week, but Becky Marvin is in the top 10, seventh in a pack where spots 3-8 are within 21 inches.
Sarah also is ranked No. 1 in the discus, while Becky is ranked sixth.
“They’re both having great seasons,” Theresa Marvin said. “But you never know. You just can’t take anything for granted. We focus on being healthy, being ready to peak, and then being ready to go on that day.”
And then, before they know it, the twins will be separated. Sarah is going to Michigan to study movement science with an eye toward, perhaps, a medical career.
Becky is going to Tiffin University, where she plans to compete on the track team while pursuing a business degree.
“It’s like 2½ hours from Byron,” Becky said. “Ann Arbor’s on the way home, so if I’m driving by and she wants to come home, I’ll pick her up.”
It’s family, after all, that Sarah cherishes the most about her athletic career.
“I can’t imagine where I would have been in my sports, or my success in sports, without my family,” she said. “In basketball, it was my older sister playing. My three brothers are all wrestlers. I have huge family support and a huge extended family that comes to all my games. They’ve all grown up playing sports, and it’s just fun.”
PHOTOS: Byron senior Sarah Marvin shows her shot put form; she’s the reigning Division 3 champion in the event. (Middle) Sarah and twin sister Becky Marvin are workout partners and make up one of the top throwing pairs in the state again this spring. (Photos by Tim Robinson.)
Northern Hopefuls Chase Dream Finishes
June 2, 2017
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – Can Gaylord’s Casey Korte, despite missing three weeks in May with shin splints, defend her MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 title in the long jump?
Can Benzie Central’s ironman, Brayden Huddleston, medal and earn all-state honors in four Division 3 distance races?
Can Harbor Springs sophomore Jeremy Kloss – the top seed in the 1,600 and 3,200, along with his teammates in the 3,200 relay – pull off a trifecta in Division 4?
Can the Traverse City West 400-meter relay team win the school’s first boys MHSAA Finals title in a running event?
In northern Michigan, those four storylines will be among the most compelling Saturday at the MHSAA track & field championships.
Casey Korte
The 17-year-old multi-sport athlete has been battling nagging leg injuries the last two seasons, but still won the long jump last June with a leap of 18-0¼.
Shin splints forced Korte to take three weeks off last month. She returned for the Regional and kicked off the rust by winning the long jump (17-01.25) and helping the 800-meter relay team qualify for the MHSAA Finals.
“It’s good,” she said of her health.
Her distance in the long jump was third best among state Regional performers.
“Usually my goal every meet is to be in the mid-17s,” she said. “Nobody was close to it (17-1¼) at the Regional so I was good with it.”
Korte had an interesting warmup Tuesday at Gaylord’s Meet of Champions. She won the 100, high jump and was on the victorious 800-meter relay, but took second in the long jump at 15-5½.
“Usually I don’t do the long jump last,” she said. “I do it second. But the way the meet was set up I did it after all my other events, and after it had rained and gotten cold and windy. My legs wouldn’t let me take off and jump.”
Korte does not expect similar problems Saturday.
“My goal is to double as a state champion,” she said. “Last year, during long jump, all the factors came together. I was feeling good, the high jump was going well, the wind was perfect. Everything went well. I’m hoping it happens again.”
Korte finished fourth in the high jump at last year’s Finals, but did not qualify in that event this year.
Nonetheless, it’s been a banner senior year for Korte. She was the team Most Valuable Player and an all-region pick in volleyball, then followed it up with a first-team all-state campaign in basketball, averaging 19.8 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game. Korte signed to attend and play basketball at Cornerstone University.
But her focus now is on the track. And what would it mean to her if she could repeat in the long jump?
“It would show that my hard work paid off,” she said. “A state championship isn’t just handed to you. You have to work hard for it. It would be awesome to know I did that. It’s still surreal that I was the state champion last year. There are times I still can’t believe it.”
Brayden Huddleston
Huddleston is preparing for an event-filled day at the Division 3 Finals. The senior is seeded second in the 800, seventh in the 1,600 and eighth in the 3,200. He also runs a leg on Benzie’s 3,200-meter relay, which is seeded third.
His goal? Medal in all four.
His goal? A podium finish in all four events.
“It’s pretty rare (to run four distance races at the Finals), especially if you’re a kid that has a shot to potentially win,” Benzie Central coach Asa Kelly said. “We talked. I said, ‘You’ve got to be a little crazy to do this.’ He said, ‘I want to.’
“He’s one of those exceptional kids that when he does something, he does it really well. He’s a 4.0 student, a salutatorian. I said, ‘You could be one of those rare kids that could be all-state in four distance races.’ That doesn’t happen too often. He’s committed 100 percent to this. It’s going to take a lot of careful planning (Saturday), as far as warming up, cooling down, diet, fluids. I think he’s going to do great.”
Huddleston, who will run at Bradley University, said he’s ready.
“They say it’s crazy to do (four distance races) at state finals, but I like that challenge,” he said. “I’m ready to put forth my best effort and see what I can do.’
Huddleston said he’s most concerned about the quick turnaround between the 800 and 3,200.
“I’m most nervous about that,” he said. “I think there’s only one heat in the girls two-mile at state finals so the turnaround will be quick. But I think I’m in good shape. This is the most fit I’ve ever felt.”
Huddleston won the Ryan Shay 1,600 meters in a season-best 4:19.84 at Tuesday’s Traverse City Record-Eagle Honor Roll meet. That time ranks second to St. Louis’ Evan Goodell’s 4:18.18 in LP Division 3 this year.
“I was shooting to see how close I could get to the school record of 4:14.7 by Jake Flynn,” Huddleston said. “I fell a little short, but I was running by myself, and running into a wind for half the lap. You take those things away and it puts me right in the ballpark. I was happy with my effort. It’s good to be rolling into the state finals.”
Huddleston smiles when he talks about a second seed in the 800.
“I’ve always looked at myself as a distance runner,” he said. “The two mile has been my best event. But this year I ran a couple open 800s, and I fell in love with it. It’s a strategic race.”
The 3,200 will be his last race of the day.
“He knows going in there will be guys who will be fresh,” Kelly said. “What a badge of honor if he could go out there and say, ‘This is my fourth event and I’m going to try and be all-state and beat some guys who haven’t run at all today.’”
Jeremy Kloss
Kloss will toe the line in three Division 4 distance races. His Regional times of 4:26.71 in the 1,600 and 9:49.52 in the 3,200 were best in the division. The Rams also had the top 3,200 relay time of 8:20.69.
Kloss, who was second in the LP Division 4 Cross Country Final, said he’s peaking at the right time.
“With the state meet coming up, it was time to kick it into gear, get motivated, get serious,” he said.
Kloss, who is coached by his father Mike, said he would like to achieve some goals he set at the beginning of the season – to run in the high 9:30s in the 3,200 and low 4:20s in the 1,600.
“I think I can,” he said.
Jeremy is the youngest of four brothers to run for the Rams. His mother, Emily, coaches the girls team.
“I was born in early October and wasn’t even a month old when I went to my first state finals cross country meet,” he said.
His brother Jake ran on the school’s LP Division 4 cross country championship teams in 2002 and 2003.
Jeremy Kloss was sixth in the 1,600 and 3,200 as a freshman. He said the 1,600 is his favorite event because it combines the speed of the 800 with the endurance of the 3,200.
“It’s the perfect medium,” he said.
And has he received any advice from his older brothers – Jake, Ben and Scott – who will all be in attendance Saturday?
“No, other than ‘Why aren’t you running faster?’” he said with a laugh.
Kloss would like the last laugh tomorrow.
“I’m very excited for it,” he said.
TC West 400-meter relay
In Division 1, Traverse City West enters the 400-meter relay seeded second to Rockford (42.57) with a time of 42.63 seconds.
“First is obviously a goal,” senior Dalton Michael said. “It’s there, but we’ll see.”
Twins Donovan and Dalton Michael lead off the relay, followed by Lukas Sawusch and Erik LaBonte. Dalton Michael was the state’s Mr. Soccer in the fall.
“We’re all multi-sport athletes,” LaBonte said. “We’ve been working together the whole (spring). We’re getting better.”
The Titans placed seventh in the relay a year ago, but Donovan Michael is the only returnee. Dalton missed his junior season of track with a dislocated knee. LaBonte was bothered by a hip injury.
But that’s in the past.
“We’re coming into (Saturday) knowing we’re a good team,” Donovan Michael said. “If we have a good day, we could do really well.”
Coach Tom Brown said the Titans will need a school record-breaking performance to be in the hunt. The 42.63 in the Regional tied the school mark.
“I think we’ll have to run in the 41s,” Brown said. “That’s something Rockford did (41.6 at the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association state team meet last weekend).”
Detroit Cass Tech, led by three Big Ten football recruits, won the 400 relay last June in 42.26.
“I think we can go faster,” Sawusch said. “Our handoffs haven’t been great, so we need to work on that this week.”
Focusing on the exchange zone has been a point of emphasis in practice.
“The 4X1 is all about handoffs,” Brown said.
The Titans believe they have the speed.
“We’ve had 22 kids in school history run sub-11.3 – 18 different kids in the last seven years,” assistant coach Jason Morrow said. “The kids have worked hard at it.”
LaBonte, who also plays football, is the lone underclassmen in the group. Sawusch is headed to Spring Arbor to run track. The Michaels will play soccer at Western Michigan University. Dalton, who earned All-American honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association, became the second Titan to win Mr. Soccer, after Casey Townsend earned the honor in 2006 and 2007. Dalton had 29 goals and eight assists this past fall for West. Donovan added 20 goals and 20 assists.
What would it be like to add a Division 1 championship medal in track to his Mr. Soccer award?
“It would be a dream come true,” Dalton Michael said. “It would be one to remember.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Harbor Springs’ Jeremy Kloss carries the baton during a relay this season. (Middle top) Gaylord’s Casey Korte lands a long jump. (Middle below) Benzie Central’s Braydon Huddleston. (Below) Traverse City West’s 400 relay, from left: Dalton Michael, Lukas Sawusch, Erik LaBonte, Donovan Michael. (Top photo courtesy of the Kloss family, middle top photo courtesy of the Gaylord Herald Times.)