Sarah (Sargent) Plaxton - Cross-Country/Track - Class of 2007

Sarah (Sargent) Plaxton attended Bullock Creek High School where she participated in cross-country and track. She set school records in the 1-mile run and 2-mile run in track and the 5k in cross-country. She qualified for the MHSAA State Meet in both cross-country and track each of the four years she ran in high school. In addition, she received All-State recognition several times.

Plaxton received a cross-country and track scholarship to attend Central Michigan University where she earned a varsity Letter in cross-country as a freshman.

After college, Plaxton continued to compete in road races and at age 26 ran her first marathon. She nurtured her gift for running long distances and began to participate in marathons as an elite runner. She has run 39 marathons and placed in the top five in 20 of these races. Plaxton has won the Traverse City Bayshore Marathon six times. She also qualified and competed in the 2004 Olympic Marathon Trials which was a highlight of her running career.

But she testified the uneasy feeling escalated when the coach — former Detroit Lion Tommie Boyd — offered to pay her for sex.

During a hearing in Roseville District Court on Wednesday, the girl, now 16, detailed alleged encounters with Boyd that began when she was 14. She said the 38-year-old groped her and made inappropriate sexual comments on many occasions before she agreed to have sex with him for cash over the summer.

But after the deed, she said, Boyd failed to hold up his end of the deal.

“There was an agreement made by Boyd and myself,” she told Roseville District Judge Marco Santia. “He said that he would give me $5,000 if I slept with him.”

After hearing her account, Santia ordered Boyd to stand trial on charges of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct and accosting children for immoral purposes for the incidents that allegedly occurred at the high school, the teen’s home and a motel on 13 Mile and Little Mack.

Now, after a bit of revision, Martinez has a new goal. “Now I want to place.”

The young heavyweight, who lit up plenty of opponents this fall on Montague’s two-time state title team (he was a defensive tackle, of course), is now getting a chance to light up the 285-bracket as well, scoring district and regional titles the past two weekends. For Martinez, pulling off such a feat, at such a young age, may have as much to do with the wrestling mat as it does with the gridiron.

“Strength wise, football has really helped me improve as a wrestler,” Martinez explained. Unfortunately, the deep playoff run put in by the football team meant he got a late start to the wrestling season, causing him to miss the season’s first all-day invitational. A shot-putter on the track team as well, Martinez believes giving everything he has toward each sport has taught him to work hard, even if the chips are down. “That’s why I do the extra laps, all the hard work: To have it when I need it,” he said.

Bill Khan | The Flint Journal, February 27, 2010 7:51 p.m.
DURAND, Michigan — David Madrigal’s family is more loyal to him than to the University of Michigan.

Still, there is a line that won’t be crossed.

The Durand senior will wear the green and white of Michigan State when he runs college cross country and track, challenging the rooting interests of some family members.

“I’ve always been a State fan, but we have a lot of Michigan fans in my family,” Madrigal said. “They said they’ll support me, but they’re not going to support the team. There are more Michigan than Michigan State fans in my family. They said, ‘We’ll come watch you, but we’re not rooting for the Spartans; we can’t do it.’”

Fair enough. Cross country and track are primarily individual sports anyway.

by CHRIS GRAY
Observer Staff Writer
A Romeo athlete will represent his community as the recipient of a prestigious scholarship.
Senior Steven Saliga has been named one of 32 recipients of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s (MHSAA) Scholar-Athlete Award for the 2009-10 academic year, making him the third student in Romeo Community Schools’ recent history to earn it.
A total of 1,900 students from various school classifications applied for the scholarship this year. Applicants had to list their achievements in sports and extracurricular activities, have two letters of recommendation and submit a 500-word essay about the importance of sportsmanship.