Crawford’s efforts to ‘run right' lead her to state meet,TrackTown12 camp
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Morgan Crawford
competes in the
300-meter hurdles
at the district track
meet. She took
second place to
qualify for the state
meet, where she
placed 10^.
By Diane Rodriquez
“Coach, she’s going to do it.”
Those words hung in the air between
Siletz Valley Coach Emily McMillin and
track athlete Melanie Cummiskey as they
watched Tribal member Morgan Craw
ford glide over the hurdles in preparation
for the district track meet in May.
Cummiskey, a senior at Siletz Valley
Early College Academy, was referring
to Crawford breaking the school record
in the 300-meter hurdles, a record Cum
miskey holds.
Although the record wasn’t broken
this year, Cummiskey and Crawford both
finished their track seasons at the state
meet after months of “practicing on the
grass, we’re practicing on the road, we’re
practicing on the football field, anywhere
we can find, inside the hallway when it’s
rainy out,” McMillin said, because there
is no track at Siletz Valley.
Cummiskey, a senior, placed eighth
in both the triple jump and high jump at
the state meet. Crawford, 15, placed 10Ih
in the 300 hurdles as a freshman.
Crawford’s success on the track
comes from a time when she wanted to
run but couldn’t. When she was in the fifth
grade, track was offered to sixth-graders
and a few students in the fifth grade.
Crawford, however, was on crutches.
“I wrecked on my quad and I ended
up getting water on my knee. I was on
crutches for three-and-a-half months. It
was awful and I was so jealous of the few
kids that got to go out and practice with
the middle school and high school,” said
Crawford. “In the sixth grade, kind of
out of spite, I was like I want to go do it.
I didn’t get to do it last year. I want to do
it now and then ended up having a really
good time.”
Crawford said one of the first things
she had to do was learn to “run right” with
the help of Mike McMillen.
“He had to teach me how to run.
He’s like, ‘You’re running wrong.’ And
I’m like, ‘I don’t know how that’s even
possible. It’s running,”’ said Crawford.
“It’s like shorter steps, pumping your
arms, holding your arms in. It was weird
to find out all these years, I’ve been run
ning wrong. I had to run a different way.”
Running a different way certainly
applies to the hurdles, even if you’ve been
familiar with them since the sixth grade.
“Ms. McMillin was really drilling
into me - rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. I never
really understood that until we set them
up in the big gym one day and she said,
‘OK Melanie, jump them all.’ And she’s
like, ‘Listen to her,”’ said Crawford. “And
it finally just clicked, that the rhythm -
you have to get perfect steps. Everyone
has their own certain way of stepping, but
you have to figure that out to really excel
in it. That’s when I started understanding
I have to do this and this and then take a
step. So in my head, I used to go ‘bum
bum bum - bum bum bum’ so I could
remember the rhythm that I have.”
Track is just one of several activi
ties in which Crawford participates. She
played basketball this year for the first
time. She participates in SMILE (Science,
Math, Investigative Learning Experience),
leadership (planning things like the prom,
Water Day, yearbook and homecoming)
and the Youth Film Project (see story on
page 1). She worked on the school news
paper in eighth grade.
“Our whole class got to work on it. I
really liked that because I like writing,”
said Crawford. “I actually want to be a
journalist or an English teacher. I’m jug
gling both because I love English so much
and literature. But I also really like writ
ing. I’ve still got a few years to decide.”
She also has participated in the
Tribal Youth Educational Employment
(TYEE) summer job program and is a
feather dancer.
“She’s young _ - a a freshman
freshman this
this yeai
year
Courtesy photos
- so she’s got lots of time to then use the
leadership skills at our school and in the
community,” continued McMillin. “She
loves track and I knew she had a lot of
potential. She’s one of those kids who
leads her peers and even kids who are
older than her look to her as a leader. And
so she was just a natural candidate.”
McMillin will be at the Olympic Tri
als as a volunteer helping to run the meet,
although in mid-May she did not know
what assignment she would have.
Crawford will attend TrackTown 12
during the first of two sessions that
include about 50 teenagers each. Track
may be what got her there, but it’s not the
only thing the camp is about.
“The focus is on you as a whole
person, not just a track athlete. The camp
involves track athletes and non-track ath
letes. It focuses on the whole; it’s not just
a select group of people,” said Crawford.
“Anyone can be involved.”
College on the horizon
TrackTown 12
Crawford’s interest in track will lead
her to Eugene, Ore., this month and the
USA Track and Field Olympic Trials. She
will participate in TrackTown 12, a youth
leadership camp for high school students.
When McMillin received an e-mail
that included information about the camp,
she immediately was excited by it.
“I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know
what this is, but meeting with the Olympic
Trials and track and leadership - those are
three things I love,’ so I clicked on the link
and read about it. And it was like, ‘OK,
who can I get excited about this?’ And
instantly, Morgan was the one that came
up,” said McMillin.
Crawford was born and raised in
Siletz and calls herself a “small town girl.
I don’t do well in big cities.” Going to
college might change this, but the ability
to earn dual credits at Siletz Valley and
Oregon Coast Community College could
put the big city off for awhile.
“This is something I really want to
look at in my junior and senior years so I
can get a lot of credits out of the way. It’s
such a good opportunity because it’s so
close,” said Crawford.
Going to college also means looking
for scholarships.
“There’s a lot of things I’m doing
now, which is why I’m also doing SMILE,
because it’s a really good way to get
scholarships. There can be really good
opportunities if you just look for them.
I’m the person who plans ahead,” said
Crawford. “It’s like everything, like the
TrackTown thing, looks like a lot of fun
and then wait, this would look good on a
college application. It’s kind of exciting to
look at the different possibilities and it’s
like everything kind of falls into place.”
fo use mail order pharmacy to order your refills after hours and on week
ends: Please call the Siletz Clinic 7-10 days before you need your refills. This
allows us time to contact your provider, if necessary, and for mailing.
•
Call 800-648-0449; enter 1624 as soon as the clinic’s message begins - you’ll
be transferred to the refill line.
•
Or, call the refill line direct - 541 -444-9624.
Siletz Tribal Behavioral
Health Programs
Community Efforts Demonstrating the Ability to Rebuild and Restore
Prevention, Outpatient Treatment
and Women’s Transitional
Mission Statement: We will utilize resources to prevent the use of alcohol
and other drugs, delinquency and violence; we will seek to reduce the barriers
CEDARR
to treatment and support those who choose abstinance.
Siletz: 800-600-5599 or
541-444-8286
Eugene: 541-484-4234
Salem: 503-390-9494
Portland: 503-238-1512
Narcotics Anonymous Toll-Free
June 6
Help Line - 877-233-4287
Noon
For information on Alcoholics
Siletz Public Library
Anonymous: aa-oregon.org
255 SE Gaither, Siletz
June 2012
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Siletz News
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