College commitment: Elyria's Mateo Medina likes west best, picks Arizona State to continue track and academic careers

ELYRIA — It may have been the slowest thing he's ever had to do in his life. Mateo Medina, a ball of energy whether playing baseball, basketball or running track, took his time before signing his letter of intent to attend Arizona State next year on a track scholarship. After receiving offers from just about every big-time track school in the nation, Medina boiled it down to the Sun Devils, Ohio State and Baylor before picking Arizona State. "It's a very stressful process," Medina said. "Very long, very difficult. You have so much to think about. It's not even where you'll be going to school, it's your new home." Medina made his announcement Saturday morning in front of a large contingent of friends, classmates, teammates, coaches, parents, grandparents and relatives at the Rapha International Center on Gulf Road, formerly Northwood Junior High. "The college process is all about the connection with the college," he said. "I just felt that Arizona State. I could see myself going there the most. The coaches gave me the best energy. It felt like they wanted me the most. They made me feel secure and at home. Arizona State was just perfect for me. "I love the West Coast. I love the heat. I love the coaches." Medina has always had a high motor and seems to never run out of energy. "He's always been competitive," said his grandmother and track guru Jackie Below. "Whatever he did, he did it fast. He had no idea what I did in track. He really didn't have much idea that his mother (Marita Below) was a member of a state championship relay team. Now, he's like, 'Oh, I guess you guys were good.'" Below has coached many outstanding track athletes including Olympic and world champion Tianna Madison, who led Elyria High to the state championship in 2003. She believes Medina could be in that category. "Because he wants it," she said. "He wants to be better. He would do whatever it takes to get better. I told him when he chooses his college make sure it's the one that going to take you as far as you want to go." Medina set the county record in the 200-meter dash last spring, surprising everyone. He also ran the 100 and 400 and excelled in all three. He holds the school record in the 100 (10.6) and 200 (21.08) and he's on the heels of Elyria High's 400 record holder, Rod Moore. Medina's personal best in the 400 is 47.17. After false-starting in the state 400, Medina came back to finish fourth in the 200. Last summer at the University of Oregon, Medina won the 17-18-year-old USATF youth national division in the 200, finished runner-up in the 400 and sixth in the 100 running for the Oberlin Spikes Track Club. Everyone knew Medina could play basketball. His energy was a key factor in the Pioneers' 18-win season a year ago. He averaged 12 points, four rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals a game as a junior. He shot 49 percent from the field, including 41 percent from the 3-point line, but he opted to concentrate solely on track this year. "We went into last track season focused on the 200 and 400," said veteran Elyria track coach Jerry Chizmar. "We made a commitment to develop his speed for those events by using short sprints in practice and the 100 meter in meets. When Mateo ran a 10.7 at Huron in April, I knew we had something special happening. He's a gifted athlete whose work ethic is second to none." While it's unusual for a sprinter to compete in all three events, it can be done. Moore did it at Elyria in 1988 and Ray Armstrong did it for Elyria West in 1979 when he swept all three events at the state meet. Medina hopes to duplicate Armstrong's showing this spring. "My big goals, I want to win state, I want to win nationals and break some state records," Medina said. "Even possibly reach and qualify for the Olympic trials. Who knows? That's my goal." "I've always seen something in Mateo," said Isaac Johnson, a longtime track and football coach in the area who first saw Medina's potential as a little league baseball player. "He wasn't as confident as he is now. He's always been fast. He had that quick twitch that you don't see in a lot of kids. Once I saw his drive to be the best — he's never satisfied — so he just had to learn to channel it. Once he figured that part out, the sky's the limit for him." "Once coach Isaac got him on first, he was coming home," Below said with a smile. "He was definitely coming home. People just loved that." "I shoot for the stars," Medina said. "If I miss, I land on the clouds." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.