Michaelsen stays busy on his way to State Meet
The past month has been like a whirlwind for Newport Harbor High senior Steve Michaelsen.
He’s had to attend different awards ceremonies, compete in several track and field meets and spurn other events to concentrate on his final season with the Sailors.
There’s one more special function he hopes to miss this Saturday. That would be the prom.
Michaelsen, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, qualified for the CIF State Championships in the discus. He’s competing in the prelims on Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis. He wants to qualify for the finals, which take place Saturday.
“I don’t plan on going to prom,” Michaelsen said. “I plan on medaling this year.”
Last year, Michaelsen didn’t make it to the finals and went to the prom. He called it a nice consolation prize. He used the same reference for qualifying for the state meet after missing a spot at state in the shotput last week. In reality, he showed his resolve by bouncing back to qualify for state in the discus.
He was battling some sort of congestion throughout the Masters Meet last Friday. He finished 12th in the shotput (54 feet, 2 1/2 inches). He was upset, but he knew he had to move on.
He went on to finish fifth in the discus (177-9) to reach the State Meet for the second straight year.
“It’s really awesome,” Michaelsen said. “It goes to show that Coach [Tony] Ciarelli’s hard work really pays off. He’s sending three guys to state in four slots. It proves he is the greatest high school coach around. It proves we worked really hard, the countless hours and sweat and all that pays off.”
Michaelsen’s personal record in the discus is 185-1, which ranks No. 8 in the state. He was obviously trying to surpass it at the Masters Meet at Cerritos College. He was pleased with grabbing fifth place and qualifying for state. It was impressive, considering he had struggled in the shotput and he was battling some illness.
The night before he attended the banquet for the Brea Lions Club’s 53rd annual Orange County North-South Prep All-Star Charity Football Game. On Thursday morning, he was among 30 honored at the Athletics Awards Breakfast.
It’s been a crazy season. After the breakfast, he had to go to Newport Harbor for a prom rally event, where seniors wore T-shirts of the college they’re attending. Michaelsen could wear a Wake Forest shirt.
After that event it was off to pack for Clovis.
Newport Harbor’s Ethan Cochran (shotput, discus) and Marty Taylor (shotput) are also headed to Clovis. They went a day early to dine at Fleming’s, a tradition for the Newport throwers who reach the State Meet.
“It’s really cool,” Michaelsen said of all the events he had to attend over the past month. “I probably won’t understand how awesome it is until a couple years from now. It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of recognition. Going into high school I never knew what I was really going to do in sports. It’s awesome that I’ve been able to achieve what I did in sports that originally I wasn’t even going to do.”
Michaelsen had entered Newport Harbor thinking he would compete in volleyball. But he decided to play football and compete in track and field after meeting Ciarelli.
“He’s worked hard,” Ciarelli said of Michaelsen. “He’s become a student of the game and he keeps trying to improve his technique. It’s about understanding the concept of throwing and knowing the positions. You can want to throw hard and far, but you must know the positions because if you don’t hit the positions you don’t get the distance. He’s really bought into it. He’s done a great job all four years.”
Ciarelli tells his throwers to work hard throughout the season. They go through rigorous training early on with the idea of peaking in meets toward the end of the season.
The coach also demands dedication. Missing prom is nothing compared to other sacrifices that were made earlier in the season, he said.
“They work very hard to make the state meet,” Ciarelli said. “All you have to do is go to the prom. That’s just two different levels. The experience of prom is not even close to the achievement they’ll receive in the finals at state. They’ve been training for this. There’s no training for prom. They’ve done nothing but train for the past six months. They didn’t go on any vacations during winter break. They are willing to do the work to be the best they can be.”
Michaelsen is planning for the work to pay off this weekend.
“I’m really excited to go out there,” Michaelsen said of the state meet. “Hopefully it works out better than last year. I know it will. I’m ready to PR. I’m ready to go.”
Twitter: @SteveVirgen
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Steve Michaelsen
Born: April 14, 1994
Hometown: Newport Beach
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 240 pounds
Year: Senior
Sport: Track and field
Event: Discus
Coach: Tony Ciarelli
Favorite food: “My mom’s cooking”
Favorite movie: “Zoolander”
Favorite athletic moment: Going undefeated against Corona del Mar in football.
Week in review: Michaelsen finished fifth in the discus at the Masters Meet and qualified for the CIF State Championships for the second straight year.