West Bloomfield's Jackie
Rothenberg burst onto the
high school running scene
in a big way.
tos by Glenn Triest
Frosh
Flash
STEVE STEIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
of many 14-year-old high school
freshmen know exactly what
they want to accomplish before
heading off to college or the
work world.
Jackie Rothenberg, on the
other hand, has her sights firm-
ly set on a very lofty accom-
plishment. The 5-foot-2,
110-pound West Bloomfield
high-school runner wants to be
the Class A state girls cross
country champion the next
three years.
She's off to a good start.
Even though Rothenberg
hadn't quite recovered from
a three-week bout with a
respiratory/sinus infection,
she finished second in the
"team" race in the Class A
state meet last month at
Saskatoon Golf Club near
Grand Rapids.
That race was for entire
teams which had qualified
to compete in the state
meet. There also was a
race for individual quali-
fiers. The overall cham-
pion was determined by
the results of both events.
Rothenberg was timed
in 18:26 for the 3.1 miles. Team
race winner and three-time
Class A champion Christy
Goodison of Sterling Heights
Stevenson, a senior, won in
17:51.
"If I keep working hard and
maintain the same attitude, I
think I have a shot at doing
what Christy did — win three
straight state championships,"
Rothenberg said.
"I have some talent, but I'd
say my main strong point is my
determination. I treat practices
like they were races and when
I'm in a race, I'm just not going
to let anyone pass me.
"So much of running is men-
tal. You've got to stay strong
mentally if you want to succeed.
"I've never really been able
to figure out why I like to run,
but I think it has something to
do with the challenge. I like to
push myself."
Rothenberg believes good nu-
trition also is important for a
distance runner. She says just
the thought of eating candy
makes her ill.
"I've been a vegetarian since
I was in third grade, though my
mom (Carol) makes me eat
chicken sometimes," Rothen-
berg said. "My mom is great
when it comes to my food. She'll
do things like cook some noo-
dles for me in the morning so I
can eat them for lunch."
Howard and Carol Rothen-
berg have one other child, Katie,
a 23-month-old daughter. Jack-
ie appreciates her family's sup-
port at meets. Her mom even
attends practices.
"All I think about during a
race is the finish line, but it's
nice to know my family is
there," Jackie said. "I don't un-
derstand why so many parents
don't go see their kids run at
meets. Cross country is a very
tough sport."
West Bloomfield cross coun-
try coach Lee Averill, who has
been following Rothenberg's
progress since she was a sixth-
grader at Abbott Middle School,
was impressed by how well
Rothenberg made the difficult
transition from middle school
to high school running.
"I thought she would hold up
well against the much fiercer
competition you face in high
school, but you never know how
a kid is going to adjust to the
much longer and tougher sea-
son," Averill said. "Jackie han-
dled it very well.
"Jackie is very intelligent and
very focused when it comes to
running. If she keeps that good
attitude, she'll have a bright fu-
ture."
Rothenberg knew that being
a successful high school cross
country runner as a freshman
wasn't going to be easy. But she
says she didn't let the workouts
get the best of her, and she
gained additional confidence in
her ability when she did well in
her first few meets.
She's certainly happy to have
Averill in her corner. He's also
West Bloomfield's girls track
coach, so he'll be guiding
Rothenberg in distance events
this spring.
"Mr. Averill is the best coach
in the world," Rothenberg said.
"He can take a regular runner
and make him or her into a su-
perstar."
The West Bloomfield girls
cross country team had seven
FLASH page 54