SPORTS

T

he new year is just a few weeks away.
It will be an important year for
North Farmington High School
senior Josh Rioux. He hopes 2023 will be a
year of achieving his goals in track and field
and wiping away disappointments.
Rioux is a high jumper.
He’s a good enough high jumper to have
competed in the Michigan High School
Athletic Association Division 1 state meet
in June and AAU Junior Olympic Games
in August and improve his personal-record
jump by seven inches in one year.
He tied his new PR of 6 feet, 3 inches
at the state meet at Rockford and finished
in ninth place, but that was one spot away
from earning All-State honors.
“It was very disappointing to miss out
on being All-State,
” Rioux said. “Do I want
to make All-State this coming season?
Absolutely. That’s my No. 1 goal.
“How well I do at the state meet will
determine if I want to continue high jump-
ing in college. That would be a big commit-
ment.
”
Rioux went to Greensboro, North
Carolina, for the Junior Olympics.
“I didn’t do very well there,
” he said.
He cleared 5-11 and finished 39th of
about 80 competitors in the boys 17-18 age
group.
“I wasn’t nervous at nationals,
” he said. “I
was more nervous at the state meet because
I’
d never high jumped in front of that many
people.
“What I learned from nationals is I need
to focus on myself at a big meet like that.
You can’t compare yourself to everyone
else.
”

Just getting to the state meet and Junior
Olympics required some work for Rioux.
He first achieved his new PR of 6-3 at an
MHSAA regional meet at Farmington and
tied for first place. The top two finishers in
high jump at the regional advanced to state.
That was quite a different story from the
previous year, Rioux’s sophomore season,
when he failed to clear any height at a
regional. There was no high school track
and field season when he was a freshman
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rioux finished third at a Junior Olympics
qualifier at Detroit Renaissance with a jump
of 6-0. The top six jumpers there earned
spots at the Junior Olympics. It was Rioux’s
first Junior Olympics qualifier.
Rioux had another feather in his cap
during this past high school season. He
finished first in high jump at the Oakland
Activities Association Blue/Gold meet at
West Bloomfield, clearing 5-10.
At 6 feet tall, Rioux is shorter than most
of his high jumping opponents.
“I’m shorter than probably 90% of them,
”
he said.
The 17-year-old makes up for that defi-
ciency with a dogged determination to do
well, listening to his coaches and a love for
high jumping.
“It’s all you,
” he said about high jumping.
“You determine your own success. I live for
that pressure.
”
As for listening to his coaches, “I’m
always open to new ideas,
” he said. “When
I was at regionals and state last season, I
called over all the (North Farmington)
coaches to see me jump so I could get their
feedback.
”

Josh Rioux is deep
in thought at the
Division 1 boys
track and field state
meet last season.

MICHIGAN HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

North Farmington High School senior
Josh Rioux has a New Year’s resolution
for 2023: All-State in high jump.

Jumping to
a Conclusion

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Christine Buen isn’t surprised by Rioux’s
high-jumping success. The two first crossed
paths when Rioux was a seventh-grader at
Warner Middle School, where Buen coach-
es high jumpers.
A high-jump tryout in the Warner gym
gave Buen her first glimpse of Rioux’s
high-jumping potential.
Buen has followed Rioux’s progress since
he left Warner, attending some of his meets
and sending him video clips and texts with
coaching suggestions.
“Josh gets it when it comes to high
jumping,
” Buen said. “He’s insightful. He
listens and learns. He sees what needs to be
changed and changes it. He’s willing to lis-
ten to any adult who wants to help him.
”
Rioux returned Buen’s compliment.
“I wouldn’t have achieved any of the
things I’ve achieved in high jump without
her,
” he said.
Rioux is a triplet along with his brother
Noah and sister Samantha, who were born
before and after him. They were born Jan.
5, 2005.

Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.

DECEMBER 1 • 2022 | 35