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

