It took less than one week for the towns that comprise the Collinsville Unit 10 school district to rally behind one of their own and send him to the 2014 USA Track and Field Junior Outdoor Championships.
Martinus Mitchell throws the shot put at the Collinsville Invitational on May 10, 2014 / Photo by Roger Starkey
2014 Collinsville High School graduate Martinus Mitchell will be at the championships in Eugene, Ore. July 5-6, thanks to the outpouring of support that raised $3,000 in just six days. A total of 84 people contributed, with donations ranging from $5 – $200.
Collinsville High School track coach Chad Burgess began the fund drive on June 9 to ensure Mitchell would be able to compete at the USTF Junior Outdoor Championships. By June 11, over $1,500 had been raised.
“I was shocked how fast it kept it come going up,” Burgess said.
Burgess, who is a physical education teacher at Collinsville Middle School, said he was happy to see the number of teachers that contributed.
“But, I’m not surprised, he’s such a great kid,” Burgess said.
Mitchell, who was a February CHS Character Student of the Month, won the Illinois state shot put championship on May 31 with a throw of 61-feet 3/4 inches. A throw of 60 feet was needed to qualify for the junior national championships. His top outdoor throw this year was 61-feet 8.5 inches, well beyond the previous CHS record of 57-5 ¾, set in 1971 by Bernard Birger.
Birger’s donation of $100 helped send the kid who broke his record to the most prestigious track event of the year in the United States for anyone 20-years-old and younger. Mitchell’s coach was glad others understood how important the event was for his pupil.
“I’m just happy that everybody realized it’s a big deal for him to go” Burgess said.
The GoFundMe company, whose website Burgess used for the fundraising campaign, will keep $500 of the $3,000 raised, Burgess said. But the remainder of the money raised, and the commitment from the CHS athletic department to cover their meals while in “TrackRown USA,” will be enough to cover most expenses.
The next challenge for Mitchell is to throw the shot put 59.875 feet while at the junior championships. A throw of that length will qualify him for the world junior championships. It a distance Mitchell’s throws have covered many times, but this time he will have to do it with a 13.2-pound ball (6 kilograms), not the 12-pound regulation high school ball to which he is accustomed.
If Mitchell throws the heavier ball 59.875 feet, he will qualify for the International Association of Athletics Federations World Junior Championships, also to be held in Eugene, Ore. The USATF will pay for travel expenses to the first ever world junior championships held on U.S. soil.
