A few weeks ago, I mentioned that these tickets should be thought of as a career achievement award, a celebration of sorts. Athletes such as Liliane are the reason why. She’s well-known in the metro Detroit area as a jack of all trades, a girl who can sprint, jump, and has endurance to boot. Prepping for State following her Region 8 victory in the pole vault, she tore her ACL. That tear won’t permit her to compete this fall, but she deserves mention here. I have a feeling those South Lyon East girls will band together in her absence and will be a force in the LVC and Oakland County scene.
Some say track record as a view of someone’s past, I think we should just retire the phrase in Lili’s honor
You can look back in time and see the seeds of greatness, a 5’1 jump in 8th grade to finish second at County, a 10’6 vault later that summer
Fast forward to this past season, she held top-100 marks in the State in the PV, HJ, 400m, and 1600m
One might be that accomplished, that focused toward a well-rounded track season that they’d take the fall off in prep for a grueling winter, spring, and summer – that is not the case
From her freshman year on, she’s been a leader for the East team
3rd at LVC all three years, state qualifier all three years, All-County all three years
In the future, I hope we can look back at this season on the sidelines and see it as a minor bump in the road, for a hard-wired athlete such as Lili, that hope is almost certain to come true
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Liliane Aittama
19:44.8
136.1
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Liliane Aittama
19:42.6
131.1
A2 Early Bird
Huron Meadows
2-Sep
11
Liliane Aittama
18:49.1
146.6
Huron
Willow
18-Sep
11
Liliane Aittama
19:05.9
141.0
Jackson
Sharp Park
25-Sep
11
Liliane Aittama
19:28.7
143.4
Oakland County
Possum Hollow
9-Oct
11
Liliane Aittama
19:32.9
140.7
LVC Championship
Possum Hollow
21-Oct
11
Liliane Aittama
18:57.8
141.1
4 Meadows
Huron Meadows
29-Oct
11
Liliane Aittama
18:43.6
142.5
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Liliane Aittama
135.0
Oakland County
Kensington
10-Oct
10
Liliane Aittama
136.0
PR 8
Huron Meadows
23-Oct
10
Liliane Aittama
135.3
D1 Reg 4
DeWitt HS
31-Oct
10
Liliane Aittama
139.4
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Liliane Aittama
146.9
A2 Fall Preview
Huron Meadows
9
Liliane Aittama
142.2
Tommy Titan
Cass Benton
9
Liliane Aittama
139.7
Spartan
Forest Akers
9
Liliane Aittama
132.3
Coaching Legends
Huron Meadows
9
Liliane Aittama
140.7
Oakland County
Kensington
9
Liliane Aittama
138.8
Gabriel Richard
Hudson Mills (South)
9
Liliane Aittama
133.7
Lakes Valley
Kensington
9
Liliane Aittama
133.6
4
DeWitt HS
9
Liliane Aittama
135.5
D1 State
MIS
With a generational talent such as Peter Baracco graduating, what are the Falcons to do?
Just kidding, when you’ve got a coach that gets the most out of his talent and a team that buys in, you get cases such as Eddie (and Gavin Steele, along with many others)
That buy in comes in earnest when you’re out of the game, as an IT band injury kept him from running throughout August and September, zero miles on the legs
And should explain the “slow” start, 17:00+ efforts in three of the four races before State, where he knocked an astounding 30 seconds off his season best
As a sophomore on the track in 2020, he established himself in the 1600m with multiple efforts in the 4:35-4:45 range
As a junior, he was able to double the distance at nearly the same speed, topping out with a 9:33 at Oakland County, good enough to grab the victory
Can you imagine what he’ll do on the cross course given a full buildup?
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 
1 thought on “50 Tickets to Brooklyn: #39”