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http://heraldargus.com/articles/2011/06/06...f5360027697.txt

BLOOMINGTON — It’s a long drive to the Indiana University track in Bloomington. Alana Rivera made it worth her while.

“This is my first trip to state, so I’m really excited,” said the Michigan City senior, who ended her high school track season by finishing ninth in the shot put at the 38th annual IHSAA girls state track finals.

Rivera reached 40 feet, 4 1/4 inches, the best effort of her career, to earn a spot on the awards stand. Though she was seeded only 18th coming into the meet, she quickly hit her big throw to earn a spot in the final round.

And in doing so, she became a part of history. The shot put was one of five events where new state records were set Saturday, with Portage senior Tori Bliss reaching 50 feet, 9 inches to shatter the previous standard of 49-7 set by Stacy Martin of Edgewood in 1999.

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And there was more to the story. Bliss had to break the state record just to win the event, as Southridge junior Cassie Wertman also took down the previous mark with a 50-3. And Bliss was throwing off a badly injured ankle, which kept her from even making the finals in the discus, where she was defending champ.

The shot put competition was so tough that it took a throw of 40 feet just to make the final round. And right in the middle of all this was Rivera, who wanted to end her prep career in style.

“As the only one who made state from my (Michigan City) team, I really wanted to do well,” said Rivera. “When we came out here to practice, my throws felt pretty awesome. It was feeling good right from the start.”

Saturday’s tournament will be remembered as possibly the best girls track meet in Hoosier history, with five state records and a dramatic finish, where the team title was not decided until the final steps of the final race.

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She was also named all DAC!

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/agate/artic...ef4d5d63a2.html

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http://heraldargus.com/articles/2011/06/23...17222770569.txt

Nice shot

Michigan City’s Alana Rivera watches the results of her shot put toss at last month’s Chesterton Regional. H-A File Photo

MC’s Rivera tried track, got a scholarship and placed at state
By Drew White
Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, June 23, 2011 5:06 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Had it not been for her friend Na’Kia Jones, Alana Rivera likely would’ve never gone to her first track practice.

“She wanted to do track,” Rivera said of Jones. “I would never, ever have thought about doing track at all. I didn’t know what they were going to have me doing, so I was against it at first. They had a hard time with me because I’m a stubborn person.”

Despite that, Michigan City girls track and field head coach Tim Bumber said he could tell that Rivera had the chance to do something special.

“She must have liked us because she kept coming back,” Bumber said. “Her freshman year, we knew we had something.”.

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Four years later, Rivera capped off a solid high school throwing career by placing ninth in the shot put competition at the IHSAA State Finals in Bloomington — earning a medal in her first and only trip downstate — and has also earned the title of Herald-Argus 2010-11 Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Since showing Bumber sparks of potential that first season, Rivera has steadily progressed by improving her distances each year. She qualified for regionals in the shot put during her sophomore, junior, and senior years and finally broke through to the state meet this season. During her junior and senior seasons, she also qualified for regionals in the discus.

“I told my coaches that this was my year and I was going to make it down there,” Rivera said. “If you want it bad enough, you can get it, you just have to believe in yourself.”

After having reservations about participating in track, Rivera says her motivation to continue after her freshman season came from not having qualified for the regional.

“I got really sad when I didn’t place for regionals,” Rivera said of her ninth grade year. “After that, it made me want to do it even more and made me more interested in track.”

Rivera went into the state meet this season seeded 17th, based on regional results.

After finishing 10th in the trials, her first attempt in the finals went 40 feet, 4.5 inches and would ultimately be good enough for a medal.

That mark set a new Michigan City High School record in the event, breaking her own school record.

Bumber said that Rivera had a tendency to become nervous at the regional, something that made getting to the state finals a challenge. Once she got to Bloomington, Bumber saw a new side of his senior star.

“Regionals this year was a lot of the same,” Bumber said. “She had a lot of nerves, but I know Coach (Cheryl) Bohlim had something to do with it as far as talking to her and trying to relax her.

“When we got down there, we saw a whole different girl. She was a girl on a mission.”

Having been in the same conference as Portage’s three-time IHSAA shot put state champion Tori Bliss, Rivera was able to see what she needed to strive for. Rivera said competing against Bliss was intimidating at first but ultimately allowed her to become a better thrower.

“I love competing against Tori,” Rivera said. “At first you get a kind of edge around her. You get scared and nervous around her because she is so good and it knocks you off balance.

“You can really learn a lot from her and that’s why I liked competing with her. Plus, she’s a nice person to be around.”

Rivera has earned a scholarship to continue her throwing career at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind. She says it is an opportunity that she cherishes.

“I’ve grown to love it and I’ve gotten good at it and I want to keep doing it,” Rivera said of throwing. “Not a lot of people get as many chances as I’ve gotten.

“I can’t let it go. It’s like a bad habit, but it’s a good habit.”

Rivera plans on majoring in biology and hopes to eventually become a doctor.

Bumber, who has coached track in Michigan City for more than 20 years says Rivera will go down as one of the community’s all-time greatest throwers and that her achievement at state is a reflection of her hard work.

“There might have been other girls that were as talented as Alana, but she got the mental aspect of it,” Bumber said. “Getting her medal was a tremendous accomplishment, passing that many kids.

“I know it is an experience that will last for her for a lifetime.”