Willowbrook’s ‘Diesel’ getting revved up Posted Friday, May 25, 2007 Colin Madison, defending Class AA shot put champion out of Willowbrook High School, is seeded second entering Class AA preliminaries of the boys track and field state finals starting today in Charleston. His throw of 62 feet, ¨ inch at Glenbard South’s Raider Invite on April 20 is acknowledged as 2007’s top mark in the state, indoors or outdoors. On Monday, a light training day for Willowbrook’s state qualifiers, the Daily Herald visited with Madison as he prepared to defend his state championship. The youngest of eight children born to Denise and La’Chom Madison, now divorced, the 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior relaxed on metal bleachers next to the Willowbrook track. He carries himself seriously and has a thick, muscular body — he was a three-year starter on Willowbrook’s offensive line — but is apt to break out in a warm grin at any moment. Pointing across the Warriors’ football field to the junior high where he began his track career as a seventh-grader in Villa Park, the candid 17-year-old champion reflected on throwing as well as other aspects of his life. Q. What is your memory of your 2006 state championship? A. It’s basically blank (laughs). It’s just my throw (58-9¨) and like getting really excited and getting my medal. It was me just staying focused and, like, just relaxing, because I knew it was going to come down to that day, the three throws we have (in the finals). I just had to stay focused and stay positive. Q. Was that difficult? A. No, it really wasn’t. It’s just the same routine I do every meet. Q. You have a tattoo on your right biceps, “Diesel.” What’s the significance? A. My sophomore year I was on varsity for football. I was the youngest on my team and they always used to make fun of me. So I’d make fun of them back. They’d just call me “Diesel,” something with my hairline. That name just stuck for awhile. I’ve still got the name. We were making fun of each other. It was just like, getting picked on and I said something back and then they started making fun of me again. Q. As a shot putter, what are your strengths? A. My technique, power and motivation, me just focusing in, just zoning everything out. Q. And your weaknesses? A. Myself. That’s about it. Q. Can you elaborate? A. Probably getting more motivated. A lot of these meets, I’m not that motivated because I’m facing nobody. It’s just me versus myself. But when I go into state, like this month of May, it’s just madness. That’s when I have to focus in the most, and I just zone out. Like, I do my work in school and then come out in practice, work hard. Q. How many outdoor competitions did you participate in before state last year? A. Two. Q. Why just two? A. I was caught at a party. We were drinking at a party. It was the week of the York Invitational, indoor. Q. What did you gain or learn from that experience? A. I gained a lot of things from it. Just not being stupid. You have a whole lifetime to, like, be drinking, stupid stuff like that. And (a) positive, look at the people who you’re hanging out with. A little drink — that’s not as important as your future. …I go out once in awhile to my friends’ house, but I stay away from all that stuff. Q. Has that experience made you stronger? A. It’s made me a lot stronger. It’s just about being a man. It’s the stuff you can do and the stuff you can’t do, and you can’t cross that line. Q. Who would you say is your inspiration or mentor? A. My mentor is my mom. She gives me the strength to go through every day, keep staying strong. I look at her, she’s staying strong through all of her cancer and breast cancer, and her treatments, all that, her chemo. She just got done with breast cancer. She had that last year and she went through chemo and then radiation, and she got done a couple months ago. Then she started growing her hair back — this happened last week. So we were talking last Saturday and she started having short breaths. That was the day before I was going out to Temple University for a football recruiting visit. That Saturday she went to the hospital. She found out she had the fourth stage of lung cancer, and it was spreading to her kidneys. (Denise Madison was to resume radiation treatments Thursday.) Q. How has that brought your family together? A. It’s brought us a lot closer. It just keeps me focused. She wants me to strive and do better for myself. She wants me to break the state record (66-1‰), she wants me to win state, so it’s just basically doing it for her — it’s not even about for me no more, it’s just doing it for her. …I’ve been close to my dad my whole life. My parents are separated, they’re divorced. I’m so close to my dad. I see him all the time. Q. What’s your relationship with your track coach, Romelle Taylor? A. He’s a cool guy (laughing). He’s a guy who made it through a lot of stuff, through all the incidents last year, like keeping me staying focused. Like, throughout all the incidents this year, college-wise and with all the grades. He just keeps me on a straight focus, doing the right things and staying positive. He just said, “Wait for awhile and the good stuff happens, so you just have to wait out stuff.” Q. Coach Taylor was a state qualifier in shot put at Glenbard East. How has he helped you throw? A. Just more power and technique-wise. A lot of technique. Q. Do you feel pressure going into this state meet? A. Nah. Not really. Not at all. I just feel it’s like me versus me. I know I can win it, but it’s just me coming out ready that day. It’s just like “Colin vs. Diesel” — if I come out with Diesel I’m going to win and if I come out with Colin it’s just like, I’ve got to motivate him more. It’s just myself. Q. Any college decision? A. It’s either Temple University in south Philly or Eastern Illinois. (Madison committed to play football at Temple on Tuesday.) Q. What does the decision depend upon? A. It’s really either football or track, because Temple, I’ll go there for football; and Eastern, I’ll go there for track and walk on their football team. I don’t even know yet. Q. How have you changed since you entered high school? A. Being mature, like doing my school work. Just really preparing myself for the future. Just becoming all-around, more of a man. Q. What do you do for fun? A. Hang out with the track team. We’ll hang out, go to each other’s houses. We don’t really do nothing exciting. But we have fun. As a group, we stay together. We’ll hang out, play games, or have competitions in “Madden” or something, play games or “Fight Night.” Or we’ll do something competitive. We always play basketball or all-get-out running. They’ll beat me in running, but I’ll still go with them. Or we’ll just go to my house and chill. Q. Potentially, this is the last track meet of your career. What does that mean to you? A. I want to go out on top. People are still doubting me through all this. But me, I’m going to stay strong. I don’t care what people think. What people think, that’s not going to matter to me, because they don’t know me. They just think, because of what other people say, they’re getting all these false rumors. I know what I’ve got to do. And I’m going to come out on top. — David Oberhelman The Results came in my brother did not get first but he got second still great but not what he wanted.But my mom is proud of him my family is proud of hi. I am proud of him he goes for what he wants and gets it, at that age all I had on my mind was when i could get my next fix. He is gonna do great things with his life I know i. | 
