Pinckney's Michigan softball recruit wins track and field event she hadn't tried in a year

PINCKNEY — CeCe Thorington won the high jump Tuesday without practicing in a year, because of course she did.

Why would anyone be surprised?

It seems like there’s nothing the kid can’t do at a high level.

She burst onto the high school sports scene in the fall of 2020 and won a regional championship in cross country, then was the SEC White 1,600-meter champion that spring.

Also that spring, she made the varsity softball team at Pinckney as a freshman starting center fielder, eventually earning a scholarship in that sport to the University of Michigan.

In her other spring sport, Thorington began to gravitate toward sprints, which made sense to anyone who saw her cover ground in the outfield and steal bases at a record-setting rate.

Thorington dabbled in high jump last season, competing three times and clearing a personal best of 4 feet, 9 inches on minimal training.

Figuring Thorington wouldn’t need much practice for what is a highly technical event, Pinckney’s coaches put her in high jump for a big SEC White dual Tuesday against Chelsea.

She won with a jump of 4-8, providing critical points in a 70-67 victory over the Bulldogs.

“She’s just so athletic,” Pinckney coach Dan Patrick said. “She’s not just a runner. She’s a once-in-a-generation athlete. You can put her in any sport; she’s going to have success. I knew if I put her there, she’s gonna show up, and she did.”

Even though softball comes first whenever there’s a conflict, Thorington is all-in when she shows up for track and field. She didn’t hesitate to take on an event that’s a bit outside her comfort zone if it helped Pinckney beat Chelsea in a dual that could decide the SEC White championship.

“Today was the first time I high jumped,” she said. “I practiced a little bit before the meet. I go where I’m needed. I’ll do whatever the coaches ask me.

“It came down to who we had jumping. We have some girls hurt. We have another soccer player who high jumps. It’s hard juggling all the sports; there’s a lot going on. I kind of just got thrown into it.”

Thorington also won the 400-meter run in 1 minutes, 1.52 seconds and was third in the 200 in 27.17 seconds. She ran the anchor leg in the 1,600 relay, battling all the way through the finish line in a vain attempt to catch front-running Chelsea.

She was completely spent when it was over.

“Every meet, we go out and put it all out there,” she said. “But today really tested us. We knew what our competition was. We put everything we had on the track.”

Thorington gave up cross country after her sophomore year, despite having qualified for two state meets, to focus on fall travel softball. She has remained faithful to track and field, even though it conflicts with high school softball.

The most heartbreaking conflict of all came last year when she was unable to run in the state Division 2 meet because Pinckney’s district softball tournament was the same day. It appears likely the same conflict will exist this season.

What keeps bringing Thorington out for track and field?

“The team,” she said. “This is a really mentally exhausting sport. There’s a lot of ups and downs. I feel like the girls make me want to come back every day.”

Thorington is one of several members of the girls track and field team who play softball or soccer for Pinckney during the spring.

Softball player Erin Closser scored six big points with second-place finishes in the shot put and discus. All-Livingston County infielder Mallory Dickey took third in a highly competitive 300 hurdles race.

Peyton Delongchamp, a second-team all-state soccer goalie, was second in long jump.

“With our school going down in numbers from D1 to D2, we’ve really had to learn to have that balance to be synergistic with our other teams, so it works,” Patrick said. “When the girls can’t be here at practice because they have a game or something else, they get the workouts from us.

“We make sure we’re really respectful of their sport of choice. We know that comes first. We just take whatever they’re willing to give us. These girls find a way to balance it. It’s really impressive they’re able to function as well as they do and are as effective on both fields as they are.”

A key to Pinckney’s victory was they willingness of freshman Jaelyn Ray to run the 3,200 after already winning the 1,600 and taking second in the 800. She wasn’t scheduled to run the 3,200.

Ray won the 3,200 in 11:59.72, running the first half comfortably with Chelsea’s Natalie DeMea before taking off.

“She came to us and said, ‘Look, coach, I’m telling you I can do this,’” Patrick said. “She said, ‘I know I can take it. I feel strong.’ We told her to ‘sit for a mile and see how you feel, and if you’re ready to go, go.’ She gave me a little look right at that mile mark and said, ‘Can I go?’ I said, ‘Go get it.’ She took off. She wasn’t lying. She was ready to go and strong and knew she could do it.”

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney softball all-stater CeCe Thorington excels in track and field