The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Greca's drive and success outweigh hamstring injury
Ed Patino
PUBLISHED: June 7, 2007
Try as he might, the pain in his legs was just too much to fight through this time.
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For Zach Greca, the timing couldn't have been worse, with the biggest meet of the season on the horizon. And up until the day before the Division 3 state track meet, it was still unknown if the Manchester varsity track team's senior star would be able to do the thing he wanted so badly; compete alongside Michigan's best.
In the end, not wanting to hurt his team's chances or injure himself further, Greca pulled out of the meet, opting to cheer on his teammates from the sidelines.
And while he admitted that the overall experience was positive, not competing was still tough to swallow.
"I cried for the first time in my life," Greca said. "The trainer at states said it might take three months to heal if it's pulled. But I had to keep running on it."
The injury flared up between the regional meet May 19 and the Cascades Conference meet May 22. During that four-day span, Greca ran in 16 events over the two meets. Some of the events, such as the 300-meter hurdles, he had never ran before. It didn't prevent him from having success, and Greca set the school record in the 300 hurdles at the league meet. But while trying to max out as many points as possible, Greca was becoming maxed out physically.
As the state meet approached, the pain became more intense.
If the recent MHS graduate thinks he let people down by not running at states, he shouldn't feel that way. With the season he and his team had, Greca disappointed no one.
Success in sports has followed Greca, from playing flag football as a sixth grader in Clinton to threatening track records with the Dutchmen. When he transferred to Manchester from Clinton last summer and started working out with the track coaches, Greca was wisely inserted into the sprint events and the 1,600 relay team. What followed was shear dominance by the Dutchmen, who went undefeated in the regular season, clinched their third straight Cascades Conference title and blasted the competition at regionals.
The regional meet saw Greca come close to the school records in the 100 and 200 dashes, falling a tenth of a second behind the 100 record and a half second off the 200 record. Nick Davis (1998), who starred in football at the University of Wisconsin and later returned kicks for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, holds the records in those events.
"I wanted the records bad, but it's a good feeling to know I was right there," Greca said. "Everything worked out at regionals. I had a (personal record) in everything I ran, and the mile relay had its best time. When we were done running, though, it was the best feeling."
Greca was also able to blend perfectly with the mile relay team, featuring fellow seniors Greg Schaible, Jake LaCross and Andrew Tindall. The quartet are best friends, and had a team picture taken after every race, and even at prom.
"It's the last race of the day, so it feels like the biggest race," Greca said. "We're all best friends, and it shows the depth of our team with a mixture of sprint and distance running."
Greca has been faced with a setback before. Before dominating in track, he was a standout running back at Clinton. As a sophomore, Greca averaged 18 yards per carry and became the focal point of the Redskins offense with his speed. But prior to his junior year, he suffered a back injury and was advised to give up football.
"The doctor said I have a narrow spinal column, and the disc presses against it when it comes out," Greca said. "When I tried to do anything active I was in pain. I still wanted to play, but the doctors said I could become paralyzed if I took a wrong hit."
Of course he recovered from that injury to star in track, and Greca will surely bounce back from his recent setback. He hopes to run track at the collegiate level and has several schools interested. While already accepted to Western Michigan (which doesn't field a track team), he has gained interest from Eastern Michigan, Saginaw Valley State, Albion College and others.
Much of his success from a dogged worked ethic.
"I've learned the harder you work at something, the better you are," Greca said. "The more you put in the more you get out of it."
Despite being in the program one year and sitting out states, Greca put a lot into Manchester's season. And in return, both sides got what they wanted...a legacy of success.
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