“Superman” Madeus caps high school career with gold medal at AAU Junior Olympics

Watch Hamilton’s Boaz “Superman” Madeus win the gold as he passes the lead runner on the last hurdle in the video above.

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Aug. 3: What a way to go out.

In a week or two, Boaz “Superman” Madeus will officially be a college student-athlete at Rutgers. And he bid farewell to high school competition in the greatest way possible.

On Aug. 1, the Nottingham High graduate ran a 51.92 to win a gold medal in the 17-18-year-old Division of the 400 hurdles at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Rynearson Stadium at Eastern Michigan, University. Madeus, who finished second in the Meet of Champions at 52.25, finished .40 seconds ahead of Dow Raymonte of Thomasville, NC to get a personal record in his final high school meet.

“It feels amazing to win at JOs,” Madeus said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to be to Junior Olympics three times. Two years ago I got third in the 15-16 year old division but I always had it in my heart to come out and take (gold); so I definitely had it in my mind as a possibility.”

Junior Olympic 400 hurdle Champion. Glory to God #DontBlink

A post shared by Boaz Madeus⚡ (@bo_knows_3) on

 

Making the gold medal even more special, is that Madeus received help from the community to even get to Michigan. As the result of a successful Gofundme campaign on Facebook, Boaz raised the $1500 necessary to make the trip and his result proved to his benefactors that it was money well spent.

This was the second straight year he utilized gofundme but in 2016 he did not make it into the finals.

“It was a great feeling to see people in our community still support me because of the fact that they genuinely care and support me in all my endeavors,” Madeus said. “I know even if I didn’t do well they wouldn’t be disappointed in me; because the fact that I was competing at this meet was why they helped fund my trip. But it does feel good to bring something back for the people of our community that helped make this possible!”

Madeus’ clocking marked the first time he ever got below 52. He had a good feeling at Tuesday’s trials; one day before the finals.

“I knew what I was on the brink of accomplishing as far as the 51 PR ,” he said. “My race through trials was relatively smooth except a couple hurdles that I knew I could clean up. I still ran an easy 52.80.

On the day of the finals, Madeus said he felt no stress and, in fact, was “light hearted.” He harkened back to a conversation he had with his dad before leaving for Michigan.

“He told me when he was at New Balance Nationals, he could tell I was really nervous and said I don’t run as well when I stress,” Madeus said. “I’ve found the same thing to be true, so I made it a point not to psyche myself out.”

In fact, he called on Auli’I Cravalho and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for some lullaby motivation.

“I was listening to really soft music,” he said. “I even listened to a couple songs off the Moana sound track because it’s really soothing.”

And he became a critic before one of the biggest races of his life.

“That was a great movie,” he said with a chuckle. “Great plot. Ten/ten that I recommend.”

Armed with his happy-go-lucky attitude and a new approach, Madeus got off to a fast start in the finals by alternating legs over the hurdles.

“It’s a skill I just started picking up this season,” he said. “It didn’t look the prettiest but for the most part it was smooth and helped me keep my stride.”

Entering the final 200, a challenger stormed up from the inside to put the pressure on.

“I was trying not to panic but he came in really hot,” Madeus said. “But I just continued to trust my steps all the way through the last straight away and I continued to close the gap over every hurdle and at the end I just let it all out and won the race.”

Boaz Superman Madeus

Boaz “Superman” Madeus proudly wears the gold medal he won for winning the 17/18-year-old division 400 hurdles at the AAU Junior Olympics at Eastern Michigan University this past Tuesday.

When it was over, Madeus took pride in what he did and took time to reflect on the entire trip. He was the lone male for the Trenton Track Club to compete, but had teammates in Michigan with Steinert’s Ashley Navarro, who medaled in the 800, and Athing “Lil Mu” Mu, a rising sophomore from the city of Trenton who won both the 800 and 1500 in her age group.

“There were so many funny moments,” Madeus said. “It’s always fun traveling with Ash and Mo, they’re like the annoying little sisters. I’ve been traveling with Mo for three years now and each year is always fun. . . when she isn’t making me rip the hair out of my head!” he added with a laugh.

One would usually think there were strength in numbers and that adding Navarro to the mix was a good thing. It was. . .for the girls.

“Ash is hilarious too,” Madeus said. “Her and Mo became good friends, which meant more torture for me. But it was definitely a blast. They are my little sisters and I love them, even though I will never say that to their faces!”

And Bo knows about love, because he gets it from everyone he comes across. His victory was not only for himself, but for those who root for him, support him and just generally admire him.

Noting he could never thank “everybody that deserves a thank you,” he did set aside special thanks for TTC coaches Bernice Amaris and Al Jennings, along with his parents.

“Through my past few years in high school, Mrs. Bernice was always at the meets cheering me on and treating me like one of her sons,” Madeus said “She is truly a great woman that has been there through all the bumps in the road through my high school career. And coach Jennings poured all that time and energy into me as an athlete and man. This is something we’ve been aiming at for a while and it’s nice to finally have it.

“My parents gave me the opportunity to compete at such a high level in this sport by allowing me to travel; sometimes cancelling plans and postponing things because of short notice travel just to accommodate my travel needs. People don’t always realize how hard it is to be in their position with a kid like me but it really is difficult at times. But they have always been supportive and I’m so blessed to have them. There’s obviously many more people and they know who they are but thank you everyone, for everything.”

And with that, it’s off to college, where he hopes to conquer a whole new set of challenges.

Rest assured, a whole lot of people will continue to root for him.

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.