Richards runner paving way toward Olympic aspirations

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Prepare yourselves, Los Angeles. A Clinton Township eighth grader might be making his way to a track near you in 2028.

Middle school athletics are fun because some children, like Richards Middle School eighth grader Gavin Soviar, are giving organized sports a go for the first time and parents are seeing them really come out of their shell.

Soviar began running laps around his father, Steve Soviar, back in June 2023, which was supposed to be conditioning for the seventh grade basketball season.

“The reason why I started running was because I thought I was going to try out for our school basketball team, so I started conditioning,” Gavin Soviar said. “I found out that running was more of my thing, which is why I continued.”

“We started running 1 mile, and then we worked up to 2 miles and 3 miles,” Steve Soviar said. “He was just blowing me away. I told him that he may want to think about going into cross-country instead of basketball.”

Call it father-son bonding time or maybe an enjoyable way for Gavin to show his father how much better he was at something than him, but their conditioning became a springboard for what Soviar has become today — one of the most dominant middle school runners in the nation.

Currently the No. 1 ranked cross-country runner in the state and top five nationally, Soviar has asserted himself as not just the runner to watch, but also the premier freshman every team will keep an eye out for when he makes his way to Fraser High School in 2025.

Soviar broke the school record for the 1,600-meter in track and field at 5:09, which previously was set at 5:21 in 2008 by Eric Lockhard, and the 2-mile record in cross-country with an 11:05.4, and then he decided his 2-mile time wasn’t good enough.

He continued to break records before he put on a showstopping performance at regionals Oct. 19 at Macomb Dakota High School, posting a time of 10:23 and becoming the regional champion, district record holder, and the first runner from a Fraser middle school to become regional champion.

But there’s no feeling like the first record, so the 1,600 will always hold a special place in his heart.

“It was amazing,” Gavin Soviar said. “When I went to school orientation, I looked at the record board and I told my dad I was going to break it at the first meet.”

That’s just what he did.

Aside from the countless miles he runs each week, or the numerous first-place finishes he posted this cross-country season, Soviar is a true student of the sport, watching YouTube videos on Carl Lewis, Jim Ryun and the late Steve Prefontaine.

If he needs some guidance, former University of Michigan star athlete Tom Brady is always there to offer advice or words of encouragement.

No, not the seven-time Super Bowl champion, but the Illinois native who competed at the Olympic Trials this year in the 5,000-meter race.

Soviar said having Brady in his corner has done wonders for his growth.

“It makes a pretty big impact because it’s more motivation for me to keep going on with this sport and to show that I have support when I need it,” Soviar said.

But it’s not just the growth as a runner or physical growth where Soviar has drastically improved, but also as a young man overall.

He excels as a student, and Steven Soviar said running has helped him grow.

“First, I think it just instills more confidence in him, especially when he wins a race,” Steve Soviar said. “It really tells the tale that if you put in the hard work like he does and the dedication, you get the reward from it. I think he definitely sees that.”

Similar to Carl Lewis, who is a part of Soviar’s extensive autograph collection, the dreams of reaching the Olympics are at the forefront.

Soviar said he’s eyeing the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, but before then he’ll have a four-year career at Fraser High School, where his 10-year-old sister, Kaitlyn Soviar, will join him his senior year.

Kaitlyn Soviar has taken up running herself since her older brother laid the groundwork, and even competed in meets as well.

By next year, it might be time to look at Fraser High School with your full focus as Soviar makes his initial start toward his Olympic dreams.

It’s been a journey he would’ve never anticipated as basketball was at the forefront just two years ago, but now it has become all he knows.

“It’s a better therapy,” Soviar said. “It runs off my stress, or when I get home and have homework and get it all done and I’m stressed, running takes it all away.”