Muir's Daityvon McFadden Overcomes Incredible Odds En Rote to Track Stardom

Making the CIF State Track and Field Championships was something that wasn’t in the cards for Daityvon McFadden when he began high school.

In fact, track and field wasn’t even of interest to the Muir senior who finished fifth in the 300 hurdles in 38.50 seconds earlier this month in Clovis.

McFadden, who stands 5-foot-7, 135 pounds, has been named the Altadena Patch Spring Athlete of the Year.

McFadden, who transferred to Muir midway through his junior year from Crescenta Valley, said he found himself competing in the sport due to a challenge put before him.

“I was leaving campus at CV and they were having track practice and I wasn’t going to run track,” McFadden recalled. “Coach (Derrel) Furutani was coaching the hurdlers and they were struggling going over the hurdles and I was walking with my friends laughing at them. Coach Furutani said ‘If you guys are laughing at them why don’t you come do it.’

“I did it and three-stepped all the way.”

McFadden, who also played football, stuck with hurdling. But a star was far from being born. He enjoyed moderate success in two seasons Crescenta Valley before transferring to Muir following the first semester of his junior year.

At Muir, he did not compete in track and field as a junior. That coupled with the fact that the Mustangs did not officially have a head track coach until March this season meant McFadden had to train on his own during the offseason.

“I was basically focusing on the 400,” McFadden said. “I didn’t even think about hurdling.”

But McFadden got back into it literally by accident when the Mustangs hosted Burbank in a dual meet on April 6 two days before the prestigious Arcadia Invitational.

“The first day I ran them I had just finished running the 400 and my coach was like ‘Get ready for the 4x400.’ So he told me to run the 300 hurdles for a cool down-warmup thing. So I ran the hurdles, and I ran a 38.4.”

McFadden said he knew his time was quite good and he immediately sought to find out how well he ranked amongst others.

“After I ran that the coaches said ‘That’s pretty good.’ I went home and I was looking at times on Dyestat and I thought ‘Wow, I’m going to try to get better,’ ” McFadden said.

Getting better is exactly what McFadden did.

Although it was too late to gain entry into the Arcadia Invitational, he went on to win the Pacific League title and continued to improve as the season went on. He ran a personal best of 37.74 in CIF Finals, which ranks him 60th in the nation in the event.

Muir football coach Ken Howard said he has always been impressed with McFadden.

“I watched him growing up and he was always one of the hardest working kids in the area,” Howard said. “Growing up being that size and stature we knew he was the kind of kid that had a heart like the biggest man in the world.”

McFadden has demonstrated the ability to remain on course despite many changes in his life. He spent his elementary school years in Pasadena and then attended three middle schools, two of which were in Pasadena, before ending up in La Crescenta prior to his freshman year.

He transferred to Muir after moving back to Pasadena.

McFadden played football for the Mustangs this past fall, scoring three touchdowns as he played as a receiver on offense and as a safety on defense.

Howard, who has worked at Muir for 17 years and has seen many outstanding athletes come through the school, said McFadden’s success was a pleasant surprise.

“The hurdles kind of shocked me,” Howard said. “His stature alone, being that size and being able to run the hurdles that fast is amazing to me.”

Now that McFadden is a known talent as a hurdler, he would like to extend his career.

He said he has been accepted academically to Arizona State University and is entertaining calls from a number of universities.

Three years after once laughing at the idea of hurdling, Daityvon McFadden has realized jumping over barriers, whether on or off the track can be accomplished with hard work.