By Liam Reilly
@lpreilly852
Being legally blind hasn’t stopped Michael Anderson from having an electric start to his collegiate track career. Anderson, a first year on the Springfield College’s men’s track and field team, tied the school’s 60-meter hurdle during his fifth meet with a time of 8.35 and then broke his own record last Saturday with a time of 8.30.
Anderson, a native of Cromwell, Conn., was first diagnosed with Stargardt macular degeneration when he was 9 years old. Stargardt macular degeneration is a genetic eye disease where fatty material builds up on the macula (center of the retina) and causes a slow loss of central vision. The material is known as lipofuscin, and when it gathers up, damage is done to the light-sensitive cells that are critical for central vision. Damage of central vision can cause difficulty in recognizing faces and seeing at night. Signs of Stargardt’s can occur anywhere from late childhood to early adulthood.
Out of five siblings, Anderson and his older brother, Kyle, are the only ones to have Stargardt’s. Knowing that someone close to him can relate to what he’s going through has made the journey easier for Anderson.
“He’s an older brother, so naturally I look up to him,” Anderson said. “Him having the same issues as I do, it paved the path for me. I steered off on my own eventually, but there’s no words to describe how amazing it is to have someone that close to me that has the same problem.”
Anderson has faced unique challenges throughout his life due to his diagnosis. He wasn’t able to read as fast as other kids, and had to put in more effort to keep up in school. Eventually, Anderson was able to make peace with who he was, and now he has a brighter outlook on his situation.
“I don’t see it as a struggle anymore,” Anderson said. “Not being able to recognize friends more than 20 feet away gets pretty annoying, but now I just joke about it. In a nice way I get called a freak of nature since I’m blind and I do hurdles as well as I do.”
In high school, Anderson started out as a sprinter. He ran the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and was a part of Cromwell High School’s boys 4×100 team. Anderson made the switch to hurdles his junior year, and started competing in the 300-meter hurdles.
“I started with the long distance hurdles and that allowed me to get closer to the hurdle and have time to react to it,” Anderson said. “It’s funny seeing my form from high school to now. It took a while to master and with my eyesight it wasn’t easy at all. In the long run it worked out.”
Saying it worked out would be an understatement.
Anderson made states and broke the school’s 300-meter hurdle record in just his third meet competing in the event. He went on to race in the CIAC Class M championship, then to the state open, and finally the New England Championships.
Anderson had found his calling, goingon to break the records for the 55, 110 and 400 hurdles. Back when he first made the choice to switch to hurdles, Anderson’s mother, Anne, was surprised at his decision.
“When I first got the news, the protective part of me was worried about the effects of it not going well,” Anne said. “I was surprised that his coach let him do it but he told me that it’s all rhythm, and that he can do it. And he just did it, it was like it was his calling the whole time.”
In the fall, Anderson stepped foot onto Springfield College. After going through Pre-Camp and New Student Orientation, Anderson realized that he was loving the school more than he thought. He enjoyed how personal everyone was and how accommodating and kind the professors were.
As for track, Anderson got along quickly with his teammates. His determination in life caught the attention of Charles Schoffner, the men’s and women’s assistant coach.
“I love his eagerness to win,” Schoffner said. “His determination to win is huge. At the start of the season he said ‘I want to win, I want to break records and I want to do big things,’ so that stood out to me.”
Anderson saw his breakout when the team traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Bomber Invitational. He ran the 60-meter hurdles and in the preliminary heat he tied the school record.
“Seeing him tie it at Ithaca was bittersweet,” Schoffner said. “He ran fast and got a PR, but there were little technical things we had to fix.”
The next chance for Anderson to break the record was a week later at the Gordon Kelly Invitational in Cambridge, Mass. He finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles, but ran an 8.48, .13 short of his record-tying performance.
Anderson’s determined nature wouldn’t let that setback linger. At his most recent meet, home inside the field house, Anderson broke the record he sought for the last two weeks. He set the record at 8.32 seconds in the preliminary heat, and then broke it again in the finals with his 8.30 time.
“I was excited, joyful and proud that all the hard work paid off,” Anderson said. “I woke up Friday without a cough for the first time in three weeks so I knew that Saturday was going to be amazing. Then during prelims I had a really sloppy time and didn’t think that I broke it, but I knew I had a fast time. Then from everybody screaming, I could tell and my face lit up.”
Not far off watching was Anne. She couldn’t have been more proud of her son for accomplishing such a feat.
“It was incredible to see,” Anne said. “Michael does nothing but set goals for himself. Everytime there is one he strives to do it. As soon as that one’s done, he’s on to the next one. There’s nothing better than being there to see him succeed.”
After seeing him tie the record, Schoffner knew this moment was on the way.
“Finals came around and seeing him beating one of the fastest people in the country to the third hurdle, I knew he was going for it,” Schoffner said. “It was super exciting to see that and that there’s more in the tank.”
Anderson is proof that even the tallest mountains are still traversable. He’s been diagnosed with Stargadt for half his life, but doesn’t let that hold him back from reaching big heights.
“Even though it’s an obstacle, you have to work around it like anything else,” Anderson said. Some days are going to suck the life out of you, but those are the days that you’re going to have to insert your discipline and push through it no matter how much it sucks. Just know that in the long run, that little bit of work that you have to do to be average, it’s going to pay off.”