Jeff Chaney
Sports Scene
KENTWOOD, MI – Matt Costello took his last spin at high school track earlier this month.
Now it’s on to the Izzone.
The Bay City Western senior ended his high school athletic career with a bang June 2 at the Division 1 Track Finals at East Kenwtood High School.
Costello won the discus with a toss of 178 feet, 6 inches. He then came back and took second in the shot put with a put of 55’8″.
Those two finishes helped the Warriors come in sixth place as a team with 26 points. Lake Orion won the title with 50 points.
“It’s been a really good year,” Costello said. “I’m really happy with my discus, I just couldn’t snap it off in the shot and lost by two and a half inches.
“But it’s been a great year,” he added. “I’ve been hanging out with my brother. He has helped me get through this year.”
Costello’s twin brother, John Costello, also threw for the team and took seventh in the discus Saturday with a toss of 160’5″.
“Every day in practice we pushed each other,” Matt Costello said. “If I didn’t have him, I’d be throwing against myself. We push each other.”
That’s been the case since the beginning of the track season, and since birth.
“At the beginning of the year, I was longer in the shot put and he was longer in the discus,” John said. “We have always bumped each other to do better. I always say I can’t lose to my little brother. I’m older than him by nine minutes, and I always hold that against him.”
But now that track and high school are behind Matt Costello, this year’s Mr. Basketball is ready to move on to his next athletic endeavor. The Michigan State University basketball recruit is ready for summer training.
“This is a great way to end my track career, but I’m ready to start basketball,” Matt said. “No time to waste, I start basketball on Monday. Then this month I go down [to MSU], and I officially move in on June 28.”
The good thing for Matt is that brother John will be heading to East Lansing, also.
John Costello is going to MSU on a music scholarship for the alto saxophone, and he will be there to support his brother while Matt plays basketball.
“I plan on getting in the Izzone and cheer him on,” John said. “I will always be there to support him.”
And to be his big brother, which he will never let Matt forget. “I got the looks and he got the height,” said John, who is several inches shorter than his 6’10” brother. “That’s what we go by, at least that’s what his girlfriend says.”
Matt responded to that like most younger brothers would:
“He’s a pain in the butt,” Matt Costello said.