Michigan Cross-Country Runner, Deer Collide During Race

UNIVERSITY CENTER, MI — Madison Sylvester was 1½ miles into the Al Kayner Invitational at Delta College — and quite possibly on her way to a new personal cross-country record — when she noticed the deer out of the corner of her eye.

The 13-year-old student at Saginaw White Pine Middle School thought the deer would miss her. The 130-pound deer, however, had other plans.

"When it hit me, I knew what happened," Madison told MLive.com. "It was scary."

The Saturday race wasn't the first time a Michigan runner has collided with a deer. In 2019, Joe DeWitt and his daughter Cecelia were treated for injuries after they were hit by a deer while running the Bayshore half-marathon, according to The Traverse City Record-Eagle.

"I heard someone yell 'deer' but I didn't see it until it hit me," DeWitt told the newspaper.

It happens in other states, too. In 2016, video captured a deer plowing over a runner as he finished an NCAA regional race in Pennsylvania.

Justin DeLuzio, a Gwynedd Mercy University senior, was running in an 8K race at DeSales University when at least 10 deer ran into the line of runners.

"Watch out for the deer!" someone yelled as two deer passed DeLuzio before the third one rammed his stomach and flipped him to the ground. At least seven more deer followed but missed the other runners.

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The Sylvesters are also a family of runners, according to MLive. Madison's father, Josh, is a runner. So is her sister, Maegan, who was 10 feet behind Madison when the collision happened.

As a result of her run-in with the deer in University Center, Madison suffered a fractured clavicle and a concussion. Overall, she took it in stride, her father told MLive.

While Josh Sylvester's immediate response was "panic mode," he also said he knows things like deer collisions happen, "as freaky as it may seem."

"We’re in their playground. This is their country we’re running in. We’re just guests," Josh Sylvester told MLive. "You get very close to them. It’s a matter of just keeping your distance."