By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

It only took a blink of an eye for coaches at Crestwood to realize that Liv Martini could run as fast as the blink of an eye.

After moving from Germany to Hiram as an eighth-grader, Martini first showcased her speed on the basketball court.

A few weeks later, then Crestwood principal TJ Williams, called Martini to his office to ask her a question.

“Yeah, he wanted to make sure I was going to consider running track because he saw how fast I was in basketball,” Martini said.

Martini was all in, and she has not slowed down since.

She won three different Chagrin Valley Conference championships last year, as a sophomore, sweeping the open sprints with first-place finishes in the 100 meters (12.58), 200 (25.81) and 400 (59.76).

She is also the school record-holder in the 100 (12.55), 200 (24.90), 400 (57.44) and was a state qualifier as a freshman in 2024 in the 400.

All after the sport was introduced to her just four years ago.

Martini’s athletic career actually began with a focus in handball while growing up in Germany.

She began playing as a 7-year-old after a coach came into her Physical Education class to introduce the sport to students.

“I immediately loved it. It was so much fun, and after I started playing it, I realized I was really, really good at it,” said Martini, who traveled to Mexico last November to play as a member of Team USA’s Youth Women’s National Handball Team, despite having not played the sport for the last three years. 

Handball is played stateside, but its popularity falls behind other sports and when Martini’s family moved to Hiram, she stopped playing it regularly and replaced it with other sports.

“I was in eighth grade when we moved here. This is my dad’s hometown. My mom (Susanna) is the German one in the family. She was a foreign-exchange student when they were in high school here at Crestwood.

“My dad (Frank) missed home and wanted to move, and we all agreed,” Martini said. “For sports, I do think that it was the best thing for me. Sports are not a big focus in Germany, and I know I would have tried the different sports I have now played if I didn’t move here. I have played volleyball, soccer, basketball and track. I have tried so many things that I would have never experienced, and I have met so many people that I never would have.”

Martini said she enjoyed her time playing volleyball and soccer, but has since chose to not play a fall sport for the opportunity to train for track.

Basketball, though, was something she was not going to give up.

“I really love basketball,” she said.

Joining the team as an eighth-grader, she said she recognized that she was behind her peers fundamentally, but was determined to find a way to fit in that would help the team.

Again leaning on her quickness, Martini found that she was a defensive standout.

In fairness, a more appropriate way to describe her defensively would be a phenom.

Martini totaled 170 steals this year to set a new single-season record. Still with next year’s senior season remaining, Martini already holds the school’s career steals record with 410 — and consider that the former career steals record was 275. 

For her efforts, Martini was named to the Division IV Honorable Mention All-Ohio team this season.

“Playing good defense was the identity I built for myself on the team,” Martini said. “I wanted to find my place, knowing that I was new to the sport and at first it was hard to find where I was at. I did not have the advantage of learning the sport from playing it my whole life, or having someone work with me on my shooting form when I was little. So I knew I had to find my place on the court in other ways, and I realized I was good at defense, so I committed myself to helping my teammates score in that way.”

She is running to plenty of points on the track, too, but her motivation lives beyond finish lines.

“Every time I compete, I just want to make my family and friends proud of me,” Martini said.

Something that is accomplished in the blink of an eye.