Sue Merian: Pioneer of AYF Women’s Track

RENO, Nev.—At a time when women’s athletics was not considered fashionable, Sue (Merian) Arzoian created inroads.

Detroit luminaries (L-R) Sue (Merian) Arzoian, Violet Gavoor, and Nancy Gavoor have kept the AYF spirit embedded in their hearts.
Detroit luminaries (L-R) Sue (Merian) Arzoian, Violet Gavoor, and Nancy Gavoor have kept the AYF spirit embedded in their hearts.

Over a star-studded career that encompassed all of 6 years, she piled up 90 points for her AYF chapter, which vaulted her atop the standings as leading scorer of all-time.

Sue ruled the roost for a number of years until losing the title to none other than her niece, Nancy Gavoor.

As irony has it, one man coached both women to their venerable place in history: the inimitable Aram “Sonny” Gavoor. Sue happens to be his sister-in-law, while Nancy hails as his daughter. Nothing like keeping it all in the family.

“We were considered tomboys for playing sports, but that was okay by me,” admitted Sue. “You may think of me as a pioneer. Girls weren’t big athletes back then, not like it is today.”

Sue made her debut in 1953 as a rambunctious 16-year-old, eager to test the waters. She ran the 50- and 100-yard dashes and did the broad (long) jump. For the next 6 years, she went undefeated in those events, piling up 90 points before heading out to California for a teaching position.

No relays back then. Not enough girls. In fact, Watertown had five athletes that first year and won the title, thanks to the Gavoors (Sonny and Buddy), Frank Nahigian, Andrew Dagdigian, and Paul Aprahamian.

“I may have been the first girl Sonny ever coached,” Sue recalled. “I was a counselor at Camp Haiastan and we got together. Far as I can remember, I can’t ever recall competing against anyone from my own chapter. I was like the lone wolf.”

By the time Nancy had run roughshod over the AYF competition, she amassed 144 points to assume the leadership poll with teammate and best friend Jill (Tosoian) Dolik. They’ve held that mark over three decades.

Five of the top 10 women’s scorers are Detroiters; Sue now finds herself tied for 8th with Dawn Tian.

“Back then, the women only ran the 50s and 100s and had just a couple field events,” according to historian Bob Tutunjian. “Sue actually swam once when it was a non-scoring event—and won that, too.”

One more piece of Olympic trivia: Sue is the highest-scoring athlete, male or female, to have never lost an event at Olympics with her six-year streak. Detroit swimmer Raffi Karapetian is the highest-scoring undefeated male with 75 points.

Having her scoring record eclipsed by another brings Sue unadulterated joy. The fact it was her own niece was euphoria for the 77-year-old. She was not in attendance that fateful day, living overseas at the time. But word traveled fast.

“I want to think that I somehow motivated her to accomplish that feat,” Sue brought out. “Records are meant to be broken and Nancy appeared headed in that direction right from the start. For me, it was all about the competition, not the points. Nancy was ecstatic.”

Time marches on for this family. While Sonny still has the urge to coach well into his 80s, wife Violet plays a good game of tennis. And nobody could applaud her more than her own sister Sue.

“She’s amazing. Here I am with all these sports memories and my sister is still bashing balls on a tennis court.”

These days, Sue is a confirmed Reno-ite with a full lifestyle in the community. She and her husband Arnold arrived there with few Armenians and helped to develop the community. Today, some 100 Armenian families dot the landscape there, most of them immigrants.

You’ll catch Sue swimming laps, taking her daily walks, visiting a gym regularly, and babysitting a four-year-old grandson named Andon, who runs her ragged.

Two children, Paula, 42, and Stephan, 40, remain connected.

For years following the Olympics, Sue taught physical education and dance in Detroit after graduating from Wayne State University, where she played intramural sports. From there, she joined the faculties at the University of California Riverside and Eastern Michigan University.

The teaching bug has not abated. Sue teaches English as a Second Language in the Adult Education Program. Six months before her mother passed, Sue presented her with a family history she had written and self-published—a personal mission that became an obsession.

While married to a United States government contractor, five years were spent in Vietnam during the height of the war. The very first day in Saigon, they found an Armenian. As fate would have it, he was Art Godoshian right from her city in Detroit.

The more they looked, the more other Armenians stepped forward, and soon they had enough to start their own community in Vietnam.

“It’s like the William Saroyan saying about two Armenian strangers meeting in the world somewhere and starting a new Armenia,” she said. “I’m one of those who studies film credits looking for Armenian names.”

Often, Sue looks back on those halcyon AYF years and what they taught her. She counts her blessings to this day.

“Our AYF dues at the time were 10 cents a week,” she recalled. “It was the best investment of my life. I was fortunate to grow up in such an era. Here we were, 16-year-old kids, planning dances for 500 people. If I learned anything, it was leadership skills. Oh my gosh, what a mentoring program! Athletics is the lollypop that sweetens the urge.”

Tom Vartabedian

Tom Vartabedian

Tom Vartabedian is a retired journalist with the Haverhill Gazette, where he spent 40 years as an award-winning writer and photographer. He has volunteered his services for the past 46 years as a columnist and correspondent with the Armenian Weekly, where his pet project was the publication of a special issue of the AYF Olympics each September.
Tom Vartabedian

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1 Comment

  1. Hi Sue: Wonderful reading about you…we lost contact after you left Riverside…never to be seen again in California…While you left us and went on to other adventures I stayed at LA Trade Tech and retired after 25 years of service…Now I’m working harder than before…I just don’t get a paycheck!

    If you have a moment, contact me at http://www.kaymouradian.com/

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