Last Cross Country Meet
“Last race. Last chance.” I thought as me and my friend Caleb sat on the bus. We were riding to the golf course for the last cross country meet of the year. We were so excited, I felt really jittery and were already having fun playing on my phone.
Were both in crosscountry for the same school so we also practise together running miles every school day except for wednesday. Starting with two and working our way up to three miles. Right before the race starts I can hear Caleb tell me “you got this, you can make state.“ He was saying this because this race was my last chance to make state and then the gun goes off at the beginning of the race were supposed to sprint but no one ever really does. As the race come
The morning has came it’s race day your heart is pumping you are ready for the announcer to say 10 seconds!!!!!You are talking to your friends before the race and the
I have always loved sports and the competitiveness that comes along with them. In so doing, I have decided to eventually become either a high school or college coach at some point in my life. Subsequently, I decided to interview the Vilonia High School Cross Country Coach, Coach Sisson. As I walked into her office, I instantly noticed all of the trophies and team photos from all of the past years of coaching. She is also the school nurse so her office has first aid equipment intermingled into the trophies and team pictures. While I set up my notes and questions for the interview on one of the desks in her office, she was finishing up a diagnosis of one of the high school students who felt sick. After her patient left, I quickly started the interview in order to waste no time. She began with how she got involved in coaching. The Vilonia School District expressed their interest to her as being the next cross country coach several years ago. She was widely known for her passion for running and she gratefully accepted the position and has been a coach for numerous years now.
I am a runner. I was selected to be a cross country captain for my senior year and I had set myself a realistic goal of being one of the top five finishers at the state meet in the fall. I never had the thought that I could not do it; I knew I was going to be up there with the best. When the state meet came and I traveled with the team as captain, that race became one of the most memorable of my cross country career but not for the reasons I expected.
As I got back on Loopy I felt a sense of relaxation come over me. I heard the announcer say that my time was 10.1 seconds. I knew that this was a good time and could possibly win the short go at the State Finals. I sat through the other fourteen calf ropers to listen to no other times faster than 10.1 seconds. Not only did I win the short go but I showed everyone that I was someone to watch.
Wind howling, heavy breathing, spikes clicking on the ground, coach’s yelling. The most intense race of the season. The wind was very powerful for this course on the Tell City Country Club through these enormous green hills of the golf course. Dead grass and brown leaves were blowing nonstop. All nine of the schools slowly started walking up to the starting line. Everyone was looking at each other while representing their own school with showing their school color off with pride. There were three teams total that knew that would be an extremely close score. My team and I stood in our red jerseys knowing that we were going to be the ones to win. I could feel the jitters going through my body. Boom!(personification) The gun went off. Nothing
They go to the video and after along time of examining the video it was Dave who won the race by a 1/100 of a second. This race was a crucial race for Dan as the winner of this race earned a spot in the Olympics. However, between the qualifying race and the Olympics, Dave tears his hamstring during his intense training. In a shocking turn of events, Dave was declared unable to run leaving there one spot open to a sprinter. One day Dan gets a call from the Olympic organization and it offered a card to compete in the 2050 summer Olympics in the spot of Dave. Dan excitedly accepts the offer and is off to Olympics. He and Reggie are in awe and can 't believe it. Even though it wasn 't in the way they imagined, they accomplished their goal of getting to the Olympics. Now that he is there he wants to make the most of his situation and take home the gold. Butterflies in his stomach he get set in lane 8, sweating profusely. When he hears the gun go off, right in that moment he begins to think of all the hard work he put into to get where he is. He remember the size he used to be, along with the pool drill of holding his breath. He didn’t forget how eagerly he searched for air when he was sprinting in Denver. With all this in mind he opened his eyes and saw himself 10m away from the finish
I approach the rugged mountain, shielding my body from the nasty frost nipping at my exposed skin. The sun ever so lightly peeks over the horizon as I strap on my skis, lightly dusted with a thin layer of fresh snow. Although my body shivers unceasingly, I feel comforted by the surges of adrenaline pumping through my body. I skate briskly toward the ski lift to secure my place as the first person in line. On the slippery leather seats of the lift my mind races, contemplating the many combinations of runs I can chain together before I reach the bottom of the hill. I arrive at the peak of the mountain and begin building up speed. Floating on the soft snow, weaving through the trees and soaring over rocks, I feel as if I am flying. The rush of adrenaline excites me. I feed on it. I thrive on it. I am ski; I live for speed; I am an evolving technique and I hold a firm edge.
The bus rolled into the parking lot. Then it parked and the doors cranked open. One by one in a single file we exited the vehicle. We had arrived-we had arrived at Thompson Park. On any other day Thompson Park isn’t that big of a deal to me usually. But today Thompson Park was the place where the Central Jersey State Sectional Meet was being held, and that was a huge deal. The Central Jersey State Sectional Meet is a Cross Country meet is the first of two qualifying meets to get into the State Championship Meet. When I stepped off of the bus the sound of cheering and cow bells erupted into my ears. This was a very large meet so the races had already begun. Along with the noise came the smell of the fresh and crisp fall air, as well as the food from the food vendors. You could smell french fries, hotdogs, and other fatty foods, all of which we couldn’t eat before our race because it would slow
The course is weird, it’s a two lap which is good. This means you know exactly what the second half of the race was going to be like. Me as the 4th runner, and the 3 and 5 guys, went single file for a good ⅜ ofa mile and we were zooming around corners. during the back half of the race, I was really close to medaling. I went as fast as I could, I had no idea how fast the race had been, I thought when I saw the teens clicking by it was a 19:teens but I got closer and it was 18:17 I was astounded and straight out of breath. That race we were 4 points behind the 2nd place team, and they were in our district. That set us up for a good week and effort during practice because if we had a race at the district race, we were going to make it as a team to state,which is the goal all season long. I was not feeling great that week and I thought it was going to be like my first xc race finishing with a 16:02 time for 2.x miles and a lot of girls beating me. The morning of race day, I felt like crap, but the bus ride nap to maryville made me feel fine and ready to secure a spot to state. There was a lot of scepticism from the seniors, who were facing their last
It was the day of May 23. The flowers were blossoming and the birds were chirping. The trees were swaying in unison with the cool breeze. The kids were coming out of school, happy it was their last day, laughing and playing as their parents were talking. Most of the students were talking about the run and were wondering what they ran the mile in. Henry was not wondering, he was running home to drop off his backpack and start running.
stood upon, was frightening. The only was to go was down. I took a deep
When I got there I did not see any other girls over there. They called the first heat for the 400 meters. The first heat is seniors and state runners, obviously not freshman who suck. I started to walk away and the person calling the meet told me to come back. I explained to him I'm a freshman and can not go in the first heat. He told me I had to because no one else was going. In that moment I knew this was going to be very terrible. Evidently the race started and 200 meters in I was so behind. I feel like I could not breathe. Many thoughts were passing through my head like faking passing out or maybe dying. I finished dead last and was so embarrassed. My coach was dumb mad they put me in the first heat. I was upset because I never got last and especially since all my friends were there.Many of my track friends came up to me and told me not to worry because I was only a freshman and I could not compete with them. I’m not even sure if that's what they said, I blocked out everything to just focus on my embarrassment and anger. I was internally dying. How did this happen to me? Why me? Call me an overdramatic teenager but in that moment disappearing seemed like a great
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
When I first step on the track an injection of adrenaline is pumping thought out my body. The rush of competition always at your heel. My heart pounding to escape from my chest. Everything moving slow motion and a tunnel vision. Eventually my adrenaline come to an end because either I won or lost the race. When I win a race I am proud, happy, and determined. First emotion I feel is proud that I lived up to my coaches’ expectation and proud that I made my parent happy. I also feel determined to keep practicing and keeping beating my time and happy knowing that I am the best in my event. Most of all, happy that I achieved something in my life. But in track nothing is set in stone. When I lose a race I feel guilty, miserable, and most of all useless. I feel guilty because I let down my teammate, my coaches, and my parent. I could never look directing at their eye after a lost race. I also feel Miserable knowing that I fail to win the race because if I should of push myself to 120 percent and useless is what I feel after losing a race. I feel as though I just take up space in the bus and nobody notice me as if I am a ghost. Track has always been a crazy ride to get on it has it up and down. Jesse Jackson said “If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds” (Jackson 1). That no matter what the outcome, never quit, always look forward
Three, two, one.” We were off and I was ahead of Louis. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to pass any of the other riders, but it was my mission to beat Louis. I am extremely competitive. I whipped around the first turn in the inside. Louis took the outside and I was far ahead. I floored it over the whoops and the turn ahead was extremely sharp. I slowed down to get the feel for the track. I shifted down into second and slid. Up next was a tabletop jump. I had never done a jump and I didn’t know what kind it was so I was very steady. I shifted up to fourth and got massive air. “Woohoo,” I scream. I couldn't believe I just jumped on a professional track. I thought I was going to