This is where the rubber meets the road.
Today was the day that counted. Today was the day all the teams in the state met for their regional meets. Today was the day opportunites were turned into triumph. Today was the day we earned a State berth.
YES, WE MADE IT!! Our team will be going to States again this year. In the last seven years we've made the trip six times. Two years ago, we were more than a bit disappointed not to be in the position we found ourselves in today.
We went into today's meet, with a young team and high hopes just to make the last spot. We were vying for what we thought would be the sixth place out of 13 teams. To do so we knew we'd have to beat the team that beat us in the regular season by one point. We were confident and very prepared to do what was needed, to dig down deep and give more than expected to get the job done. It all paid off. Not only did we beat that team, but we beat another, a powerhouse team that we usually do not have many opportunities in beating. So when all was said and done, we finished in a blazing 5th place.
For those not familiar with the sport of x-country it goes like this. You put in your best seven runners for the Regional Meet. The best six teams out of the 12 or 13 that toe the line get to go the following week to the State meet where the East meets West. Both East and West met in their perspective sections of the State all with the same anticipation that they get a chance to run the final meet of the season. The following week they come head to head. Twelve teams with seven runners each will all compete for the title.
We won the state meet a couple of years ago. We know what it's like to be the center of attention in a sport that is probably the most objective of any. The first one to the line wins. Period. No fancy calls, no umps to yell at, no favoritism blamed. No, it's just pure runners racing against the clock. Anything can happen. Anything. We've seen good teams, those expected to win, fall apart. When we won States, we were not the favorite. Sure, we were up there, expecting maybe a third place finish that year, but we somehow managed to peak at the right time and walked away with the title. Sweet.
Today it was cold, raw, windy and the course was the muddiest I've ever seen it after a Nor'easter last night dumped inches of rain all over our state. For many the power was still out when we boarded the bus. Fortunately for me, I had no such problem but was a bit worried when I went to bed last night. Worried that I might not hear the alarm. In fact, that is a perennial worry for me. It's so important to make sure we get to a potential meet in plenty of time, and since time management is not my speciality, I struggle with this.
When the gun went off, we were in good position which is so important. We had one girl in 7th place and another not far back. Our #3 girl was 18th, a very good position to be in. To have 3 girls in the top 20 is very good. In fact, if a team does not make it, a runner still has the opportunity to go to the States individually if they finish the Regional in the top 20. So seeing these three in the front like that was very encouraging. Our #4 girl fell back, but all was not lost because our normal #5 girl took over and passed her. This was a first for Sarah this year to move up like that. She had a great race. Our #5 girl, who is usually our #4 girl is a freshman who needs another year of conditioning. We have three girls in the top five that are freshmen. The other two are Sophomores. The future looks very bright.
I think it was ithe vaseline and the duct tape. On the starting line since it was so cold, we had the girls rub vaseline all over their arms and legs. It's like wearing invisible leggins and long sleeve shirts. It has a warming effect as it protects against the cold. We also had them wrap purple duct tape around their neon orange shoes. What a sight!! This was to help keep their shoes on their feet. With the mud on the course like we had today, it's very likely that a shoe get sucked right off an unsuspecting foot. It happened last week in the Conference meet. Our #4 girl ran 2 1/2 miles with one shoe and a sock halfway on over the muddy and rocky terrain. We finished in 7th place behind the two teams we beat today. So keeping those shoes on can make a difference. I did see a boy finish today with one shoe, his other foot completely bare as he hobbled from the finish line.
It wasn't until the award ceremony we knew exactly how far up we finished. I did a raw score at the finish line calculating that we beat the team in question we were hoping to beat but didn't realize we also beat the other team we had higher hopes to beat as well. I did find out after the meet that our #3 girl who was in 18th place for most of the race did fall hard in a big section of mud losing a few valuable places in the process. When she went down, I was told it took her forever to get up. Forever in this case was probably 10 seconds. It was near the end of the race, she was probably tired and it took a bit of effort to get out of that mud. What a mess they all turned out to be but it was worth it in the end. The smiles on all the faces told the story. I bet next year's mud run will have a new significance for them. A little mud is not going to stop us.
Here we go again. WE ARE GOING TO STATES!!