Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been running all my life.  From just running around the house to running in state track against many athletic and amazing competitors.  Running is one of the things that I love to do.  Track is a sport I believe that everyone should try because I think it pushes you physically to become a better athlete.  Overall I think you can learn a ton of amazing things and It is a great opportunity to have fun and push yourself to do better.

I am a sophomore this year and so far track has done a lot for me.  It has taught me to never give up and to keep pushing even when tired.  Last year a few friends of mine and I were successful during track in the 4 by 100-meter relay.  We placed first, race after race.  We did so well we had the opportunity to travel to state for the 4 by 100-meter relay.  But I want to tell you about how we got there and how hard we had to work.

It all started during the first week of track.  We had some really fast people that year and weren’t going to pass that opportunity by.  So we got everybody together.  My relay team consisted of; Cody, Max, James and I.  Cody ran first, then headed the piton off to max, then to James, and lastly to me who got the pleaser to run through the finish line.  We were an extremely fast and incredible relay team that got along very well.

Time flew and before we knew it, we were lining up for our first race of the season.  You could hear the spikes of runners cleats crack and crunch deep into the track as they got in their positions.  The crowd suddenly became silent as the first runners got down in their blocks.  It was so silent it was almost deafening to the ear.  Bang! The race was off.  From what I could see, we were winning by a whole 10 meters.  Each time the piton was handed off, we got further and further ahead.  The time came when the piton was handed to me by James.  The handoff was perfect.  I flew through the finish line in less than 11 seconds.  We were so far ahead of everyone that when I finished I was able to look back and see the other runners cross the finish line.  We have won our first track meet.

Weeks pass by with us winning every race by at least ten meters from the second place runner.  It was now time for Regionals.  The day was sunny and beautiful, perfect for a track meet.  I was competing in three races; the 4 by 1, the 4 by 2 and long jump.  The long jump was first.  My practice runs were alright, averaging around 18 feet.  Not exactly what I wanted but I knew that if I could jump this I would be able to make finals.  Before I knew it I was up to jump in prelims.  My first jump was alright at 18 ft. exactly.  Second jump was even better, breaking my personal record by six inches.  I jumped 19ft.  I was extremely happy, but I then realized that 19ft. wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to get place first overall.  I walked nervously on the run way to my spot once again, hoping to jump even farther.  I got in position and blocked everyone out, so it was just me and the long jumping pit.  When I was ready I flung myself forward, accelerating faster and faster.  Without worrying about were my feet was I jumped far and high into the pit, landing very close to the edge of the pit.  After I jumped I went straight to the people measuring the distance, impatiently waiting for my distance.  I was in extreme shock when I heard,” twenty feet, four inches.”  Not only was it my personal best, it made me realize that I was only a foot an four inches away from the school record.  And I was only a freshman.  I did so well my coach told me I didn’t have to jump for the finals because the distance moves on to the next stage, which was finals for long jump.  Unfortunately, I did not place first overall in the long jump.  My partner for the long jump, who was a senior, was able to pull ahead by an inch.  Either was I was extremely happy that I was moving on to sectionals in an event all by myself.

The 4 by 1 and 4 by 2 came along and we crushed it.  In both we place 1st overall by about 20 meters ahead of the second place runners.  Believe it or not, but we were so fast that day that we broke the 4by2 high school record by a whole second.  We also got extremely close to breaking the 4by1 record as well but couldn’t quite get it.  In all the meet was fun and challenging.  Mostly fun though.

Sectionals was only a week from the regional meet that we competed in already.  I remember being excited and nervous at the same time.  Practice runs for long jump started and for some reason I was struggling.  Then prelims started and it was my turn.  My first two jumps ended in scratches, which meant I went over the line.  Then unfortunately my last jump was only 17ft, nowhere near the chance to compete in finals.  Filled with anger and sadness I told myself I wasn’t going to let this down fall into my other events.  4by2 was coming up and we decided to warm up.  After warm ups we went to our places for the race.  It was our time to shine.  Everything was going fine once the race started.  Cody gave it off to max and it was now my turn.  So I went on the track to get ready.  I watched Max disappear behind the people that took up my vision from where I was.  I waited nervously for Matt (A senior that is only part of the 4by2) to turn the corner.  Once I saw the other team’s runners turn and didn’t see ours.  I just figured that we were a little behind and it was my jump to shorten the gap so we could go to state.  Unfortunately, Matt never showed and I was left in shock because I knew we had the potential to place in state.  Apparently Max lost his energy from sprinting so hard that he wasn’t able to hand the piton off to Matt between the exchange zones.  Due to this we were disqualified from the race, crushing our goal to go to state in the 4by 2.  The 4by1 on the other had was a success.  We won by a half a second to the team of rice lake.  We put the 4by2 and for me personally the long jump behind us and focused on just one thing, the 4by1. 

The fact of just going to state for track was awesome.  I was extremely excited.  Right after school we left for a four hour drive up to state.  The ride was amazing, some of the sights were absolutely beautiful.  Once we got there, we were put into college dorms to sleep the three days we were going to stay.  The first day was a nice day because we were able to relax and get ready to run the next day.  Hydration was key for running and I had plenty of time to get hydrated.  So I wasted no time, drinking lots of on my relaxing day.  So far I was enjoying state to the fullest have lots of fun.

Before I knew it, I was placed on the track getting ready to run the 4by1.  “Bang” the race has started.  My ears started ringing, hearing nothing I was forced to just seeing.  I watched James sprint around the corner, coming straight for me.  I quickly started accelerating and once James handed the piton off to me I started hearing again.  The roar of the crowd was over powering.  I have rarely ran against people faster than me and when I saw that I was just staying the same distance behind I was angry.  I pushed myself so hard to try to pull ahead, but I couldn’t do it.  In the end we placed 6th place in finals, which was enough to make the podium.  We did hope we would’ve got first, but 6th place wasn’t so bad for a small school like us.

The year was a very successful year and nobody thought that we would’ve made it to state.  But we did indeed.  I was so happy and am now so excited for what next year will bring.  I want next year to be even better than last year.  I would like to have the opportunity to go to state once again.  The only difference I would love to have is to go to state for more than one event.  Overall I am extremely excited for next year.