The gun went off and my mind was frozen. My feet flew out in front of me and the race had begun. I blazed around the first turn bordering the abandoned field when my mind finally kicked in. It seemed as if the thoughts of strategy had disappeared for the first 3 minutes of the race. I rounded the curve at the end of the field at the half-mile mark and was hoping for a faster first mile. My first mile came out around a 6:30, which was expected. I was approaching my enemy with every step. The dreadful hills were right around the corner and there was no way around them. This course requires you to run it twice to get a full 3.1 miles. The second loop seemed harder than the first. The weather went from being perfect temperature to being hot in a matter of minutes. After coming across the two-mile, something happened in my head. I saw the clock much slower than expected and my confidence shot down. I was nearly 30 seconds off my original pace. I picked up my pace slightly and finished in 22:29. AHSAA only allows the first 6 individuals to qualify for State, I happened to be second for individuals and Top 10 out of the whole race! I am very happy that I qualified and am excited to run against the top in the state once again. Also, my teammate Cele Moon placed Top 10 also and heads to State this weekend as well! I hope to run hard and run a much better time than at Sectionals. For everyone who has finished their regular season, I hope to see you all next year and hope you enjoyed it. This is the best year so far since I have started running cross-country in 7th Grade. Good Luck to everyone competing at the State Meet this weekend. See you all there!
Thank you MileSplit for giving me the opportunity to share my experiences for this cross-country season. It’s been a blessing writing each week.
"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. "