I recall the time where I realized our 4×100 group was going down state.
I had just finished my race and I was watching as my other teammates fought for the finish line. Prior to running, I had memorized the qualifying time for state “50.29.” I repeated those numbers to myself up until the moment I was on the track “50.29 that’s it, that’s all you need to go down state” was my last thought before the gun had fired, and I was off to go run. Impatiently waiting for the annoncer to call out our time after the race, I walked up and down the football field.
“Lady Hawks 4th place with a time of 50.13” said the man on the intercom.
“WE’RE GOING TO STATE!”
I ran around telling all my teammates and when I had finally made it to my coach she soon had me doubting if we were actually going. “Let me double check the state qualifying time,” she said trying to reassure me. But I was sure that we had to be going to state and we was, she pulled up the pdf and it read “50.29.”
A sense of fulfillment – the first time I’ve felt like that.
If you would’ve told me sophomore year that next year I was going to be going to state for track I would have looked at you as if you were the craziest person on earth. Now while I always knew I was pretty good at my sport, I had never really taken into account how good I actually was.
The day had finally come; I, Chirssy, Makhia and Marriyyah and a few more of my teammates were to be leaving for state during 4he period. We had received custom shirts one from our coach and two from the school “finally some track drip that not everybody has.”
Our first stop on the long ride to Eastern Illinois University was Tinley Park High school. We had shared a big breakfast with them before their departure to EIU.
Upon arriving at our hall, it took our coach at least 30 minutes to figure out which hall we’d be spending our time in. Walking into my dorm for the first time, I was soon disappointed; I’ve been in a dorm before but never an empty one. Everything was made out of wood and the carpet was a ugly red color, and there was only one mirror and it was extremely small. I had been rooming with my teammate Leniquie, she was a pretty cool roommate. Rooming together allowed for me to see a side of her that practice and track meets would have never brought out which was cool.
My favorite part of the whole trip was how much we ate, which was frequent and free, perfect for me.
The morning of state. Although I had known why we were there and what was expected of us, it hadn’t fully registered how big this was. The Hillcrest Girls Track team hadn’t been to state in more than 5 years. The morning I, my team and my coach walked to the dining hall to get some breakfast, then straight to the track. We were not allowed on the track field unless it was time for our race but seeing the crowd and all the different teams forced me to snap into reality.
Before I knew it I was on the blocks waiting for the gun to go off.
“You got to go. Run. Everyones watching.”
The only words that circled through my head before the fun fired. BOOM. The race had begun and before I knew it the race was over. Just like that, it really happens that fast.
Overall, we did okay for it being our first time going down there but Now that I’ve been I know what to expect. State was a great way for team bonding. I am very grateful I got the opportunity to experience being a state athlete.
This year, I look forward to getting the opportunity of going back down state, now that I know what to expect I hope I am more prepared and can run with more confidence.
