Personal Narration Of A State Championship

The day of my championship game I woke up with my girlfriend Michaela. Smelling cooked breakfast, laughter down stairs with multiple voices, and we headed down stairs. Seen my friends that also played for the team that wanted to ride in together to the field. Jaylon, Josh, And Jaylon father. Also my grandparents was coming through to my house so I knew how big this game was “I’m so excited at this point”. Everyone got to the field and started working out at our home field; therefore, we were waiting on the other team going through some of our secret plays. PG Spirits get to the field the game started. The captains ran up to the middle of the field and we are the Temple Hills Bison’s that kicked off the ball first. It was a tight game back in

Our footfalls crunched along the gravel path as the four of us finished our first run at altitude. We breathed in the crisp mountain air, trying to force oxygen into our lungs. Slowly, we walked to the football field, where we played Ultimate Frisbee before eating dinner, showering, and going to bed. This is how we spent our first day at Jim Ryun Running Camp, hosted by Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Former Olympian Jim Ryun organized the camp with the help of his wife, son, and other coaches. Going to running camp gave me an opportunity to strengthen both my ability to compete in cross-country and my faith in God.

The race had already been postponed from a previous date, and after having to wait an extra week for our highly anticipated home invite, our entire team was stirring by the time the day finally befell us. It was a reassuring feeling to be able to warm up on the course knowing that every step of the 3.11 mile course had been imprinted into from the time I had started running on it the summer before. Granted the weather wasn’t perfect by any means and the course’s condition was already less than stellar, but I could make do, to be honest I was too excited to even let it

I was walking off of the field with my teammates after two blowouts. In Steamboat on the second day. All of us were so excited to get to the pool and have some fun! Me and my baseball teammate that I was staying with meet each other there. We hurried downstairs put on our swimsuits and before you can blink we were in the water. When everybody was in the pool and before you knew it we were playing 500 with the football. After we did that for a couple of hours we went to got to the hot tub and that's when everything went bad. We had our older teammates brother which was 16. We saw some other kids in the hot tub. Then we went in and then Kelin the 16 year old said,” What are you guys here for?”

For the past three years I’ve been a part of a team that has shaped me into the person I am today. The John Hay cross country team has given me qualities that genuinely made me a better person such as being confident, disciplined, motivated, and a leader. Not only did running help me express these attributes, it also saved my life.

Every high school athlete dreams of winning a state championship. My softball coach always explained winning a state championship as a life-changing experience. As the only senior on the team my goal was to leave behind a legacy for the younger players to remember, and after this season I believe that I completed goal. I have been a member of this team for seven years. Before this season, my school team had never before won any games in the state tournament. On September 25, 2017, the Simpson Academy fastpitch softball team made history at our school by becoming the MAIS Division II AAAA State Champions.

White panels, with rusty looking rubber covering what I believe is a trapped memory bouncy around in the suspended air. Memories are huge, especially when I figure out that it’s over, but when I’m still able to look back, it’s something I will never forget. My state basketball is the little gift that means the world to me. Filled with compressed air, covered in sharpie writing, this basketball spills memories into my mind.

Gabe’s quote that he chose that best represented his presentation stood out to me. I can relate to these words of wisdom with volleyball. Getting to the State Tournament is never easy for high school volleyball. My sophomore year we fell short in the second round to qualify and that was so disappointing for our team. The next year we came back with lots of intensity and drive, but fell short in the last game before qualifying. Fortunately, we took all the anger and disappointment and worked our tails off. We ended up qualifying, it was one of the coolest experience that has happened to me, and it shows that hard work pays off in the end, and to never give up.

Mr. D. has coached at Wabasso for numerous years and has left a lasting impression on all of his runners. Mr. Dudgeon’s main priorities throughout all his years of coaching are to expand and improve his teams and, most importantly, to make sure everyone has fun. For instance, he puts unfathomable amounts of care and time into meticulously designing the perfect workout for each day of practice; he even does the workouts himself before he has our team run them. Furthermore, Mr. Dudgeon always makes sure that we feel prepared for the upcoming meets, and most importantly, he makes sure we are ready to “destroy the competition,” as he says. His infectious love for running, drive for success, and through-the-roof level of care for his athletes helps him build larger and more successful teams every year. To be specific, Mr. D. started with a cross country team composed of five girls and built it up to up to a conference-champion team of 10+ runners in a matter of only three years. The product of Mr. Dudgeon’s labor was a shiny cross country coach of the year plaque. Similarly, in a mere one year's

Coaching the cross country and the track team at my former high school was the best decision I had ever made in my life. I started coaching to carry the legacy of the late coach Bean, who inspired me to never settle less than what you are worth. Coming back to coach a team, at a very young age seemed very tough to comprehend for most coaches around me. Coaching was a journey in my life that shaped and changed me into who

Screaming and running toward our fans from joy knowing that we were known as the 2A Soccer Champions. As I yanked the plaque from a teammate I glanced at the brown plaque carved deeply “2A Champions 2012”. Rising it up and same time showing the plaque to my mother, who saw this incredible soccer match, I knew that she was really proud of me. All the tough practices and sacrifice we, as a team, did pay it off on the soccer final match against our opponent the Dixon “Dukes”.

Nicole Rebello, 12, was devoted to her varsity volleyball team during her first three years of high school. It was only until this past August when she decided to make some last minute changes. “I didn’t feel like high school volleyball was the best fit for me at the time so I decided to take on cross country” says Rebello. After a lot of thinking, she decided the right answer was right in front of her. “I decided to do something far from what I was used to doing which in this case, was cross country” she explained. As she ran with the team more and more, everything became familiar to her. She started running during her free time in order to prepare herself for her first meet. “Going into my first race I didn’t really have any emotion because

This summer my family traveled to my brother's state tournament. His 17U baseball team for our school had been qualifying for the state tournament. We were so excited and proud of the team. They were so happy when they won the district tournament. I was excited about going to Troy again.

In the winter of my junior year, my basketball team won the district tournament. It had been a season of ups and downs, but we peaked at the right moment. We later qualified for the state tournament. Collectively we felt that we could win the championship; the momentum was with us. Unfortunately, due to two uncharacteristically sloppy and draining games, we were eliminated. After our final game, we went back to the locker room in silence. Soon, the only audible sounds were the crying of all twelve girls. Twelve girls that gave everything to each other were now devastated that their time together was over. Twelve girls sat in a circle with their faces buried in their jerseys, broken and exhausted. In that moment as we sat and cried and reflected

The values and skills I have learned far outweigh those of any other program I have been apart of. Uniquely, running is a sport that takes of discipline and patience to realize that success takes time before any payoffs. A runner has to prepare months in advance and often times year-round to be ready for upcoming seasons. In turn, running trains your ability to set both long and short-term goals. Patience is important, but with no objectives in mind, it is likened to simply treading water. That said, tests and reality checks have become the norm for both my athletics and academic life. I have come to learn that self-awareness is vital to keeping goals in perspective and maintaining a solid work ethic. Knowing where you are, how far you have come, and where you have left to go are all equally necessary. Moreover, endurance training has an exceptional mental aspect that must be overcome every workout and race. Perseverance in intimidating circumstances, is essential to a person's character and ambitions, and likewise, will win races. Training your mind in cross country or track is just as important as is training your body. I have made it a point to remember these lessons throughout my high school years. All of them have significant worldly applications and I could never thank my coaches enough for teaching them. With these skills at my disposal, I believe I would be an excellent addition to USNA class of