Personal Narrative: My First Marathon

“Sprinters don’t even do anything,” is what the distance runners say. “You guys hardly even run,” they go on. As a sprinter, I hear this a lot. Every year we get grief from them about how they think we don’t do anything and it’s very agitating. Track and field is supposed to be a team sport, although people do run in their separate events. Having the long distance runners always talk gossip and tell us we never do anything is just adding unnecessary drama. I hope some day they can learn to stop making perceptions of us.

My team was playing in Denver at the Mountain Madness tournament, our last tournament of the year. It was the second day of the tournament and after suffering a loss earlier that morning, we really needed to play well if we wanted any chance at playing in the championship game the next day. I played for a

As our two senior captains closed the practice with their last words I will never forget Claire Basetti saying "Girls, this is my last year here at Wood, all I want right now is this team, my favorite team of sisters I've had at Wood, to win this State Championship". From that practice on, we played our hearts out for the person playing next to us. As we made it to the Giant Center once again in March of 2016, we ended up beating Villa with a lead of seventeen points. The feeling we all felt rushing onto the court as we won when the clock ran out to 00:00 was one of the best feelings I will never forget. That season really taught me that when things don't feel right the way they are going, that talking the problems or feelings out with others definitely helps. If our coach didn't have that one practice dedicated for us I highly doubt we wouldn't have won that game. Winning the State Championship is definitely one of the best moments I'll remember for the rest of my life, and especially the sisterhood I made with my best

Our team went undefeated for our first 16 games, and then our 17th game we had our first tie. We were used to killed the team we tied to, but that proves if you don’t come ready not everything is going to go your way. Some of the kids kind of took it the wrong way. We won 14 more games after that and kept playing strong. Then we had our final playoff game to see who was going to state or not.

In 2016, more than ever, the team was committed to and had one goal of winning. One of our biggest rivals was St. John’s College High School (SJCHS). My doubles partner and I played the last match of the WCAC championships against SJCHS. During the season, SJCHS was one of the hardest competitors we faced but walking onto the court on the final day of championships, my partner and I knew we would fight and win. After 45 minutes, I hit an ace and we won the match that put us in the lead to win the championships. October 30, 2016 was the single most exciting and overwhelming day for the team all season. Everyone’s hard work paid off.

On that first Saturday in June 2012, my teammates and I fulfilled our life-long goals of winning a state championship together and proving to the people that did not believe in us that we could do it. On that day, those fifteen guys I had grown up through grade school with were no longer just teammates and friends, they became brothers to me. Another reason Huntington Park is so special to me is because I was the final pitcher in both championships, meaning I had the ball in my hand when the game was on the line. Standing on the mound in front of ten thousand people with all eyes looking at you is a nerve racking feeling but there was no better feeling then being the guy that our coach trusted to bring home the trophy for our team. Lastly, this baseball stadium known as Huntington Park is so special to me because after receiving that trophy and medal for winning the championship I also received my high school diploma at home plate because our team missed the graduation ceremony. There are not many people in the world that can say they received their high school diploma on the same field they won a state championship. Huntington Park may not be a special place for anyone else but it will always be a special place for my teammates and myself. Those two days our dreams became realities and that is something we will all look back and cherish forever. Whether it’s passing by the stadium in my car or attending a Columbus Clippers game during the summer time, any time I find myself back at Huntington Park I still get the chills from knowing I played on that

We were not expected to be in this position after starting the season with two wins and six losses. With the bases loaded, I stepped into the batter’s box for my second at bat in the 2017 PA District 2 AAAA High School Championship game. Our opponent was stacked with three prospective Division 1 pitchers. I was nervous to say the least, but then my “moment” arrived. I saw my pitch, and launched a bases clearing triple that added to a lead that would eventually produce a victory for my team. We moved on through the playoffs, and eventually landed at Medlar field in State College, where we delivered our first baseball State Championship in school history.

We won we are going to state! In May 2015 my high school baseball team finally beat St. Thomas Moore in the regional championship to go play in the state tournament in Sioux Falls, that was something that the Winner/Colome baseball team has not done since 2009. So on May 30th 2015 we headed to the State tournament in Sioux Falls, and in the first game we played Dell Rapids. We ended up having to play 13 innings in about 95 degree weather we ended up winning to go to the championship where we would play West Central the team that was favored to win the championship. I am going to tell you a little about the plans, the expectations and what really happened to our baseball team last spring.

Cresting the hill, I struggled with my ragged breathing and the pain in my hips. I focused on my rhythm I in order to keep going. My running shoes slapped the pavement as onlookers expressed their encouragement with cowbells and cheers. I wondered again why I put myself into the situation by choice. As I passed mile 13 I remembered. I felt my eyes water and my legs shake as the finish line approached. Marines in uniform stood ready with medals and smiles as they encouraged us in our own hardships to rise above the pain and finish. The announcer spoke my name but I hardly heard him as a medal slipped over my head and I marveled at the weight, not of the medal, but the accomplishment which seemed impossible for the past three hours. I finished in 3 hours, 7 minutes. It was not an Olympic record and I detested running at mile two, but I did it.

Our administration hung our state champions banner from the front of the high school building. That next week we played for the overall state championship against Jackson Prep. They had been the number one team in the state for the last three years. We started to play best two out of three series on a Thursday. We ended up losing two games to Jackson Prep, but it still did not affect the fact that we had made history at our school.

In the summer of 2016, my tournament baseball team won the state championship for Texas.

The red curtains open to reveal a blinding bright spotlight and a packed arena. Getting to the National Championship an immense amount of preparation. We had two minutes in front of the judges. We put our hands in the middle of our circle. For the last time of the season, we chanted “LHS cheer!”, and then we were off. The crowd was silent with anticipation. The routine felt like second nature and we ended up doing well. We made it to finals and ultimately took fourth place in the nation. It the first time in five years that our team had placed. It was a long journey getting to this point.

“Whoa, whoa! Where is this taking us, where, where?” I said as my heart was beating as fast as a runner who finished the Boston Marathon. I was hiking with my family a second ago, and now I am through a wavy transparent wall that made me feel like I was heading through Platform 9 ¾ in Harry Potter. I suddenly was flying through a golden sky that glistened like the sun hitting the ocean. Gracefully I did flips and cartwheels in the air while gold ribbon followed me like ducklings following their mother. Milliseconds later I landed in a grassy field. Cows were harvesting crops and cooking dinner. Straw hats aligned their faces, with brown corduroy overalls splattered in dirt. They smelled like a fertilizer company on a hot summer afternoon.

Still to this day, the memories of that summer and those state and regional tournaments reside in my head like they happened just last week, and those are the best kind of

My seventh grade volleyball team had a fantastic season. We had won every game except one leading up to the postseason. We were so successful since we worked well together. We exceeded in multiple areas on and off the court. After we won all of the Regional and Sectional games, we were headed to Tri-Valley on a