First Track Meet 2019 Cuba-Rushford
Location: Cuba-Rushford
Track and field seems simple. Just run around the track, throw things, or
jump. The reality is that those skills
are much more involved than one might imagine.
Ideally you build athletes up over a period of six years and they cover
the points allowing younger athletes to grow.
Take my daughter Autumn. She
tested up to varsity in seventh grade but she was nothing special. By the end of that year Autumn made
sectionals in pole vault. In eighth
grade Autumn learned how to do discus and placed fifth at the county meet in
discus and again pole vaulted at sectionals.
In ninth grade Autumn finally learned how to four step the hurdles and
placed sixth at sectionals in the 100H and third in pole vault. Last year in the DII meet Autumn won the
discus, 100 hurdles, and the pole vault.
She’s a senior this year and last night she walked away with the 100
hurdles, the pole vault, and the discus (with a nice PR in the discus!). It took Autumn five years to reach that point
in her skill level and now we just hope she stays healthy as a Senior and she
still has room to grow in several skills, which will make her senior year very exciting!
Why does this all matter?
Well, last night as we were riding to the meet I asked my girls team, “If
this is your first track meet raise your hand.”
All but three girls raised their hands.
That is a scary. To quote Tommy Lee Jones, when he played
two-face in Batman forever, our meet should have been “massacre under the big
top!” Yet it wasn’t. It was a quad meet and we scored sixty
points! Unlike a normal meet, they
scored us like a mini-invitational. My
daughter did make a good accounting of herself, kicking in 18 points (plus four
from the second place 400 R) but that means the team kicked in over 40!!! Not bad for a bunch of rookies!”
The first thing I liked about my girls is that they are
brave! We have an army of 100
hurdlers! This warms my heart but the
reality is that the 100 Hurdles is a hard event to learn to do properly! Learning to four step alone is tricky much
less leg snap, form, leaning, and sprinting into the first hurdle! Another sign of this bravery is we only left
ONE event open last night!!! Yeah, you
heard that right! Twelve girls covered
ALL the running events AND relays, only leaving ONE field event open! Shot put was the ONLY event we couldn’t
cover! That is a miracle! I can think about years where we had a lot
more experience where we couldn’t cover one of the relays, a track running
event, AND a field event!! These girls
are plucky!!!! This is NOT a slam on
former teams! I’m a big believer in putting
girls into events they are passionate about, and those more experienced JT teams would
punish other teams in events that we were in!
We have left the 3200 relay open since 2012 and I would joke with the
girls, “We’ll spot them the first event!” with a smile on my face. This team of rookies didn’t even spot the
other team that!
The 3200 relay girls took the track. Only one of them had ever been in a track
meet before and she’d never done a relay so I had to help them line up in order
for inspection. The official said, “Just
so you know coach, we are waving the uniform rule tonight because it is so
cold.” I thanked him but I had already
told the team days earlier that no matter how cold it was we would be running in
uniform! The gun went off and Cash Perry
got in front of her girl and stayed out in front of her. Things were looking good! Cash came in and blind exchanged with Jillian!! You don’t see that too often in the 3200
relay!!! That a bunch of rookies were no
look exchanging made me very proud! They
looked good doing it too! Jillian
maintained the lead and had a great handoff with Desirea!! Then I noticed that the other girl didn’t
seem to concerned by Desirea’s lead. “Uh-oh!”
I thought and cheered Dezzie on. Slowly
the other teams vet gained on Dez until passing her in the last hundred and
blasting for the line! Dezzie gave it
everything she had but she was already red lining! Pink got the baton and went to work but she
was up against a vet closer. Pink is a
seventh grader:) The girls were
disappointed that we lost but I wasn’t. We
broke twelve minutes with three girls who are brand new at running the
800! Later one girl said, “I think our
3200 relay is going to be good!” Oh,
yeah! They just need time.
The hundred hurdles was up next. It was fun for such a little team to flood an
event like that! Usually teams flood the
100 and 200, not the 100 hurdles! I had
five girls run it and that is with one girl who wants more time before she goes
in:) When I have six running it that
will be HALF the team!!! Zoe won her
heat and she was pumped! Poor Harley
fell sending her shoe flying and slamming down on the hard surface! (One girl was like, “Boy is this track hard
coach! I miss ours!” Yes, little JT has a nice sponge track, that
feels good to run on, and doesn’t shred you if you biff a hurdle and take a
slide!) Autumn blew the fast heat away
but was horrified at how bad her arms were at the end of the race. First race of the season?? I’ll take it!
The hundred. I had
two girls in and I thought they did fine, even with the cold! Lorena, our resident Brazilian, came in
fourth! Not bad! Zoe ran hard and got a better time than she
did last week in practice!
Team Captain Jillian had Pink all set up with the 1500
runners when I jogged over. I pulled her
aside and told her to tuck in behind the leaders. “Coach, these girls say they usually run
5:30s!” she said unhappily. I looked
back at my seventh grader and said, “Pink, just do what you can!” She placed 3rd in the event and
although she couldn’t keep up with the two Cuba
The 400 relay! An
event with blindingly quick passes and blurs of motion! An event this unit is brand new at:) Out of three teams we came in second and I
see a lot of room for improvement, so that is good! Autumn leads that relay coming off of the
blocks, Harlee is next, followed by Desirea, and Lorena is our closer!
Open 400. Our 400
powerhouse, Allison Hayes, is out for the season with a torn meniscus from
basketball. It would have been nice for
Paige to have one more year in her shadow before she had to shoulder the
responsibility of being the JT girl in the fast heat. But bravely Paige stepped into the ring and
did alright. She told me, “I got pulled
too fast in the beginning!” Kelsey ran
in the slow heat and ran on her toes the whole way! My wife was like, “Is that a good idea?” I’m like, “Oh, yeah!! That is superior style! If she grows into that she is going to be
good!” Kelsey is a worker, so I think
she will!
400 IH. It was Jill’s
third running event and there was no one weak in the event! Still, Jill pushed hard, straining up until
the end when she hit the line!
800. Andrea is brand
new and has been battling with a hurt ankle from soccer season, that kept
hurting through basketball. The doctor
says that is how it is going to be, so we have to deal with it! I told Andrea too tuck in and go with the
leader. Andrea got bored of before the
first 200 line and moved to pass the girl. The other girl was having none of that and quickened her pace. I ran to the other side of the track and
Andrea was behind the girl but almost stepping on the girls heels they were so
close. “Alright, go ahead and pass her!”
I called out. Andrea moved out into the
passing lane. “Do so quickly!” I
yelled. She did. Then she pulled away, to win the 800
easily. She wasn’t pleased with her time
and I admitted she could easily improve it but I said, “Hey, a win is a win!” It was then I realized she didn’t realize she
had won! There were boys running in the
same heat and Andrea hadn’t realized that all the girls were behind her:)
200. Lorena got
confused and missed the 200. I was proud
of Zoe for not complaining about being in the fast heat. I’ve had girls duck it or whine about
it. Zoe was just mad she didn’t
win. I like that:) I just said, “Zoe, you’ve got to lose before
you can win! Just keep working hard!”
3000. Cash was not
pleased about being in the 3000. We had
already several debates about it that ended with me saying, “You’re doing it.” Now she came over to pole vault. “Coach,” she said, tears in playing at the
edge of her eyes, “I CAN’T do the 3000!
I hit the bar in high jump three times!
I have bruises! I hurt!” I’m trying to watch the vault and say, “Cash,
I want you to get in the race... you can always drop out if you need to.” A very unhappy Cash couldn’t believe what she
was hearing. “I HURT!!” I nodded and said, “I believe you.” I’m glad my wife was there. She came over, wrapped Cash up in her arms
and consoled her. As glad as I was that my
wife did that, I was unmoved. During the
800 as I’m cheering on Andrea she said, “Coach, I can’t do the 3, 000!” “Yes, you can,” I replied, focusing on Andrea’s
race. Her eyes narrowed. “Just so I know, how do I drop out of the 3,
000?” I replied over my shoulder, “Just
run it Cash.” I find her after I watch Zoe
run. “Let’s go,” I say, like a warden
taking an inmate out into the yard. Cash
shed her blanket. “Let’s jog,” I
said. Cash rolled her eyes but followed
me. “I hope you know, I’m going to lose.” “Just do your best,” I reply. We get to the line. “You’re going to win,” Cash informs the other
girl unhappily. I let Cash keep her
jacket as long as I can avoiding the daggers from those little eyes. Finally, I take it and the gun goes off. Cash blasts off the line and starts to
run.
She gives me a dirty look as she goes by the first time but
both of her team Captains are cheering for her and she perks up. I’m more concerned about the girl behind
her. No panic on that girl’s face,
distance stride, and she’s not falling behind.
My mind screams, “Distance horse!”
Oh, oh! Cash is going to actually
have a battle her first race 3, 000 race.
Cash slows some but she’s still keeping a good pace into the second mile. The girl behind her isn’t phased. She ever so slowly closes the gap and then
suddenly darts by Cash. I didn’t know
how Cash would take this but to my surprise, she didn’t panic. She continued to run, not giving up. The last lap Cash tried heroically to close
the gap but to no avail. The last
hundred the other girl kicked and much to my surprise and pleasure, Cash kicked
too, even though she knew she was going to lose! I walk up to my eighth grader and say with a
small smile, “Well, Cash, welcome to Varsity.”
She gives me a serious look back and says, “Thanks for making me run
that.” I nod and smile. “Oh, kiddo, you are going to be good!” Then I turn my attention to my very green
1600 relay unit.
1600 relay. I
remember the year our 1600 relay team almost went to states! That was amazing! These girls are very new at the event and I was
hoping they would at least break six minutes.
They did MUCH better than that!
The passes weren’t quite as good as I would have liked but that is to be
expected because we assembled the team a week after the 3200 relay team was
formed. Still, the girls gave it
everything they had and although they lose to Cuba
Discus. Autumn threw
seventy in warm up, impressing the girls from the other teams. Autumn wasn’t so impressed, she’s been
throwing in the seventies for years. BUT
when she heard she got a 81 she was very excited!!
Pole Vault. Autumn
recognized one of her competitors from indoor track. The girl was a good vaulter and was out. The girl was over to watch vaulting anyway
and Autumn did not disappoint. She went
over 7’7” and then was told, “You won.
What height do you want?” She
said, “Let’s do 8’6”!” She blasted over
that. “Do you want to call it a day?” I
asked nervously. She was like, “Naw!”
and took some great hits at 9 feet. Jill
went over 6’1” but struggled over 6’7”.
She has a great grip on the pole though, so I think we just need to work
on her dragging her body up and she will crush that height and seven feet!
High Jump. Cash and
Harlee, both brand new jumpers, passed the first two heights and Cash went one
more. Cash ended up taking third in the
meet and has the war wounds to prove it!
Long Jump and Triple Jump.
Pink and Stephanie are my two jumpers.
They are both new, so there distances aren’t that impressive but Coach
David is working hard with them and I’m hoping for some big things this season!
Thanks for tuning in!
We have a long road ahead of us and different athletes will get longer
stories depending on the meet and what happens!
What an adventure this young team and I have started out on!
*** Author Adrian Essigmann has eighteen books in print on
Amazon.com, soon to be nineteen! All of
them are $.99 cents on Kindle, with the exception of “An Assumed Risk” which
will be (Lord willing) an e-book before summer.
All of his books are available in soft cover too! Type Amazon Adrian Essigmann and his author’s
page should come up ***
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