(Yay, my very first guest post, here is Jacob's track season as seen through his own eyes)
I had a fun senior year of track and I
loved every moment of it. From out-running dogs, winning the 4X800 and distance
medley at the Hillsboro relays to becoming one of the top runners in the Pacific league.
I wasn't planning on doing track because I wanted to get a job and save money
for a mission, but after I ran a 16:59 5k at XC districts, I decided to run
track.
I was really excited to run districts; I
was ready for some revenge after what happened my junior year of track (didn't
place at districts). I ran the 1500 and 3000 at districts. Before the races I
was seated third in the 3k and fourth in the 1500. On Thursday May 17th I ran
the 3k hoping to qualify for state. Before the race the head coach talked
with me about the race and he felt confident that I could get first or second.
During the 3000, I was running with the front pack just running my hardest.
About two laps to go I was in second being neck in neck with Tyler Shipley from
Forest Grove. As soon as the bell rang (meaning one lap to go) I was a little impatient
and passed Tyler to take the lead. 100 meters to go Bo McCullough from
Hillsboro and Tyler out-sprinted me at the end and I missed a spot at state by
two seconds. The bright side was that I got a lifetime PR running 9 minutes and
17.05 seconds. Another awesome thing was that I had a cousin who ran the 3k
with me. His name is Seth Berdahl, he was a freshman at Forest Grove High
school, and he finished fourth in the 3k. After the race I stumbled to the
ground and I felt so weak that I couldn't get up on my own. Bo tried helping me
up and that didn't work out well, so Ryan England, a team-mate and a two time
State qualifier came over to help out. I also ended up throwing up, that was
telling me that I was dehydrated. My distance coach told me to take an ice cold
bath and get some sleep. Before I went home, my parents took me to 7-eleven and
bought me a bottle of chocolate milk and Gatorade. Shortly after I got home I felt better, strong again, and
was ready for the 1500 the next day.
Friday May 18th was the day that could have
been my last high school race ever. Districts was all about the second place
spot because Geremia Lizier-Zmudzinski from Forest Grove was going to get the
win because he's one of the best runners in the state. His PR before state
was a 3:56 (he ended up winning state with a time of 3:53). After Coach Rice got out from his coaching meeting, we had a one on one talk. He told me
to worry about myself and have fun. Before I knew it the 1500 was about to
start and I was very nervous. As soon as the race started I was settled at
third while Kyle Rose from Tigard tried to challenge Geremia. My mind was like
"You've beaten this guy before, Go get him!" 500 meters to go, I
passed Kyle and I was in second, I was worried that someone was going to pass
me, but in the end, I finished second in the 1500 with a PR of 4 minutes and
14.66 seconds. I shouted for joy many times saying "I'm going to
State!," got many hugs from many people, and got interviewed by someone
from the Hillsboro Argus and made it into a newspaper Article. I enjoyed the rest
of the meet. I watched Ryan qualify for
State in the 800 for the second consecutive year and watching the men's 4x400
team (Ryan, Trebriel Larry, Alex Barr, and Josh Friend) win by .03 seconds. It
was a great day to be a Crimson Tide.
The
first day of practice before the state meet felt really weird, because there was
barely anyone practicing on the track. Before practice the head coach talked to
every state qualifier, he mentioned me first and he told me that he was more
proud of me than any other Glencoe athlete. Throughout the week I trained hard
and Thursday afternoon was the day we
left for Eugene. It was a fun 2 1/2 days. As soon as we got to the Phoenix Inn
and relaxed a little bit, we went to Hayward Field (University of Oregon) and
practiced there, I'll admit it was a really nice track, in fact the Olympic
time trials were held on that track a couple of months ago. After Thursday's
practice, the team and I went to a family's house out in the country in Eugene
for dinner. The family that lives there had a really nice place, they had a
pond with the island in the middle of it. The funniest thing about state is
Ryan brought a clown costume with him and he wore it around the hotel, Trebriel
and I wore it as well.
Friday May 25th was the first day of the
State meet. I didn't run because the 1500 was the next day, but I had to get
some running done. So as soon as Ryan began to warm up for the 800 prelims, I
ran with him. Ryan was so close to getting a spot at the finals, but he took
10th overall, top 8 finishers got to run the finals the next day. I also
watched the 3000 so I could support Bo and Tyler. Our 4x400 team did really
well, even though they didn't make it to finals the next day. One crazy thing
that I found out was that I was one of the two back-up 4X400 runners. Yeah, I was
like "what? I'm not running a 400." Saturday May 26th was the day I
ran the 1500. About two hours before my race, a couple of coaches took me to
subway for lunch. I was the last person to finish the 1500, I was a little
disappointed, but I got over it during the day, the bright side was that I went
to state and worked extremely hard for it, so I was thankful for the experience.
About two weeks later there was a
track banquet. My family and I went to that and I brought all the ribbons I received
throughout the season. I received many awards. I was named most improved on the
track team, I got two all conference awards: second team 3000 and first team
1500. I also got a varsity letter for track. Ending my high school career, I am
a three time letter in track and four time letter in XC.
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