This week my teammates and I traveled up to Illinois for another big race against York high school. We knew this one would be a tough race, especially after what they did last weekend.
We got out of school at 3:00 then got on the road right after school. I rode in the car with Derrick Muench so it was the longest car ride of my life, since he bothered me the whole way. We arrived to our hotel at 10:00 and ate pasta which the team moms had prepared for us. We then asked Coach Medley for a speech, but he said wait for the morning.
The next morning we woke up at 7:00 and went down to the lobby to eat breakfast. Honestly we were all concerned about the course and the windy weather as we weren't really used to the Chicago climate. We then ate breakfast and then came time for Coach Medley to give his speech. He told us that nobody had respect for southeast teams, and today would be a good day to prove that we could compete with anybody in the country.
We then went to the course and put up our tent. It was so windy that we had to take it down. After waiting anxiously in the cold, it was time for our varsity squad to warm up. The 7 of us ran past Yorks tent. We'd be lying if we said we weren't intimidated by them. There were about 200 kids with cool hats on, and legendary coach Joe Newton was standing in the middle of them, and we knew in 30 minutes we would be toeing to the line to race them.
Then a new tradition occurred. As we mazed our way through a secluded set of trails we decided to stop. We all got in a huddle, and said what we wanted to accomplish today and we made it clear that we didn't come here to get second no matter who was in the race. This got us re focused and reminded us we could accomplish anything we set our minds to.
As the race goes, we were all really surprised at how fast it went out at. I went out at 4:52, and I had never been out that fast before. There were a whole lot of turns in the course and honestly, I didn't know where i was going. At one point I even asked Chris Striegel if we had hit the two mile yet.
After the race it was another close call like last week. But on our cool down, we were all satisfied because we knew whatever the results were, we came into their home state, not knowing the course at all, and gave them a very close race.
After the awards, some teammates, coach medley, and I walked over to York's tent. Being able to meet Joe Newton especially after the movie the team watched together about York, was a pretty special experience. I think him and Coach Medley share a lot of the same qualities. They both love what they do and they both are very good at what they do. Joe Newton is one of the most legendary coaches ever and to be able to meet him and race his team was a memory we will never forget.
As I sit in the car on my way back to Louisville, I am happy with what happened Saturday, but not fully satisfied. We have many tests to come, and as a team we need to keep focusing on working hard right now, so it will pay off at the end of the year. The sky is the limit.