Conference…This year at conference our team experienced
something many athletes have never experienced…at first we won, then four hours
later we found out that we actually lost the meet, and finally two days after
that our winning title was restored! An emotional roller-coaster is the closest
analogy I can equate to the situation.
Going into the meet we knew that Concordia was our
competition, so many of us, myself included, focused on beating any Concordia
girls near us, but in the second half of the race I realized that there were a
considerable number of Mississippi girls near the front too. When we finished
we all thought we may have done it, we may have won the meet, and about 45
minutes later they posted the results…as we were running to where they posted
the results the coaches we passed told us we had won the meet! Actually, we had
tied with Mississippi College with 53 points each, so they had broken the tie
by adding the sixth runner into the equation…our runner came in 20th
while their runner came in 64th so we were awarded the
championship!! I was so happy that we had won conference my senior year, it was
all happy tears and hugs, and then there was the awards ceremony and picture
taking! We got on the bus…went back to the hotel, showered, and as we got back
on the bus to head back to Texas our coach broke the news to us that there was
a new rule that breaks ties, and according to that rule Mississippi College had
in fact won the meet. The rule now stated that ties were broken by comparing
the first five runners head to head which turns the team sport of cross country
into an individual competition…so I still do not agree with this rule. We had
to stop a gas station and give back the trophy and banner, but they let us keep
the champions shirts (I wanted to throw mine away). Basically, it felt like I had
just been punched in the stomach…and I was just a mess due to the shock of
winning then having it taken away…I couldn't even tell my family for two hours
because I was so upset. I couldn't shake my disappointment all of Saturday,
Sunday, and the majority of Monday. However, Monday afternoon I was walking to
the locker room to start my afternoon workout when I passed by my coach and she
casually mentions in passing that “oh by the way…we won after all” and started
to walk off. After running after her she explained how we won the meet, again!
The new rule actually doesn't go into effect until 2013! So we had in fact won
the meet J
The ASC Conference meet was held in Clinton, Mississippi on
the state’s official course which just so happens to be my favorite course I
have ever run due to the rolling hills and the beautiful landscape. I ran this
course my freshman year for conference and running it again for my last
conference meet was really surreal. I got to see just how far I have come these
past three and a half years. Freshman year I ran a PR at the time on that
course of 26:16, and my senior year I again ran a PR of 23:52 on a course that
is 6.1 kilometers…I cannot even express how incredible it is to realize how
much I have grown as a runner over these past few years. I have gotten faster,
but more importantly I have learned more about myself. I have one more college race
in Atlanta, Georgia next Saturday for Regional’s…I still can’t believe this
chapter is coming to an end so soon.
