Madison had a hard November when she tried out for the 323 volleyball league and didn’t make it. They said they would like to see her strengthen her serving and passing skills. It was incredibly disappointing. Her plan was to do this in the spring to improve her volleyball for the fall. It would be her spring sport. However, it didn’t work out as we had hoped.
But it was a blessing in disguise. Because she didn’t participate in that, she decided she would try track at the high school level. She was unsure which events to do. She had done hurdles and high jump in middle school. So, she started there. She did some work outs with the sprinters and didn’t love it. She did work outs with the distance people and found her groove. She still did some hurdle work, but her focus became the mile, a hole that needed filled on the roster, and whatever else was needed. She did 100m hurdles, 300m hurdles, ran on the 4x400m relay, and ran on the 4x800m relay, and ran the 800m dash/run. She had a lot of fun this season getting to know the girls on the team, working to PR (personal record), and just running… she says running is fun (must get that from Jeremy!).
It was fun to watch her mile time tick down by seconds as the season progressed. Her first meet she ran a 7:12, then a 7:03, then her goal was to be sub 7 minute mile. She hit that mark at the next meet with a 6:59:49! The next week, she knocked 10 seconds off that time for a 6:49:92! At WCAL meet, she ran a 6:48:6. And at districts, she placed 13th with a time of 6:48:33. Every meet she pushed harder and came up a little quicker. And let me tell you, the weather was not in her favor! We sat through rain, snow, wind, cold almost every meet. If it was a track day, you could almost guarantee it was raining.
She also was a part of the 4x800m relay team. The first time mid-season. They ran a 10:53 collectively that race. Then, because her friend, Jaida, was struggling physically with her knees by the end of the season, Madison filled in for her at districts. My mom joined me to cheer Madison on at Districts which were an hour away (Jeremy was traveling and Ellie had a middle school dance). And it was raining for the beginning of the meet, but let up by the time her relay came around. They blew their previous time out of the water with a time of 10:34 (Madison’s leg was 2:53) to place 3rd and move onto regionals.
We celebrated with Cane’s afterwards.
Regionals were also about an hour away. Jeremy was traveling (again!), but Ellie went with me to cheer her on! And you guessed it, it rained! Then, let up for us to watch the relays. The team did well, but the competition was tough. They placed 11th with a time of 10:35 (Madison’s leg was 2:54). But with such a young team, one junior, one sophomore and two freshmen, they could be so proud of what they did!
Way to go, Madison! I am learning to love track. So proud of your hard work!
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