Hershey Track & Field District 2 Championships

The week before my state meet, I found myself at the Hershey Track & Field District 2 Championships at Orange Park High School, the common training ground for 1st Coast Track Club (formerly Clay PAL). Yes, we are now 1st Coast Track Club after breaking away from Clay PAL and forming our own organization with a new namesake. This meet served as a tune up before the state meet, having us work the leg turnover and possibly set a few PRs in the process. The meet was nothing out of the ordinary so I'll save the painstaking details for next week. But here's the rundown. The mile was first and I was gunning for a PR after almost two months of not racing it. Since the meet was only for athletes under 14, it gave me hope that I could come home in the coveted top 2 spots and earn a bid to the Hershey Track & Field State Meet on June 27th. Once the mile race was set to begin, I knew that my most serious competition would be my fellow teammates. At the firing of the gun, Steven bolted to the front and brought me through the first lap in 1:17. I quickly settled into my pace, climbing the ranks as the laps progressed. Going into the bell lap, Eric was leading, I was in 2nd, and Steven and Billy were right behind me. Eric brought it home in 5:31, taking 1st place. I came in six seconds behind him in 5:37, grabbing the number two spot. Steven was five seconds behind me, and it was PRs for the three of us. Once we caught our breath, we continued to bake in the 93-degree sun, waiting for our next event, the 800.  Once we were divided into heats, we asked our competition what they were planning to run. It seemed like a walk in the park until we found out that one runner, Rubyn, was a sub-2:20 runner, leaving the rest of the field to fight for the second spot. Once the race was underway, Steven was shot out of a cannon, and assumed the second spot. It stayed that way the whole race as Eric and I surged and switched in and out of third place.  Eric and I ultimately finished one second behind Steven in 2:41.  The three of us received ribbons and t-shirts for our qualifying finishes, capping off a sucessfull day. Be sure to check back next week as I race in the middle school state meet and 1st Coast Track Club tries to take home the team title! So long and keep running strong!