Personal Narrative: My First High School Cross Country Race

With my relay team stretched,warmed up, and ready to go, we headed towards the stadium where we would race against the fastest girls in the nation. Intimidated but not deterred we headed out of Tent City and into the gates of Turner Stadium. Knowing this was my last race I would run with my close friends and relay team, being it 's the last race of the season and we all weren’t going to be in the same age group next year, I had a whole new mind set. I was constantly thinking, “we have to make top ten because we can make top ten.” “We have the times, we have the strength, we have the speed, we just need to have the guts to walk in there like we are going to shred the track into pieces.

Those who had laughed were given dirty looks from their fellow teammates. Jogging around third corner of the field, I started to regret having dinner right before practice. When we finished jogging around the entirety of both fields, Coach was waiting for us with a bucket of lacrosse balls. “Alright! Today, we are starting out with something basic.

In life, even though we are told not to do so, a lot of us “count our chickens before they hatch”. We make assumptions on things before they happen because we believe that if something seems so likely, it will happen. Well, that is what my Liberty High School cross country team did my sophomore year. Going into the year, we not only knew we were going to be strong, we thought other teams were going to be weak. The top teams from the state finals the previous year had all lost most of their key pieces.

I grew up in a rodeo family, my parents did it, my grandparents did it, even my great grandparents did it. I have been on a horse, well, since before I was born. I have had a rope in my hand since I knew how to walk. I even won my first buckle when I was three, my first saddle when I was five, and won a trailer when I was eight. I was the best around.

The race that I am running in is the Boy’s Frosh-Soph at 3:30, which means we are warming up now. Following a much longer than usual warm up run around the park, although I was comfortable with it, our group sat in a circle and went through our stretches. A few senior runners came into the circle for speeches, including an attempt at a motivational speech, and a campaign “vote for me” speech for Homecoming Queen. As soon as we finished our stretches, we walked over to the starting line, where we did additional stretches such as high-knees, butt kicks, and strides. Completing the additional stretches, we were ready to

High school is a mental and social environment of learning for students, enabling for them to expand as the years go by. In high school, sports are a social aspect that allows for students to not only gain experiences but look into possibilities that are future careers. But when do sports start overshadowing academics? The article, “The Case Against High School Sports” written by Amanda Ripley, elaborates on the flawed high school system in the United States which prioritizes sports teams more than they do academics. Competitive sports should not be a part of schools because they distract from academics and cut back school expenses.

I have not been able to participate in athletics nearly as much as I would have liked. I started running track in the spring of my seventh grade year. I performed surprisingly well and decided to participate in cross country the next fall. I spent the summer training and preparing for the season, and it definitely showed. I ran in the varsity race for my first cross country meet ever.

Rough Draft Cross country is probably the simplest sport anyone will ever play. All they need is a pair of sneakers and a water bottle. The team runs together, but also as individuals. Cross country is great because even though it is hard, it will help make runners stronger and better at other sports they play.

“Ivan staggered a few yard, then stopped at the stone wall that surrounded his house, and bent over. A swell of nausea rose from his gut. His diaphragm jerked tight, and he vomited. Good Run. Damn Good Run.”

“Find your passion and make it happen” - Irene Cara “This one is an easy strikeout bud!” my dad would say. “Ball four! Batter take your walk” the umpire called out.

In those two and a half years I started racing. My first time I ever raced I got first place and it was the best feeling ever. I was so proud of what I had accomplished and wanted to keep racing. But after I placed first in that class I got bumped up to a new class that had bigger bikes and faster kids. At the time I was still on the 100 and I was racing kids on bikes twice as big as mine.

My passion for track and field began with a Nike advertisement. At age ten, I opened the newspaper to a two-page spread of the hometown distance running legend Steve Prefontaine overlaid by a paragraph of inspirational copy. It concluded asking, “Where is the Next Pre?” The story of his small town Oregon roots, gutsy racing style, and ambition to be the best resonated with me like nothing ever had before. I told myself I was the next Pre, and then tore off for my first run through the streets of Eugene, Oregon – “Tracktown USA”.

One incident I can recount when I experienced failure was when I joined Cross Country. Since, I can remember I have always excelled at everything I did, from my academics to dance class to music lessons. When I entered into my freshman year of high school, I decided I would to join an athletic team in order to keep myself occupied outside of academics. I figured joining a sport would be another good attribute to add to my resume.

My First Ever Race It was a warm sunny day. it felt like it was summer. I could hear the trees blowing. I could also hear kids and people talking boom! , the gun went off and we started running.

My heart pounded against the inside of my skin, racing, as I crawled to the floor. The palms of my hands burned while my view darkened. I panicked, and jumped up to, “Tori! Tori! Come throw.