memorable week...

107

10:51

5:29.30

1:49.29

7-2

I have coached 11 years now at Dakota Ridge High School and this season may be the most memorable for its incredible stress and challenges I never thought I would ever face. This week in particular was something I won't soon forget and will be processing for weeks and maybe years to come. We will see.

I want to talk about a few performances this week that really stood out. Context is everything with me and these performances were full of context.

1:49.29

Let me begin with a redemptive race that was a year in the making. Last season, in the rain, we had a horrible drop of the baton in the league championship Sprint Medley. The year prior was a disaster as well. Putting all that aside, Carina Wilkerson, Genny Cruz, Olivia Landers and Cayli Hume put together a school record  800 Sprint Medley in 1:49.29 and it will give some seniors a chance to end their careers on the Jeffco track...during the state championship.

5:29.30
Monday at Valor was a gorgeous evening and feeling the sun after these weeks of snow and rain had never felt so good. The most stirring race of the evening for Dakota Ridge was delivered with a bit of random fire from Michelle Renner. From somewhere inside, she found the desire and risk we have been hoping to see from our girls. Crushing the final 700m of that race, ripping off a huge kick she set an enormous personal best and put herself in the conversations about who might be our league 3200m and 1600m champion. Considering how we have operated over the course of the last few months with training and practice, this was a remarkable run.

10:51
I Googled Mark Testa tonight and it came up with a acupuncture specialist, chiropractor guy and something about a child welfare expert.

Boring.

It won't be long now...and you will Google Mark Testa and this will come up....

I'm saying right here right now...this guy is setting the tone along with Austin Vancil for our upcoming seasons. These guys are underclassmen. Unreal. I asked Mark on the way home what was going through his mind as he chased down the leaders in his heat of the 3200m on friday night...he said "loud noises". That loud noise he is hearing in his head is going to be the crowd cheering for him real soon. I also asked him "were you thinking about winning out there?" He says..."yes...doesn't everybody?"....I said "No Mark they don't....some people are afraid to win...trust me". The rise of Mark Testa is one of the best stories in my 11 years. It continues on Wednesday night.

107
We are a society about stardom and in our culture it is so ingrained in us to find the guys and gals with big personality and flamboyant character and star worship them. We are a school and society that is dominated by headlines about football, baseball, basketball and occasionally Hockey and every four years soccer and olympic sports show up. One of the least publicized sports among that of Olympic Sports is Throwing. You're never going to hear much about it. In fact, most of the school must not know that we have a 2 time NCAA All-American and Olympic Trials Qualifier coaching our throwers. Folks....I spent my life trying to make the Olympic Trials and I DID NOT make it...Amy actually MADE it to the Olympic Trials. Anyway....back to Nick.

You have to understand the process it takes to learn throwing. It takes a ton of HARD work in the weight room and doing drills and practicing throws and staying consistent with the work and trusting the process. It is not easy. Say what you want about any other sport and sit and argue with me about football this and baseball that and basketball there. But damn it....this Track and Field and THROWING in particular is hard work everyone. Yeah I just cussed. sorry. But I am FIRED up. Nobody is going to vote for Nick Probst as athlete of the year at Dakota Ridge...except one guy potentially.....and as my tears start welling up here...because I am so emotional about this right now...let me pull another performance into what I am about to say...

7-2  

You have to understand these kids. Do you know that it crushed Nick Probst to leave baseball? Do you understand the heartache...the challenge to his world that leaving that sport represented? Think about the last four years of Kristin Farris. Her body will not let her compete the way she had hoped in this stage of her life. She has compartment syndrome in her calves that is so painful in some moments she is physically and emotionally brought to a curled up ball on the ground in tears. She so badly wanted to run cross country. She so badly wanted to be able to run longer and train and compete like everyone else. Can you begin to understand the challenge to her world that being hurt in high school has been?

Kristin Farris found Pole Vaulting LATE in this crazy career of hers.. that 7-2 performance this week was so special because the smile and pure joy I saw from her was just beautiful. It meant so much...her smile alone said..."Stenny, I found joy here"

On Friday night...Nick Probst threw a discus 107 feet. Its not going to make State. Its not going to even make a twitter somewhere. Its honored here...because in its its context...it was a monumental throw for young man who has found there is life outside of the popular and famous. Nick was throwing 55 feet last year. He started this year throwing 77 feet. He committed to the process and as is the case...he is succeeding.

Track and Field is special for this. It has a beauty and majestic quality to it that I hope everyone takes a minute to appreciate. People train for YEARS....to make it one second faster. to make it one inch higher. To make it one inch further. Some athletes....like Nick and Kristin work as hard as they can for a random high school team....because succeeding on their terms means EVERYTHING to them in their context.

We have one more week left for just about everyone. Some will make the state meet. It is so cliched now...but seriously....find something to passionately attempt to accomplish this week as Nick and Kristin and teammates did this week. Give some effort to make this memorable for YOU in your context.

See you Monday at Practice 3:30pm at Dakota Ridge.