In school a lot of the other teachers will say, "XX number of days left until the end of the year!!!" I always smile and think that from the first Monday in March I just put my head down and go until the state track meet Memorial Day weekend. Now that it's over, time to catch my breath.
So, that just happened. Here's the summary of the year.
We had a really warm winter and got in a lot of good training during January and February. Unfortunately, also during this time, a raccoon nestled itself for the winter inside our pole vault pit and ate the stuffing out of it. So, we needed a new mat. That put the vaulting at a disadvantage for most of March and kudos to Coach P for keeping the vaulters engaged and fit during that time.
For me personally, the jumpers had a great year. It helps to have good athletes. And numbers wanting to jump. On the guys side, things certainly went well. Six years ago for my first year of coaching, I had three male jumpers and was tickled pink when a long jumper hit 18 feet and a triple jumper hit 36 feet. This year, there were 4 guys right around 20 feet in the long and 3 guys over 40 feet in the triple (with another 3 above 37!!). Like I said, it sure helps to have good, fast athletes interested in jumping! We went for the team district title (and I even got a mention in the article) on the guys side and came up short to finish 3rd place. The school I graduated from won both the boys and girls titles. They were dominating this year. Very well rounded in just about every event.
On the girls side, the #2 all-time school jumper graduated, but there were two reliable seniors returning. In addition a sophomore (first year of track) came out and she had a great year in the long jump. She got over 17 feet in several meets and just missed qualifying for the state meet because she fouled by less than a toe on a jump that would've sent her. Next year!
At the state meet our kid in the mile (who is going to Michigan) finished 3rd. Very gutsy race! He went for it on the back stretch and took the lead but came up short in the last 150. Still ran 4:14.
The boys 4x400 relay made it to the state meet as well as our boys and girls 4x100 relay teams.The girls moved on to the finals and finished 7th in the state. Congrats to all!
The girls had their track "banquet" already and I was again gifted a strawberry pie (Hooray for the Merry Berry Month of May!)
Also, these two young ladies gave a lot to the track program the last four years and their performances and especially leadership will be missed. (And, yes, I am even shorter than the female jumpers)
They both were district final qualifiers and the one on the right qualified as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Not many jumpers in our area can boast that kind of consistency and quality.
We've got the Hershey Youth track meet this Wednesday and Thursday and then a little relaxing until cross country fun runs start on July 1.
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