State Track Meet

It's all over. Aaron's 4x400 relay team finished 7th, which wasn't quite as good as they had hoped. But one of their runners had pulled a quad muscle at the last practice and had then run in the 4x200 earlier in the day, so he wasn't at his best.

Aaron, however, ran his personal best time for his lap. So that was a high note to end on.

Here are some pictures from the day.

We will miss watching him do his thing next year, but we are looking forward to watching him help other kids experience the sports that he loves.

On to State!

After Aaron's sophomore year football season I honestly never thought I'd again utter the words "On to State!"--and especially not in conjunction with track! But Aaron defied the odds. Thanks so a coach who wanted him to have both the experience and the honor of running in the state meet and so chose to place him on a relay team that had a shot at qualifying!

Aaron ran his personal best yesterday as the third leg of their 4 x 400 relay team--a team of 1 senior and 3 sophomores! They breezed into third place at regionals, guaranteeing their spot at the state meet. To medal would be beyond our wildest dreams. Just getting there is such a amazing way to end his four years of high school sports. We are so proud and so thankful. 

Still in the Hunt

Two baseball games this week in our district tournament--won one, lost one. But we earned the right to play in the consolation game for the final playoff spot from our district. So we're still in the playoff run.

The first game this week was a squeaker. We won 2-0. The wind was ferocious and the game was called in the fifth inning due to lightning. From there we went on to a beating in which the game was called early when the other team went up by 15 runs. Not pretty. But in that one, Nathan got 1 of our 2 hits and our only RBI.

Track is still off and running as well. At the district meet this week, Aaron qualified for Regionals in all 3 of his events! In his four years of high school he has reached regionals every year but never in the same event. This year he will compete in triple jump, 4 x 200 relay and 4 x 400 relay. The only one where they might have a shot at qualifying for the state meet is in the 4 x 400. We'll see. But even if he doesn't go on, making regionals in all three of his events was a nice cap to 4 years of varsity athletics.

Crossing the Finish Line

Aaron finished 7th in the 800 at the regional track meet, so our seasons have all ended. I'm so thankful, really! We all need a break! And I'm glad for him that he didn't wind up dead last. He hates that! So we'll hang up our game hats for awhile, do a little working out in the summer and hit it with football two-a-days in August. Of course check back for news on sports awards and academic awards and the like, as well as news of Elizabeth at the close of her first year of college!

It's such a busy, wonderful time in our lives. I'm so happy you can be part of it through this blog!

Lo and Behold!

Aaron qualified for the regional track meet in the 800 meter race! Wow! We are shocked! He even had to dig deep at the end because the 5th place runner was on his heels. But he did, and beat his previous best time by around 10 seconds!

He managed to get 5th (we think) in the triple jump, which doesn't move on to regionals but did get points for his team. His 4 X 400 relay team also came in 5th.

So I guess it's one more track meet for us!

Another Big School Track Meet

This time it was bigger private schools instead of small public schools, but the results weren't much different. Aaron's longest triple jump was 32 feet, well short of placing. He ran a pretty good race in the 800, finishing somewhere in the middle of his group of 16. I know the other boy from our school finished behind him and ran a 2:37, so Aaron was probably around 2:32 or so. The 1600 (mile) was an interesting race. His coach asked him to run the first lap almost full out, which he did. Of course it meant his total time was less than desirable--5:40--but that first lap was good--1:10 or so. Because of that, he may end up running the 400 at district. I guess we'll see.

District meet is next week. If he qualifies for regionals, that will be the next week. I don't imagine he'll make it to the state meet in anything, and my guess is that is just fine with him!

Another Meet

Aaron ran in another track meet on his birthday. This one was entirely public schools, but smaller ones. Still, a big bit of competition for our little guys! He did triple jump and the 800 and 1600 meter runs. He finished last or next to last in all of them, but his mile time--5:38--came close to one of his best times last year. Still, it wasn't where he wanted to be on his birthday!

Off and Running

We went to our first track meet of the year yesterday. It was sunny and beautiful--except for the 20 mph winds!

We aren't real sure what the coaches are thinking this year. They have taken Aaron out of the 1600 and 3200, where he has always done well, and put him in shorter races. Yesterday he ran the 800 and the 4 x 400 relay. He also did the triple jump.

He didn't do very well in any of those, but then again, most of the schools there were much larger than our school, so maybe he'll do okay come district. We'll see. We have two more meets before the district meet.

Rain has prevented baseball for the past week, but we're hoping to get a couple games in this week, so check back for those updates.

One Place Short

Aaron finished 5th in the 3200 meter (2 mile) race at the Regional Track Meet yesterday. One place short of moving on to the state meet. But he was several seconds behind the 4th place finisher, so at least he didn't have the heartbreak of missing it by a hair! He had a good track season and can now settle in and finish his schoolwork, which has been sadly neglected over the past few weeks!

District Track Meet

The District Track meet is finally over--and boy am I glad Jeff went instead of me! A long, hot day! Aaron started off well, taking FIRST PLACE in the 3200 meters (2 miles)! Woo-hoo! He shaved a minute off his time from last year and beat the second place finisher by 22 seconds!

He didn't fare as well in the 1600 meters (1 mile). He finished 5th out of a field of 11, with his slowest time thus far this season. So he'll represent us at the Regional Meet in the 3200, but not in the 1600. His team didn't place in points, either, although Aaron himself scored 12 points for the team.

Will he finish top 4 in regionals and qualify for the state meet? I don't know. Let's just say it will be a fun surprise if he does.

Track Meet

We competed in a track meet on Thursday, meant as a "warm-up" for the district meet next week. Mostly bigger schools, but not that much bigger. Aaron placed 14th of the 19 in the 800 meter race, with a time of 2.33. In 1600 meters he finished 10th of 14, with a time of 5:45, almost the exact same as he ran it last time. At least he's consistent!

Something New, Something Old

Aaron went to his first track meet today. It was a track meet of mostly large private schools, so we don't expect to place, we just want our kids to get some experience and to see where they are on their times or distances.

Today Aaron did a few new things: triple jump and 800m. He also ran his old race: the 1600m (or 1 mile.) He didn't come in last in his new events and he came in above the middle of the pack in the 1600. He was pleased with his performances but is now ready to concentrate on his better events for the district meet coming up in a couple of weeks.