New Season, New Goals

Spring track, baby.
(I stole this from Gianni's YouTube video)

Now that the indoor season has ended, it's time for us to shift our focus to the great outdoors. No, I don't mean going camping or fishing or whatever fun stuff you do outside. I'm talking about the outdoor track season -- more commonly known as "spring track." 

Spring track is the big finale to all the hard work we've put in during cross country, winter track, or any other sport we've participated in that's gotten us to this point. We're much fitter than we were a few months ago, and now it's time to reap the benefits. That's right -- we're setting our eyes on state meet appearances and massive PRs.

But it's not going to be as easy as showing up on race day and jogging a few laps to victory. Hundreds of other kids with the same mindset as us want the exact same thing and more. They're going to be putting in tons of work just to try to show us up when the gun goes off.

But we're not going to let that happen. By coming to practice each day and staying healthy, we're always going to be one step ahead of the competition. 

Alright, enough of the motivational speaking. 

Once all of the invitationals and other races are out of the way, it's time for state championship season. There are three "rounds" (if you want to put it that way): the Sectional meet, the Group meet, and the Meet of Champions -- the one everyone's gunning for. Since we're in Non-Public B, the competition at Sectionals and Groups is within range.

Let's take a look at the Sectional meet from last year for instance.

Nothing too crazy, right? Most of these marks are something at least one of us can hit. If not, it's still an awesome meet to compete at. And hey, if we score points, we could even place as a team! That's something we haven't been able to say for a while. Ain't that exciting? 

Alright, let's say you make it through Sectionals and on to Groups. It's a deeper meet for sure, since it combines both NPB North and South. But still, nothing crazy.

As you can see, the competition gets stiffer the higher you go -- but even here, it's nothing superhuman. And if you place in the top 6 here, you're going to the Big Show -- the Meet of Champions. At that point, it's just great to have made it there... but who knows?

By looking at the results from last year, we can put our own performances into perspective and set the bar higher for ourselves. It's crazy that our little school is thinking about how we could place at state meets! And you know what? Each one of you is capable of doing really well at these meets and scoring points for our team. 

It's just a matter of staying one step ahead of the competition.