Sarah’s Sophomore Season

Of track, that is…

Sarah had an awesome track season! We are so thankful for her coaches, especially Josh, and her teammates, especially Marissa, who encouraged her and helped her accomplish things in the world of running that she didn’t dream she would ever accomplish. She started the year with the goal of breaking 12 minutes in the 3200 meter run…which she almost did the very first time she ran it! She continued to improve throughout the season, and soon qualifying for and placing at the state track meet went from a dream to an attainable goal to an actual event!

This was taken at a meet earlier in May. I LOVE this shot because you can see Bethany (purple shirt) and her friend Ashley (pink shirt) cheering Sarah and the other runners on from the outside of the track. Bethany is one of Sarah’s biggest cheerleaders!

Team prayer before a 3200 meter run at sub-districts in mid-May.

Sarah has been running against these 4 local girls for the last two years. They generally start their races all boxed up like this and then whoever has enough juice at the end gets to win. In this particular race, I believe Sarah took 2nd to the girl right in the middle with the green shoes. They’ve become “friends” in a way…at least on Facebook! It was fun to be able to cheer for these girls at the state track meet, even though they were running against Sarah, just because we had gotten to know them and they are from our “area”.

Here’s Sarah pouring on her kick at the end to place 2nd…but only by 100th of a second! It was such an exciting race!

The sweet girl that took 3rd to Sarah actually broke her school record that night, so she was really happy with Sarah for pushing her at the end of the race! Later Sarah ran in the 3200m at Tri-Districts and placed 3rd, which earned her a trip to the state track meet!

This was the 1600m race at Tri-Districts. It looked like this for about the first 2.5 laps. It was a battle for sure. The top 5 would qualify for state. Sarah was ranked #5, but we knew it would just be a matter of who had their best day. Sarah PR’ed, but a girl who was ranked about 7 or 8 had an amazing race and came in 4th, pushing Sarah down to 6th. Sarah fought hard and ran a great race, though!

So proud of our girl – not only for her running gift, but for the way she encourages those around her before, during, and after each race.

Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA – the site of the 1A (& 1B, & 2B) state track meet!!

Thankfully, Sarah’s race was in the morning of the first day, so we didn’t have to wait around through hours of other events before getting hers over with.

Runners #1 & 2 took off early, leading the race the whole way. Runner #3 was also out in front. Sarah hung around in about 7th or 8th for a lot of the race, running alone most of the time, which is always a little bit harder for her.

At the end, she turned on her kick and came in 4th, passing the girl from our District about 5 yards before the finish line. She was the first place runner from our “area” and it was such fun to watch her race! She didn’t PR, but she ran her 2nd best time of the season in the 3200m and she has much to be proud of.

Next year she will start off the season with the goal of being in the top 3 at state and will hopefully peak then, instead of a Sub-Districts like she did this year. We spent the rest of the track meet watching other LC kids (as well as Mt. Vernon Christian kids!) perform and excel in many events!

At the beginning of the 2nd day (when most of the finals happen), there is a “parade of athletes”, similar to the Olympics. Here’s the LC team!

At the end of the entire meet, the LC girls’ team took home 3rd place! It has been YEARS since we have had a state track trophy! It was so exciting and the coaches went home very happy!

We are thankful for a fun season, her love for her sport, her good attitude, her coaches & teammates, and above all, the God to whom all glory is due.