Five Girls and their Guy: Cross Country

In the fall, much of the Ball Family life revolves around Cross Country. With both Sarah & Bethany running, there are practices to drive to & from, meets to attend, strategies to plan, and social gatherings at which to…gather.

Sarah has had an amazing year of running. The friendships are stronger than ever, and with the unfortunate injury of the only Senior girl and #1 runner, Sarah has emerged as the leader of the girls’ team. In fact, she even WON a recent meet at Lake Padden! She loves running and competing, but she loves the friends she has made even more and we love all those kids and their parents right along with her. What a support group they all are to each other and from what I hear, they are leaders in the classroom as well. We are so blessed that Sarah can be a part of this team and pass on those blessings to others as well. Their coach is awesome. He works them hard when needed, but he has a heart of gold and would give you the shirt off his back. In fact, one time when 4 of the girls were icing their sore calves and other injuries on a cool day, he showed up with heavy jackets from his work truck and draped them over the girls’ shoulders to help keep them warm. We love Coach. Three meets remain…the Conference Championships (which is an exciting and large meet with tons of schools…and mostly schools that are MUCH larger than ours), the Tri-Districts (this is the qualifying meet for the state XC meet and takes place in Tacoma…this is considered to be the most important meet of the year. It is also HUGE, but it is only schools the same size as ours), and the state meet in Pasco on November 9, (participation in this meet depends on whether or not Sarah qualifies as either an individual, or as part of the team, or both). To God be the glory for all of this!

Bethany also ran this year, for the middle school team, and she did an amazing job. She was a true leader and example to all the new rookie 7th grade runners. Over and over again I heard from parents of those 7th grade girls runners what a blessing Bethany had been to their daughter and how much they appreciated Bethany leading the team in the way she did. I could not be more proud of that girl! And again, To God be the glory!

These epic muddy legs are from the Mt. Baker Invite at Silver Lake – one of our favorite meets. It was SO wet this year! These legs also made it into the online gallery on the Bellingham Herald!! Remember how I said how awesome Sarah’s coach is? He brought his propane fire pit to this meet and put it in one of the pop-up tents the team and parents were using throughout the day. That, my friends, is pure genius.