I cut out of work a little early and upon arrival, set top my camping chair in its usual place, off the track, just to the left of the scoreboard. I watched a couple of races, then wondered over to the baseball game. There, I ran into Alice and Jerry, who had come to watch the game, too. I stood with Alice on the overlook beside the press box and watched the last few innings on an exciting MBA win, 1-0. Connor Hamilton, MBA senior starting pitcher and Vanderbilt baseball signee, was as advertised as he threw a four hit, complete game. Sadly, MBA lost a double header yesterday to MUS, which brought their season to an abrupt end.
The lacrosse team absolutely smoked MUS, 14-4, to set up a championship game against MBA's biggest rival, Chattanooga McCallie. I have to think that MBA, led by JP's buddy, junior Cade Sturdivant (a West Point commitment), is the favorite to win their second state title in three years. Certainly, that's what Knoxville Catholic thought when they forfeited, at the last minute, a quarter final match at MBA rather than face an inevitable drubbing at the hands of the Big Red. If what I've heard is correct, Knoxville Catholic's forfeit resulted in the TSSAA banning from the lacrosse playoffs next season. Just desserts, if you ask me.
As I waited for JP to race, watched several races. 4 x 800, 4 x 100, 400, 110 hurdles, etc. I've grown to enjoy wondering around the track at meets because there is always something going on. On top of that, there's time to sit in my camping chair and read, usually the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal one my cell phone. It is relaxing right up until the third call for JP's race. At that point, the nerves kick in for me.
Friday night's 800 field was packed, again, with god top level runners. Jack Wallace, Thomas Arender, and Ryder Ortner all are strong runners in the 800. I was hoping JP would run well enough to compete with the big dogs, which would require him to run under his current PR in the 800, 158:80. The fastest high school runners in the 800 typically run around 1:54. Anything below 1:50 is smoking fast.
At the start of the race, JP got boxed in just a bit from his starting position in lane 4. However, as the boys rounded the second turn on the first of two laps, he followed right behind Thomas Arender and quickly moved into fourth place, behind Jack Wallace and Ryder Ortner. As Jack and Ryder tried to pull away near the last run of the first lap, JP stayed with the group of four, running slightly behind them but maintaining contact.
He continued to stay with the group of four through the first half of the second lap, too. For a brief moment, I thought I might be about to witness an unexpected finish if managed to pull even with Jack Wallace, in the lead, or Ryder, in second place. As the runners neared the final turn, however, JP tired and dropped slightly back. Jack Wallace won and Thomas Arender finished strong to nip Ryder Ortner at the finish line for second place.
JP finished fourth but ran hard until the end. The biggest news, for him, was that he clocked in at 1:56:52, a PR for him by more than two seconds, which was absolutely huge. A sophomore who has played baseball all spring, running track part time and training on his own, running a 1:56:52 is impressive. Very impressive. The best part, of course, is that he felt much better about his finish in the 800 than he did about his finish in 3200 on Tuesday night.
In the end, his time was the 10th fastest in the state for MBA's divisional. He was two spots out of qualified for the state finals in the 800. It was quite an accomplishment for JP and made me even more excited at what's ahead for him on the track, at the state meet and for the next two years as an upperclassman at MBA.
No comments:
Post a Comment