OAC Championships

This past weekend was OAC Championships for track and field! Going into the meet, my coach entered me into the 60-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash and pole vault. These events were all ones I automatically qualified for. This meant that I was top 10 in the conference for each of the events.

The long weekend started Friday at 8:30 a.m. with an hour to Heidelberg. Once I got there, I immediately started warming up for pole vault. While warmups were a little rocky, my competition jumps were much smoother. I placed 7^th in pole vault. 

I had almost 3 hours to occupy before warming up for the 60-meter hurdles. I cheered on my teammates and did some recovery to get any lactic acid from pole vault out of my legs. I began warming up which always gets my adrenaline flowing. As I was setting my blocks to do a run out, I was met with a yellow card being waved in my face. It startled me to say the least. I had no idea what I did wrong. Apparently, the official was mad because I didn’t have my warmups off. Typically, you can do your run out with warmups on so this was a new rule to me that the conference meet must have had. I shook it off and began the race. When I finished running, I realized that I had stopped at the wrong finish line. For whatever reason, their track had two finish lines. One for the races that follow the curve and one for the straightaway races. I felt like someone took my soul from me. I was panicked and scared as that could’ve been the reason I didn’t make finals. After waiting for the other heat to run, my awful time held up and claimed the last spot that would advance to finals on Saturday. I was met with relief because I wanted my revenge.

Saturday morning came around and we had to be to the bus at 8:45 a.m. to start the final day of competition. I had over 4 hours until I started warming up for the 60-meter hurdle finals. I was blessed to have a good race and end my indoor season with not only a personal record, but the freshman 60-meter hurdle record! I have been wanting to claim that record since I started the season and I couldn’t have done it at a better time. It made me learn patience every race I didn’t break it. Here’s your sign to trust the process! I finished in 6^th place. The 200-meter dash was less than 1 hour after hurdles. My legs felt heavy which was making me nervous. For the 200 I was on the outermost lane. I prefer having someone outside that I can chase. I made it all the way to the last 60 meters without seeing any other runners. Then, a girl was right up on me. She pushed me more than you can imagine. We were both battling all the way to the finish, giving it everything we had. Unfortunately, she beat me by 0.03 seconds. My time gave me another 6^th place finish and put me No. 4 all-time for Ohio Northern. I was thrilled about that considering this was only the 2^nd time I’ve ran the open 200 in my life. Let alone on an indoor track!

Overall, I was extremely blessed with how the weekend went. Individual events are challenging compared to relays because you don’t have a team carrying you. It’s just you at the end of the day and that’s the beauty of it. I was able to accomplish what I did in my three events all on my own and I’d much rather have that. Here’s your friendly reminder that the effort you put into something will never be wasted!