Jesse Owens once said, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, and self discipline, and effort.” Running track was always a dream of mine. Since I was a little girl, I always loved to run around the house, backyard, shopping store, everywhere. I had a lot of energy in me when I was little and my mom would call me a “busy body.” I struggled finding something I was good at that I actually enjoyed. My coach motivated me to run hurdles because she said I was tall and lanky. I had the body of an hurdler. Also it was something positive and kept me active while doing something I loved.I was determined to make this dream come true. Not only run track in grade school, but to be the best at my events and become the best and have numerous gold medals from the Olympics.
When the time came around for track season to start, I began practice everyday for at least an hour and a half. The time was here to finally show everyone my hard work over the last month. The first track meet was horrible. My coach made me run hurdles and I didn’t want to do it. The cause of that was, I fell. How would you feel if you were a seventh grader running against eighth and ninth graders and you fall? It was very hard decision to make or whether if I wanted to continue running hurdles. After a long talk with
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my coach, I decided I would continue to run hurdles. Most professional hurdlers fall during their career of hurdling, so I thought it was just natural of me falling. I continued to workout and prepare for the next track meet. My goal for the next track meet was not to fall and come in first. My hard work did pay off and I came in first in hurdles at six track meets out of seven. I was highly proud of my performance. Another thing that influence me to run track was my mother. She pushes me to do my best at everything I do; Whether it’s a sport or my grades. Also, I wanted to give back to my mom. I’m very thankful for everything that mom because she always made a way for me to do things I wanted to do and enjoy. She always made sure we had food and clothes, even if it was hard for her to accomplish. Her hard work has finally paid off because now she has a job she enjoys doing, our house is way bigger than what we started with, and she has a car that she loves. It’s an very hard thing seeing your mom struggling and if I become successful, then I don’t have to see her struggle. Professional track stars don’t get paid billions of money but they get paid just enough to make sure my mom is happy. My mom deserves the world and I want to be the one to give it to her. My coach talked to my mom about getting me to run AAU track because I was really good and more people would notice my talent. My mom made sure that I was doing it and she signed me up the very next day. This was probably one of my best moves we made for my future. Also another thing that motivated me to run track, was my AAU coach.
After two years, of running school track, I was recruited by an woman who started an AAU track team for the summer. She broke so many records at JHS and ASU in hurdles. She was one of the best of the best in Arkansas. It was a privilege to work with her. She ran hurdles just like me. Some days we would spend seven hours a day at the track. Because of her, I won so many first place medals at the track meets we traveled too. In total we travel to twelve different cities to compete with different people. It was a fun and a different kind of
experience. Running hurdles is not for everyone, but I am glad to say that I’m one of the people that is actually good at it. This was a bittersweet moment because of the pain and hurt that came with it. I really enjoyed the push from my peers, coaches, and my mother. I completed something I never thought I would be good at. But, because of the hard work I put in for two years, I know this was a good career move.
I am now officially in my Senior year of Cross Country , and am close to the end of my season. My first race of this year though was a big accomplishment for me, because I hadn`t been able to run. When I ran that race though it made me just so happy I was able to finish it, I was`nt happy with the time, but there is always time for improvement. I was glad to be racing again and being apart of the team again. I believe that my injuries were a barrier in my way, but they did not stop my sports career.
When the cross country season started in August I became a mentor for the new runners. I was still a runner but now I was doing my running through my peers. During each practice I would lead everyone in stretching and would follow with encouragement on my bike during runs. The freshman looked up to me as if I were an assistant coach and I knew I had done the right thing in being there every day for
My first week of school, everyone encouraged me to join a club or a team. Of course I did not want to, until I heard we had a track team, and even then I did not know if I wanted to pursue it. In my mind, debating if I should dedicate myself to track was a hard decision. I was about to not only give this sport my time but also nothing but
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
In 2014 I was determined to make the high school soccer team. Every day at 8 am at the beginning of a dreadfully hot August morning, I would get to the turf fields for 4 hours and participate in “hell week”. After a long week, I made the JV team. I was never put into the game and felt like my hard work was put to no use. My sophomore year rolled around and I tried extra hard to impress the coaches. Anything and everything was a competition to make it to the top. By the end of the week, we all gathered around the paper that had names of the players who made it. I didn’t make the team. After tears and telling myself to move on, I went to the field hockey tryouts. I knew nothing about the sport and was terrified that soccer wasn’t my go-to
Although this drive to always be better has become an integral part of my character, through my high school career it was not, and I derived my drive to succeed from other’s disbelief. When my track coach told me I was too short to be a triple jumper, overcoming his doubt became the driving force in my life. I toiled endlessly in
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
Throughout my years of participating in Track&Field for my highschool I can say that I improved as a person and, I became a more talented athlete. This sport builds a person and teaches skills you will need later in life. I feel as though this sport influenced me in many ways for example in school I am more adventures. When there are clubs or activities I am not afraid to get involved in them. Later in your career you will need to be determined and have leadership skills joining a team by far has been a big influence it helped me to become a great motivator and leader. On the team I was the oldest so I had to keep everyone focused and ready to run. Track&Field didn't just have a impact on me and my career but, it also changed the way I act
My sophomore year had begun and I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to do track this year. Last year I played football in the fall and soccer in the spring. Not really enjoying it, the decision was made to play " real futbol" (soccer) in the fall, leaving the spring sports season open. My friend kept telling me how fun track was, so I decided to give it a try.
Another concept I have learned from my participation in running is teamwork. No matter how hard we try, we cannot live our lives without others' help or without helping others. We must work together to succeed on the road ahead. This is the essence of teamwork. I know that even my personal success in cross-country and track is not solely mine. I know that my three district titles, one in cross country and two in track, in the 800 meter and 1600 meter runs, could not have been accomplished without my team's unequivocal support and for that, I thank them.
I had never really been a part of a team that had a chance to win something, but the potential was always there. I finally got my chance to be a part of such a team my sophomore year of track. Mr. Jones, the head track coach, had decided to experiment with some different races to gain more team points. Since the girls' team lacked a medley relay, he placed Cindy, Kim, Susan and I in those spots. Cindy would run the 400, Kim would run the 200, and Susan and I would start the race off by each running the 100. We all had worked viciously to earn those spots by running off against our teammates.
Outside of fencing, I am heavily involved in both Speech and Debate and Cross Country for my Highschool, while balancing both my fencing and school work. In Cross Country, one of the major goals is to get on varsity as I was very close last season. In Debate I am excited to become a leader to many incoming freshmen, helping them become fluent in the various debating techniques. In school, my favorite classes are Science and English as in Science you learn about all sorts of intricacies of life, and in English, you are able to craft words to both create convincing and wonderful works of writing. I also am starting to volunteer at my public library as I have always loved reading and I enjoy both teaching and helping people experience the joy
I almost passed out and died this week. Almost after every school day I have Track/Cross Country practice, and normally these practices can get tremendously hard. To put it into perspective, on average we run forty-eight miles, and normally these daily workouts can be extremely exhausting not just physically, but also mentally. For example, workouts we have done in the past consist of, mile repeats, an eight mile run, and two-hundred meter repeats.
The moment a runner step onto the oval, beat up track field their freshmen year, their ultimate goal is to compete at the State Championship. If a runner is a senior, ending the career with fellow teammates and hearing the cheers of thousands of people will make their memories last a lifetime. For those who are fortunate enough to run in multiple events, hearing the team and the crowd urge you in every step can give you a great boost of confidence and energy like no other. At West, there is at least one event that goes to State every year. Some of the runners strive themselves to break the school record by training, sweating, and running painstaking obstacles during and after practices. They may or may not win at State, but the feeling of participating
If you do not know state track feels like you are being put in the spotlight, like everyone is watching you. Of course, this was the most memorable moment of my track season. My teammates and I had made it out to Des Moines, IA to run on the blue oval with many different athletes, some who ran sprints, some who ran long distance and some who just did field events. It was a packed stadium with many talented track runners from all over the state that would go on to run in college and maybe even farther than that someday. Preparing to run, we warmed up for our race by setting up five hurdles on the green turn in the middle of the track and going over them, then we would sit, talk and stretch looking at other teams around us. While warming up we had become more and more nervous. We knew what we had to do and we knew we had to believe in each other just like we had done all season. You could tell when one of your teammates believed in you