State Meet

The state track and field meet was held at Eastern Washington University was held on May 21 and 22.  We had 2 athletes compete.  Ofelia Rodriguez in the 100 and 200 and Marcus Vanderholm in the 1600 and 3200.

We left after school on Thursday for our trek over to Spokane in the lovely Manson school blue van.  Paul accompanied us to keep things lively.  We played games on the way over to help pass time.

Our hotel was in Spokane and we got there pretty late so we checked in and then drove to the Onion for a dinner.  The service was a little slow but the food was good.  We all got to bed pretty early to be ready for the big day on Friday.

There were a lot of people there at the meet and it was very energizing to be there around so many good athletes.  The kids did their best to control their nerves while waiting for the events to start.

Ofelia was up first in her 100 preliminary heat.  The conditions were windy and cold.  The track seemed to be running slow as none of the competitors were running their best times.  Ofelia ran a fine race and placed 5th in her heat.  I think it was a little overwhelming for her to have so many people there and the race organization to be so strict.

Marcus then ran in his 1600.  He ran a phenomenal race and placed 11 out of 16 runners.  His time was 4:46 which was a 9 second personal best.  It was beautiful to watch.

Ofelia then ran in her 200 preliminary heat.  She was much more relaxed for this race now that she knew what to expect.  She ran well and placed 15th out of 16 runners.  She felt much better about her 200 performance.

The next day Marcus ran his 3200.  Again he way out performed expectations and placed 11th.  His time of 10:43 was good enough for a 17 second pr.  Marcus will continue to improve next year and I have no doubt he will place in the top 8 to get a medal.

We left after Marcus' race and got back to Manson about 8 Saturday night.  I know and I had a great time and am real proud of the kids efforts and great attitudes.  Hopefully next year we will bringing even more kids with us!!