All season long the kids look forward to the Homeschool Track & Field National Invitational meet in Bolivar, Missouri. It feels like the showcase of their hard and consistent work, and this year was a great year for the Nelson kids! *Spoiler Alert* - ALL FOUR kids came home with a medal this year!!!
When we first began participating in Track & Field Homeschool Nationals, it was a two day event. However, last year the triathlon and pentathlon events were held on a separate day, making it a three day event for families who had athletes participating in the tri or pent. I wasn't sure about my kids competing in the tri this year, but Bren wanted to compete and Coach Renee felt like he would do well. So, we made the decision to spend the extra day in Bolivar so he could compete in the triathlon.
We arrived at Southwest Baptist University on Tuesday, May 6th around 11:00am to get things set up before Bren's triathlon events began. Coach Renee had her tents set up by the track, so we decided to set up in the field area. It worked out really well and saved us from running back and forth so much. We hung posters and a little bit of decor, and got ready to cheer for Bren.
Bren competed in the 12U group and did great! There were 20 competitors in his age group who all threw shot, did long jump, and raced a 400m.
Bren threw 10.56m in shot, securing 2nd place.
In long jump, he got 3rd place by jumping 4.75m.
And in the 400m run, he finished in 1:03.93 for 3rd place.
He also set a new Falcons 12U boys team record!
Of course, the whole afternoon while Bren competed, Brianna socialized. She quickly found her friend, Tessa, and they were inseparable!
Tessa fixing Brianna's hair waiting on Bren to throw shot.
Kyrie and Bri waiting for Bren to long jump
Bren's teammate, Harvey, was there because his sister was also competing in the triathlon. Harvey was great to support Bren and cheer him on. And in the downtime between events, they played a few games of chess.
Chris, Chelle, Tia, and Bri waiting for Bren to run the 400m.
One of the most fun things about Track & Field Nationals is that the kids see and compete with some of the same athletes year after year. For the boys 12U triathlon, there were four boys who were all fighting for 1st place . . . this included Cris who Bren had played basketball with this past season, Riley from Springfield who Bren has competed against for five years (and they are fun and friendly with each other), Micah from St. Louis, and Brenson. We knew Bren had a good chance to win first because the other boys had all won first in an event but also had another event where they were very weak. Bren didn't win first in any one event, but he also didn't have a considerably weak event either.
The waiting for the triathlon results was not fun, but a solid dinner at Smith's Restaurant helped!
Caroline and Bri at Smith's
Brecklyn, Sadie, Caroline, and Brooke at Smith's
Later that night, Chris and I found this posted. We weren't sure if it was the triathlon results, but we found out the next day that it was. Bren had won first!!!
AND, he set a PR in all three events!
After a great first day of competition, we were eager for day two to kick off. The kids had a full schedule of events, and we were just hoping the forecasted rain wouldn't delay things too much.
Britt, Bri, Adele, Abby, and Hope
Brooke, Brecklyn, Sadie, Eli, Samson, Gus, Samuel, Alex, Silas, Ruby, Adele, Caroline, Nora, and Immaline
Bri and JoJo
Our morning was filled with track events, so Tia and I found a good spot in the bleachers and made ourselves comfortable. Chris was trying to coach his throwers and was back-and-forth between the track and field a lot.
Bren's first event of the day was 80m hurdles. He had held his own in hurdles several times this season, but this was his first experience with 80m hurdles.
He finished 5/22 in 14.31 seconds (and another PR).
Up next for us was the 10U girls 800m relay for Brooke, Brecklyn, Sadie, and Immaline.
Brooke
Brecklyn
We were so thrilled that the girls came away with a second place win and a Falcons 10U girls team record with a time of 14:14.11!
Downtime between events means team bonding!
Bri and Kyrie
As the skies continued to get darker, Brecklyn competed in the 100m dash. She placed 28/42 with a time of 19.33.
Not long after Brecklyn raced, the skies opened up and poured rain. Tessa and Brianna were unimpressed!
Tia, Chris, and I had made it back to our tents by the field events when the rain started. We had set up our old tent across the field by the long jump, and it was full of people taking shelter from the rain!
Then, an announcement was made that lightning had been detected and everyone needed to take shelter. Our kids were all down in the tents by the track, so we sent them to Tia's vehicle (which was close to where they were).
Waiting out the storm
Bren was thrilled, haha.
Meanwhile, Tia, Chris, and I took shelter in our van which was parked up by the field events. It wasn't a great situation to have the adults separated from the kids, but everything turned out ok. Competition resumed about 45 minutes after the first lightning delay, but the rain did not let up!
Bren had a 200m race, so we camped out on the bleachers under and umbrella and waited for his race.
The athletes, coaches, and officials were making the best of it, but the rain was relentless.
Bren finished the 200m race in 28.41 securing 5th place (out of 42) and another PR!
Bri only had discus this day, so she had to wait allllll day for her event.
Bri and Caroline
With all of the rain, everything was wet and the facility was super muddy in spots. Bren slipped and fell in the mud and was a mess! Thankfully, his events were finished for the day, but we had to spend some time washing his uniform out that night so he could wear it the next day. I had to laugh that the same boy who won gold in the triathlon also fell in the mud! As you can see, he was not amused at how amused I was 😁.
Finally, after an entire (and very wet) day of waiting, the 14U girls discus event got started around 7:00pm. The conditions were not ideal as the ring was wet and even had some standing water. But Brianna did great!
She threw 21.51m for a 2nd place win and a 14U Girls Falcons team record. We were elated as this was her very first time to medal at Nationals!
We were so wet and gross, but it was great to end the day on a high note!
That night, we put all the kids' wet uniforms and shoes in the bathroom and ran a dehumidifier that had been loaned to us all night long. Early the next morning, Chris put all the shoes in the middle of the hotel room so he could use the bathroom. They were dry but smelled pretty awful, so he covered them with a towel. Brecklyn made the mistake of lifting the towel and had quite the smelly wake up call!
We had a big day with 8 events ahead of us, and as soon as we got to the track Chris was informed that he was part of a coaches relay that would kick off the events for the day. Chris ran a 100m, then passed to another dad (Brad) who ran a 100m.
Brad passed to another dad (Eric) who ran a 200m, then Britt finished us out with a 400m. They held their own and came in 5th! I think the coaches relay was one of the kids' favorite parts of the day!
Abby and Bri
Our next event for the day was 10U girls discus. Brooke was excited to compete in this as she thought she had a good chance of medaling.
She threw 13.25m and won first place!
She also set a 10U girls Falcons team record!
Next up was a 4x800m relay for our 14U girls team. Brianna ran this relay along with Eliza, Ruby, and Kyrie.
They clocked the relay at 11:56.34 and won 3rd place!
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As soon as Bri's race finished, we ran back up to the field events to watch Bren throw discus. This was probably the event he was looking forward to the most and had a personal goal of breaking the national record.
While that didn't happen this time, he threw 32.48m securing a 1st place win by almost 7 meters!
And, setting another Falcons team record!
As soon as Bren finished with discus, I booked it over to long jump to watch Brecklyn and Brooke compete.
Brecklyn jumped 2.68m, placing 6/21.
Brooke jumped 2.66m and placed 8/22.
Once their jumps were finished, I ran down to the track to watch Bri run the 1600m. I missed the first lap, but got there just in time to see the second lap begin. She looked good at the beginning of the second lap, keeping with Eliza as I would expect.
However, by the end of the second lap, she was visibly slowing, and I could tell something wasn't right.
At the end of the third lap, she was way behind her normal time, and I shouted to her, "You can do this! I don't know what's going on, but you can finish!" She just shook her head at me and kept running. By the time she finished the race, she was limping/running and in tears. I immediately ran out onto the field to see what was wrong, and she explained that her ankle was injured. She said it hadn't felt right during the relay, but it didn't affect her too much. The 1600m was a different story. She finished the race in 8:27.42 - which is definitely not a good time for her - but we were proud of her for finishing! She said she had never wanted to walk out of a race so badly as she did during that race. Later, she also joked that she had two big firsts at Nationals - the first time to medal and the first time to come in last in a race! She ended up forfeiting her final race (the 800m).
Tia got Bri some ice while I helped her get her shoe off and foot propped up under the tent. In the meantime, Bren and his buddy, Riley, came running down to the tent SO excited because they had tied for first place in shot put. It was so cute because they were jumping up and down and just thrilled to have tied. Riley has traditionally beat Bren in shot (and Bren has beat Riley in disc), but they thought it was hilarious that they tied to the 100th of a meter this time!
However, after some confusion with the scoring and placements, we found out that Brenson actually placed second in shot put because his second best throw was shorter than Riley's second best throw. We had to laugh because all season Brenson got second in shot, so it was just fitting for him to get second at Nationals, as well.
Even though it wasn't a first place, it was yet another PR for Bren, and the whole crazy excitement between Bren and Riley will be a great memory from 2025 Nationals!
While Bri iced her foot, Hope kept her company,
along with Jaxen and Easton!
After getting Bri settled, I booked it back up to the field events to watch Brooke throw shot. She threw 5.28m, coming in 8/22.
And just like that, our kids had competed in all their events for the 2025 season! Counting the coaches relay, it was a total of 18 events for our family.
Brianna had been invited to stay in Springfield with the Arrows team for the night, and we agreed to let her do that. It was harder than I thought it would be to leave her at the stadium while we started for home, but after just about 10 minutes on the road I received this set of photos from her and felt better, haha.
Crazy girls!
We stopped for an early dinner at Braum's with the S family before heading home. Brianna had a blast that night hanging out with the Arrows team in their hotel.
Tessa and Bri
Tessa, Bri, and LilaJean
Heading home!
I love the relationships we have built through Track & Field. They are so special!
Bri arrived home the next day just after lunch, and we had already washed and set everything out to dry. Our neighbors weren't sure what exactly was going on at our house, haha.
A few days after Nationals, this was posted on social media.
Chris has really enjoyed coaching, and we thought it was so nice for him to be recognized like that.
The Nationals meet was a long three days, but we were just thrilled with how the kids competed. They brought home a total of 8 medals between them, along with several PRs and team records. It is wonderful to see all their hard work pay off and such a blessing to watch them compete!
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