After working hard all season, Track & Field Homeschool Nationals is the highlight of the season. Even though this was our fourth year to attend Nationals, the kids' excitement grows each year. This was Brooke and Brecklyn's first time ever to go, and they were thrilled to be included in the event!
I mean, can't you tell that Brooke is ready for the excitement?!? Lol.
Nationals were held in Bolivar, Missouri on the Southwest Baptist University campus on May 7th, 8th, and 9th. Things were a little different this year as the triathlon and pentathlon competitions were moved to Tuesday, with Wednesday and Thursday remaining open competition days. Brenson competed in the triathlon again this year, so this meant we headed up to Bolivar on Tuesday morning (May 7th) so Bren could compete Tuesday afternoon. While this wasn't a huge change, it did make a difference to add an extra half day of competition to our schedule.
As soon as we arrived, Brianna found her friends from the Arrows team and had a great afternoon with them.
Tessa, Brianna, Lauren, and Kate
Brenson focused on competing and also had a good afternoon. He ran the 400m at 1:18.64 (24/29),
jumped 3.67m (14/29) in the long jump,
and threw 8.36m (10/29) in the shot put for the triathlon. He placed 17/29 overall as a first year 12U boy. His 400m time hurt his overall placement, but now we know what he needs to really improve for next year!
That evening, we enjoyed Smith's for dinner with the S family then turned in at our hotel fairly early. We knew we had another two full days of competition ahead of us and wanted to be as well rested as possible!
Wednesday morning began fast and furious with running events for the younger girls. The weather was overcast and very humid with the potential for severe storms, so we were hoping to get most of our events completed before any storms came up. *Spoiler alert* - That did not happen!
Brianna was happy to be back at the stadium and be able to hang out with Tessa again!
Brooke started off running the 100m dash at 22.25, placing 34/48 for 8U girls.
Next, Brooke and Brecklyn participated in a 4x200 relay. They had to hand off to each other!
Brecklyn waiting for Brooke
Getting ready for the hand-off
Brecklyn successfully got the baton!
Go, Brecklyn, go!
8U 4x200 relay team - 5th place!
Julia, Brooke, Caroline, and Brecklyn
In addition to the 100m dash and the 4x200m relay, Brecklyn also raced in the open 200m. She ran it in 43.91 and placed 17/24 in her age group.
While the twins were racing, Brianna competed in shot put. She threw 6.86m, placing 12/20 for 14U girls.
Brecklyn, Caroline, Brooke, and Sadie were all happy to be at Nationals together!
Brianna and Abby waiting for their events
Since Bren was not competing in any open running events, he did not compete at all on Wednesday. He enjoyed hanging out with some of the older guys and cheering on our high school throwers.
Caleb (a great runner but not a thrower), Si, Brenson, and Jacob
Just after 3:00pm, the skies turned really dark and the wind kicked up. Initially, it was announced over the loud speaker that all events were being halted for a time because of lightening. Several teams thought we would try to shelter in some of the buildings on campus, as we had been told we would do in case of severe weather. However, the officials thought it best that everyone leave campus and shelter elsewhere. At around 3:30pm, we packed up much of our stuff, dropped our tents, and headed to our motel.
A little before 4:00pm - as Chris and I were watching the weather on TV - we decided it was best for the kids to take cover in our motel bathrooms. We saw this on the radar and knew it didn't look good!
Very soon, the tornado sirens began sounding. Brooke and Brecks were not impressed with the situation!
Brianna and Brenson, however, found it kind of amusing.
I texted Renee to make sure they were safe, and she texted back that they were sheltering in the Dairy Queen bathroom. It was not a great situation!
View of the storm from our motel window
Thankfully, the storm passed and the weather calmed down fairly quickly. We were thankful that a tornado didn't touch down in Bolivar, although there were some that touched down in other places nearby.
We received a message somehow that those who still had events to compete in that day needed to be back at the stadium at 5:30pm. Brianna was scheduled to compete in discus this day, so back we went.
Brianna was not sad to see Tessa again!
After a lot of waiting and some deliberating by the meet officials about whether to hold 14U girls discus that evening or postpone it to the next day, it was decided that competition for 14U girls discus would begin the next morning at 8:00am. The field was an absolute mess with inches of standing water, and we were quickly losing daylight (with no lights in the field area). As much as we didn't want to be back so early the next morning, we knew the decision to postpone was the better choice.
With such a dramatic afternoon, Thursday morning came quickly. We were at the stadium at 7:30am for Brianna to warm up for discus.
Brianna did great throwing 19.30m and placing 4/21 for 14U girls. She held third place until almost the very end when one of the final throwers outthrew her on one of their final throws. I was sad because I really, really wanted Bri to medal, but also so proud of her for placing 4th!
Brianna did great throwing 19.30m and placing 4/21 for 14U girls. She held third place until almost the very end when one of the final throwers outthrew her on one of their final throws. I was sad because I really, really wanted Bri to medal, but also so proud of her for placing 4th!
Directly following 14U girls discus was 8U girls discus. Brooke competed in discus and medaled!
She threw 11.39m for second place!
She finished super strong and set a PR! She ran the 800m in 3:06.54 and placed 19/25.
Brianna finished running, and Chris and I booked it back to discus to watch Bren throw.
He threw 25.30m, securing third place and a medal! It was an exciting morning for our crew!
Nationals (and most meets, really) are often a "hurry up and wait" situation. Thursday morning was very busy going from event to event for us, but after Bren threw discus we got a bit of a break.
As cloudy and overcast as Wednesday had been, Thursday was clear and sunny. We were very thankful to have our umbrellas for sunshades in the field!
Brecklyn, Brooke
Chris was given a special gift from Jacob, one of his HS throwers. It's a wooden keychain that says 'Coach Chris' on one side and has the Falcons logo on the other.
The big kids spent their downtime at the team tents. They often play board games, chess, cards, etc while waiting for their next events.
We are thankful for this great crew of kids!
Around 1:30pm, competition geared back up for our crew. Brenson finished his events with throwing shot put. He placed 4/17 throwing 8.20m, only missing third place by .07m. This is the second year in a row that he's missed a medal in shot put by a very short distance.
Brecklyn also had one event left and that was long jump.
Brecklyn jumped 2.57m, which we knew was really strong for 8U girls.
However, we didn't find out until Saturday morning that she had placed 3/26, securing a medal!
Brianna was next to finish up her events with the 1600m run. She looked so strong!
She passed the girl in the photos and finished the race in 6:53 (20/26).
Finally, Brooke threw shot put to complete all our events for the 2024 Nationals competition.
She threw 4.51m for fourth place. She also missed third place by only .07m!
We were so pleased that all of the kids had top 5 placements and set team records. Bri even set a PR for the first time ever at Nationals. Track & Field is about so much more than competing or winning for us, but it's still wonderful to see all their hard work, diligence, and dedication be rewarded!
I'd say it was a good year for the Falcons!
We were thrilled with how all the kids competed, and thrilled that we were finished by 4:00pm on Thursday! We did stay to watch a few of our teammates compete, but we were on the road and headed home by 5:00pm. That may have felt like the biggest win of all, haha!
No comments:
Post a Comment