First Track Meet

The kids are all doing swimming lessons this summer, and we gave Riley and Asher the option of participating in an additional sport or activity. When I started listing possibilities off to Riley, the conversation went something like this: 

Me: You could do gymnastics again, or ballet, or a dance class with different types of dancing. Or you could do a sport. Soccer, t-ball, track,

Riley (cutting me off): TRACK, TRACK, TRACK, I WANT TO DO TRACK!

Me: Okay, but to you want to hear the other options?

Riley: No, I want to do track!

So track it is. She has practice two mornings a week for 90 minutes. There are about 80 kids in the group, whose ages range from 5 to 16. I've been really impressed with the coaches. The head coach is a middle aged man whom Riley adores. I joke with Scot that she has a dad-crush on Coach Jon. And there are about 6 more coaches that are high school and college aged. At the practices they divide the kids into groups by age and work on technique, endurance, etc.

Riley really enjoys the practices, but the best part is the meets. There are five of them spread out on Saturdays in June and July. Riley and I really didn't know what to expect at that first meet, but fortunately Scot did track in high school, so he had some idea of what it was going to be like. At that first meet Riley competed in the baseball throw, the standing long jump, the shuttle relay, and 50m and 100m runs.

They had eight kids compete in every heat, and Riley consistently placed in the middle in every event. Scot and I both think she could have run faster than she did, but she was happy with her ribbons, and had a great time, so we were happy for her.