In my last blog.........which I posted about 10 seconds ago, I mentioned going to a cross country meet to see some of my teens from church run. Well I mentioned that it brought back memories, so I wanted to blog about that as well, and I even scanned in some old pictures to give everyone a nice laugh.
I did not like high school much at all, but the one thing that I did enjoy was running cross country. Many times I get asked, how can you enjoy RUNNING? Well it was not so much the running part as it was being part of a great group of people. Our cross country (cc) team was a family. I got involved with this cc family when I was in 7th grade, and my brother was in 10th grade. He was in cc as well. Although this "family group" changed throughout the years with kids being added and with others graduating, it was still a great family of folks. All of the teams, boys, girls, junior high, and high school did things together. Of course, our meets were not always together, but when we did extra stuff like cc camp in the summer, summer conditioning, special trips, we all did them together as one large group. This really helped foster the family atomosphere as well as strengthen us as a team. Another great thing about our cc family is that it was not only the runners. The parents of the runners were totally involved, as well as the spouses and families of the coaches. My mom was awesome! She was there for everything. She came to cc camp in the summers and she was always there at every meet. In high school, we had out of town meets almost every weekend, and we would usually go the night before and spend the night somewhere, usually in a church. There were several parents that went along, and my mom was always one of them! Many kids might not like having their parents that involved, but I absolutely loved it, and am thankful still today for her involvement in my life as a teenager. THANKS MOM! I LOVE YOU!
I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I loved cc and everything that went along with it. I really think that the discipline and training that I went through then has helped shape who I am today. So for those of you who are in cc or other demanding sports like that........keep up the good work. It will help you throughout your life.
Ok, so back to my team. Just a few highlights.......
My freshman year, my team got 2nd in the state finals. My sophomore year we got 3rd, and then in my junior and senior years we were the state champions. That was a thrill to be a part of that. I personally was 26th in the state in Indiana my senior year. It was a ton of fun, and I have to say I worked very hard and was pleased with my accomplishments.
Sometimes it is hard not to want to "live in the past" when you have such great memories of it. I know that life goes on, but it is fun sometimes to take that trip down memory lane and re-live it through those memories.......and to share those memories with others. I have added a few of my favorite pictures. The quality might not be great, because I had to scan them in, due to the fact that nifty, neat digital cameras had not been invented at that time. I will leave them for you to look at and figure out which one is me in the group shots. If you cannot figure it out though, just ask. It should be pretty obvious...........and a little hint, I am in the same position in both group shots.
Just a fun note.........the picture where we have blue ribbons around our necks is a pic from my senior year when we won the state title. The other group pic is from the same year, and the 5 of us in the front row came in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and for those of you who know how to score cross country that was a perfect score! That was at the regional meet of my senior year. And to make it even better, to round out the team, the other two got 9th and 10th, so our whole team was in the top 10! (Ok, I still like to bask in the memories and even brag sometimes...forgive me)
Thanks for bearing with me as I took this fun trip down memory lane..........
I did not like high school much at all, but the one thing that I did enjoy was running cross country. Many times I get asked, how can you enjoy RUNNING? Well it was not so much the running part as it was being part of a great group of people. Our cross country (cc) team was a family. I got involved with this cc family when I was in 7th grade, and my brother was in 10th grade. He was in cc as well. Although this "family group" changed throughout the years with kids being added and with others graduating, it was still a great family of folks. All of the teams, boys, girls, junior high, and high school did things together. Of course, our meets were not always together, but when we did extra stuff like cc camp in the summer, summer conditioning, special trips, we all did them together as one large group. This really helped foster the family atomosphere as well as strengthen us as a team. Another great thing about our cc family is that it was not only the runners. The parents of the runners were totally involved, as well as the spouses and families of the coaches. My mom was awesome! She was there for everything. She came to cc camp in the summers and she was always there at every meet. In high school, we had out of town meets almost every weekend, and we would usually go the night before and spend the night somewhere, usually in a church. There were several parents that went along, and my mom was always one of them! Many kids might not like having their parents that involved, but I absolutely loved it, and am thankful still today for her involvement in my life as a teenager. THANKS MOM! I LOVE YOU!
I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I loved cc and everything that went along with it. I really think that the discipline and training that I went through then has helped shape who I am today. So for those of you who are in cc or other demanding sports like that........keep up the good work. It will help you throughout your life.
Ok, so back to my team. Just a few highlights.......
My freshman year, my team got 2nd in the state finals. My sophomore year we got 3rd, and then in my junior and senior years we were the state champions. That was a thrill to be a part of that. I personally was 26th in the state in Indiana my senior year. It was a ton of fun, and I have to say I worked very hard and was pleased with my accomplishments.
Sometimes it is hard not to want to "live in the past" when you have such great memories of it. I know that life goes on, but it is fun sometimes to take that trip down memory lane and re-live it through those memories.......and to share those memories with others. I have added a few of my favorite pictures. The quality might not be great, because I had to scan them in, due to the fact that nifty, neat digital cameras had not been invented at that time. I will leave them for you to look at and figure out which one is me in the group shots. If you cannot figure it out though, just ask. It should be pretty obvious...........and a little hint, I am in the same position in both group shots.
Just a fun note.........the picture where we have blue ribbons around our necks is a pic from my senior year when we won the state title. The other group pic is from the same year, and the 5 of us in the front row came in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and for those of you who know how to score cross country that was a perfect score! That was at the regional meet of my senior year. And to make it even better, to round out the team, the other two got 9th and 10th, so our whole team was in the top 10! (Ok, I still like to bask in the memories and even brag sometimes...forgive me)
Thanks for bearing with me as I took this fun trip down memory lane..........
2 comments:
Wow! I remember many of those faces. And the hair! Whoa! It's fun to go down memory lane sometimes, but for me, I'm mostly glad I can get back on the road I'm on now!
totally narley photos dude!
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