Marion Invitational 2025 // Run at IWU

 Melayna and the Lady Tigers cross country team traveled south to the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University to compete in the annual Marion Invitational this past Saturday.  Our family was extra excited about this meet because not only did Melayna get added to the varsity roster, but Marissa also let us know that she would be on campus and would come over to the course to see us once we got there.

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It was an early morning for Melayna as she had to leave the house before 6 a.m. in order for the team to get down there and get warmed up and ready as a team.  Noel and I wanted to also watch the boys compete, so we left the house a little after 8:00 so that we could get down in time to watch the boys start their race at 9:30.  When we parked the car, I texted Marissa to let her know that we were there and then she ran over to meet up with us.  I know that we had just seen her at the fireworks the weekend before, but it was still really good to see her again!  I mean, you can see the joy written all over Nolan's face!!

You better shape up buddy or you're going to go down face first into that bush over there!  LOL

The girls were slated to run at 10:00.  They lined up to take a couple of pictures before the races began and they were all smiles and ready to have a great day.  

And then walking from their team camp down to the starting boxes.

The cannon was sounded and then a mass of runners came running right towards us.  

Melayna went out really strong this race and she had a really good split for both her 1k and her 2k splits.  She had told the coaches that she wanted her time to be in the 22's this week so they helped her plot out what her splits would need to be in order to finish at a 22:00 minute flat.  She fell off the pace a little on splits 3 and 4, but she was still looking really good.  

Aren't running pictures just the best - capturing the best possible facial expressions?  When Melayna saw this picture later, she said that I "did her dirty" LOL.  Actually, it was at this very moment that she heard Marissa's voice cheering for her and looked over to see her standing there.  It surprised her and she broke into a smile as she ran past us.

I took this picture as she ran past us the final time and was headed for the finish line.  She probably had about 200 yards to go and if she ran hard all the way through, she should definitely run a new PR and land somewhere in the 22 minute mark.  We were definitely screaming as loud as we could, just willing her all the way through to the end!!

Her final time would be a new PR at 22:47!!  

Here is Coach F showing Laynie her splits and congratulating her on her great run.  The coaches were all so excited for her because she has been working so hard to get in the 22's and it's fun to see her accomplish that goal.  (When I took this picture, the coach had just finished dancing in a circle all around her and jumping up and down!!)

And then Coach H came over to talk to Noel and to give his congratulations as well.  'Lots of smiles to go around!

I love that you can see Melayna smiling off to the side as she watched the two brothers laughing together.

And then the family had the chance to celebrate with her.

Psalm 90:17 "May the favor of the Lord God rest upon us and establish the work of our hands (and feet).  Yes Lord, establish the work of our hands."

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After we finished talking with Melayna and her teammates, she had to go run four more miles to finish out her long run for the day, so we hugged her 'good-bye' and let her take off with her teammates.  She would send us this picture a couple of hours later.  LOL

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While Melayna was running and grabbing lunch with her team, Marissa asked if we wanted to walk over to the pond and watch the cardboard boat races that were taking place as part of Wildcat Week.  It sounded like fun, so we went over and watched the different halls compete against each other and race their cardboard boxes.  There were a lot of fun designs and some of them even made it out into the water quite a bit.   The boat from Marissa's hallway not only made it into the water successfully, but it made it all the way to the finish line.

Marissa's teammate, Tristan took part in the races but unfortunately her Despicable Me boat did not fare well when it came into contact with the water.  Marissa still enjoyed cheering for her friends.

The boat races ended right around noon and since Melayna's team hadn't even left the course yet, we took Marissa out for lunch so we could spend more time with her and hear about her first couple of weeks of school and how class and practice are going.  She is definitely staying busy (and will get even busier as she will also start working at her job at the pool really soon), but it sounds like she is doing well overall.  For that, I am definitely thankful!

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Unfortunately, all good things do have to come to an end, so after lunch we drove her back to her dorm so she could work on homework (or nap) and then we headed back home.  

Hopefully we will get to see her again in a couple of weeks.

NLC Round Robin #1

The girls and boys cross country teams ran up at Ox Bow on Tuesday night for the first conference meet of the year.  It was a gorgeous night to run and Melayna was feeling really confident so we were hoping that it would all translate into a new personal best time.

As soon as we got there, Nolan climbed the tower once or twice and then he ran over to play on the playground.

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The boys ran their race first and while they were finishing their race, our girls team came over to the course and began to do their warm-ups and run-outs.

In the huddle, Melayna was suppose to lead them in the group cheer.  

She said that she meant to say "1-2-3 Lady Tigers" but it came out as "1-2-3 Later Tigers".  

I guess it could still be an appropriate cheer - it certainly made the girls laugh.

 

And then they are off:

After the girls took off down the long stretch, they went out of eyesight and ran through the woods.  The first time we saw them, Melayna was running in the middle of the pack and was running with five or six other teammates.

After Laynie ran past us, Noel and I separated.  He ran up to an area of the course where he could see her running through the woods and I just jogged across the course where I could see her run under the tower.  By the time that she ran past me, she had separated herself from the rest of the pack and was just running by herself.  She wasn't quite fast enough to catch our leaders, but she was faster than the rest of the pack.  She did look strong at that point though and she definitely made good work of the hill that she would need run up as soon as she ran past me.

I turned back and crossed the field one more time to go stand near the finish line.  I stopped where I could see the timing board and to see what her final time would be.

Here she comes.... she was going to be near her latest PR, but could she get another new time?

She didn't get a new PR, but she did run a great race and finished with a 2nd fastest time of 23:28.  Not a bad time at all for a technical course like Ox Bow.  We will definitely take it!!

And the team finished in 1st place on the night so it was a good night!

The team runs at Indiana Wesleyan this coming Saturday and we are waiting to hear if Melayna's placing on Tuesday night was high enough to earn her an Elite race start or if she will run in the Reserve race once again.

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And again... here are a few pictures that one of the moms took with her  telephoto lens and sent to me.

Let's go #555!