2025 Princess Relays

On Friday night (May 2nd), the Lady Tigers would head up to Mishewaka High School to compete in the 2025 Princess Relays.  This track meet is one of the girls' favorites because instead of running all of the traditional events, it is more of a relay format and they have the opportunity to run a couple of different relay events than they traditionally would.   Unfortunately,  we would have to miss watching Melayna run in the Princess Relays this year since Marissa needed to check in for the Indy Mini on the same night.

Thankfully, Melayna checked in at the end of the night to share results and pictures and we definitely celebrated with her on a very successful night.

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'Looks like they enjoyed the bus ride up to Mishewaka.

Once they arrived at the school however, the silliness would be set aside for a while as it was time to focus on what was coming.  The hurdle crew would lead off the meet by running the Shuttle Hurdle Relay.  If you aren't familiar with this event, each team chooses four competitors to run the 100 meter hurdles.  Two from each team will stand at each end of the track and the first girl runs the hurdles in one direction and then when they cross the line, the second girl runs back the opposite direction and then they run the same way for the next two girls.  The fastest team of four wins the event.  Because the event takes up two lanes per team, they have to run several heats.   Noel seeded them by putting in their average times from their separate hurdle races and so he had a seed time of 1:08 for them.  That put them into the second heat and the fastest team would run in the first heat.  Noel said that he advised the girls that they would easily beat the other teams in their heat so not to necessarily race the other teams in their heat, but to race the clock.  

After the first heat was run, Plymouth was looking strong with a time of 1:06.  Then the two other competitors in that heat ran slower and had some missteps in their race, definitely opening the door for Warsaw girls to step it up and possibly finish 2nd on the night.   Well, guess what?!  Those girls not only went out and easily won their heat, but they also ran the best race that they could have run and finished with a 1:05.58 for the win -- and a new MEET RECORD!  

Congratulations girls on such an amazing accomplishment!!

Enjoy those podium pictures

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Here is the video from the race, but since they are running the lanes closest to the stadium, it's very difficult to see when they start and finish.  In fact, you won't see our first runner until several seconds into the race.

Bailee would start the race and put the girls into the lead and then Melayna would run a strong race in the second leg back.  Rihanna runs a great third leg and then Annie puts the finishing touches on it with another great run.

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Melayna was listed as an alternate on the sprint relay and she would be called upon to run the 400 meters in that race.  She ran another PR on the night but the team would finish in 7th place overall.

And in other exciting news, Annie Parker would win the 300 hurdles with a new PR.  You can bet that Noel (Coach Howett) was extremely proud and excited for his hurdle group as they looked very impressive on the night.

'Lots of smiles at the end of this one!!

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Edited to add this News Release from Mishewaka High School:

Track Sectionals 2024 // Post Season Events

 Melayna ran in the IHSAA track sectionals on Tuesday night, May 14th.  Once again, she would only run in the 300 low hurdles in the hopes that she would be well rested compared to a couple of other competitors and that she would be able to place in the top three in order to advance out to regionals.  (Or, if she didn't naturally advance through being in the top three, hopefully her time would be fast enough that she may get a call-back later in the week).

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Once again, the forecast called for heavy rains so we planned for the worst and packed rain gear, but Noel and I both boldly prayed the night before that the storms would split like they had the week before and that we would be spared the heaviest of the rain.  Praise the Lord!!   God answered that prayer in mighty ways and literally did hold back the rains until about an hour after the meet. Then it let loose and rained most of the night.  

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Anyway, back to the meet.  Annie and Rihanna both placed well in the 100 hurdle preliminaries and were able to come back for the finals about 30 minutes later where Annie placed 2nd and moved on to the regional meet next Tuesday.  Yay!  We were all screaming and celebrating for her.

A few events later, Melayna and Annie would be running the 300 hurdles in the 3rd and fastest heat.  Their times would all be put together with the other two heats and the top 3 runners would all advance.  I am posting the video of her race here, but I highly recommend that you either mute the video or keep the volume low because the 'added voices' are a bit annoying and my apologies for our screams of encouragement!!  LOL  

She is starting in lane 7 so there are two other runners ahead of her and as they come around the third corner, I lose her for a few seconds but then she comes back onto the screen in her bright "highlighter" shoes and you can see a 7 on the side of her jersey.  Our other runner Annie is in first place and Melayna is fighting position with two other runners.  (She said that Coach Howett told them that they had to run like they were the third monkey trying to get onto the ark and as she was running, she just kept saying "monkey, monkey, monkey" in her head over and over.  LOL)  She did fight like that third monkey and just kept chipping away at the distance until she was almost even with the other two runners.  Then she managed to out-lean one of the other girls to finish in that coveted 3rd place with a brand new PR time of 47.69 -- she took two full seconds off of her previous best time!!

I was able to screenshot the video as she ran past us and you can see that she's behind in that picture but she was running hard and gaining ground with every step.

With the finish being so close, we weren't sure if she finished third or fourth yet.  We knew that it was a pretty fast heat however and Melayna fell to the ground just seconds after crossing the finish line.  One of the guys' coaches came and stood over her, smiled the biggest smile, and said "See ya next week Howett... you just finished third!"  And just like that, she had the energy to stand back up and run over to her Dad who was coming down the field to meet them.  I wish that I could have gotten a picture of their hug and high fives.  It literally brought tears to my eyes to see the two of them celebrating this surprise accomplishment.  (Melayna was seeded fifth or sixth heading into the race and Noel said that it was possible that she could advance to regionals but she would have to run the race of her life).  Praise the Lord... she did just that!  And then she was able to relax and savor the accomplishment!!

After her race, she had her picture taken with Keira - a great friend who goes to a different school.  I think they've been taking track photos together since elementary school.

Then she came up to the stands to sit and visit with us for a few minutes before she had to join her teammates down on the field.

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Marissa had to work that night, but as soon as her shift was over, she drove as quickly as she could to the track and then sprinted from the parking lot up to the stands just in time to see Melayna run.  And since she was there, she thought that she should photobomb all of Melayna and Spencer's pictures.

After six or seven attempts, they finally got one without her.  LOL

Congratulations to the entire Lady Tiger track team as they won their 17th straight sectional title.  

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Annie, Rihanna, and Melayna

Laynie and Dad.

Such a great opportunity for them to do this together!!

Laynie and "Smalls"

Holding the trophy

The Girls Varsity Hurdle Crew

See you next week for at least one more week of track updates!!

1st Indoor Meet

 Last Saturday morning, Noel and Morgan drove back down to Indianapolis and met Marissa at the hotel.  Then they spent the day back at the natatorium so they could watch some records being broken at the state swimming finals.  It is something they've enjoyed doing together the past couple of years.

While they were in Indy, I headed over to the TRAC at the high school because track season is starting to pick up and Melayna was set to participate in her first indoor track meet of the season.  It wasn't an official meet so she had to sign herself up independently, but she wanted to get a run of hurdles under her and see where she was going into the season.  The doors opened up at 8:30 and her event would go at 9:30.

We have such a nice indoor facility.  I have to admit, it's one of the better indoor facilities, especially as far as spectator seating goes.  I chose a spot up towards the top so that I could try to take videos of all of the hurdle events to send to Noel.

There's Laynie running to get warmed up.

And then just a few minutes before her heat would began.

And then the video of her run.  She was glad that I took video of it so she could see a few things that she wants to work on.  

She placed 1st in her heat with a time of 10.5.  It's really early in the season so it will be fun to see how her races get better through the long track season.

Melayna's First Outdoor Meet // Outdoor Track Has Begun

 Melayna (and the entire ladies track team) had their first track meet of the outdoor season on Tuesday.  

Looking at the weather forecast in advance, we weren't sure that it was going to happen because of the low temperatures, but the school decided to run it anyway, so Noel just instructed his hurdlers to dress in layers and to make sure that they warmed up and cooled down extra well.  As far as us fans sitting in the stands, we also dressed in layers and brought blankets.  Despite it being a little on the chilly side (48 degrees), it ended up being a beautiful night for a track meet and we are thankful to get a spring meet in without one single drop of rain.

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She was walking over to start stretching when we arrived, so she came by to give me a hug and say a quick 'hello'.

And then we went up into the stands to find a good seat in the sun.

I love track meets!  I really, really do!

And we are so blessed to run at such an amazing facility.

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Melayna would start off her night by running in the second heat of the 100 meter hurdles.  She was on the varsity roster, but due to the way that they mixed varsity and junior varsity runners, she would run in the second heat. 

She is in the 7th lane (towards the stands) and wearing the neon yellow shoes.

Melayna would place third in her heat and fourth overall with a time of 18.61.  'Not bad for her first high school meet - and a chilly one at that.

A few events later, she would return to the track to compete in the 300 low hurdles.  Once again, she would run in the 2nd heat.

Melayna has never run the 300 hurdles before as the distance is a 200 in middle school.  She ran the open 400 in middle school however and always ran decently, so Noel is optimistic that she may turn this one into "her" event.  After the race was over, she said her legs were so tired and felt like jelly but she loved it and really wants to do it again!!

She finished fourth overall with a base time of 55.47 and although that's actually a decent time, we're hoping she only goes down from there.

In this race, she is in lane 1.

The Lady Tigers would come up short as a team and lose to a great Homestead team, but we are thankful to have that first meet under our belts and ready to get back to it more consistently after spring break.

Melayna's Middle School Conference Meet

 On Saturday morning, May 15th, Noel and I headed over to Plymouth High School where Melayna would be competing in the middle school conference  championships.  She was scheduled to run the preliminary heat of the 100 hurdles at 10:00 so we arrived a few minutes early so we could find a seat and get ready to watch her run.  It wasn't overly warm, but at least it wasn't freezing -- or raining, and the athletes seemed to be comfortable so we were thankful for that.

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Right on time, the preliminary heats of the 100 hurdles began.  Melayna ran in the second of two heats and then the eight fastest times would advance to the finals later in the morning.  She is running here in lane 2 and she didn't run a very good race at all.  She clipped two hurdles and just looked hesitant on several others.  When she finished 5th in her heat, Noel and I figured that she wouldn't advance to the finals.  I think Melayna felt much the same and she looked pretty disappointed as she headed back to her seat in the stands to await the next events.

I am so thankful that she managed to save herself from falling after she clipped the top of this hurdle.

Needless to say, we were more than surprised when they announced that she would advance with the 8th fastest time of the day.  She would be placed in the 8th lane and would fun again around 11:30 when the finals portion of the meet began.  Since she was over in the 8th lane and we wouldn't be able to see her very well, I didn't attempt to take any pictures of the finals.  I just tried to watch her run  and take it all in.  Boy!  We are SO glad that she made it to the finals in those 100 hurdles because she ran so much better the second time around and ended up finishing in THIRD PLACE overall in the finals.  That means that she is THIRD IN THE CONFERENCE!  She ran a new PR and her form just looked so much better.  Noel and I couldn't be more proud of her as a seventh grader to come in and take on those hurdles and compete so well.  

As I mentioned, I didn't take any pictures of her race, but I did capture this smile after she was finished running.  Needless to say, after that, she was pumped up and ready to go some more!!

About half-way through the meet, she would run in the 2nd heat of the 200 hurdles.  Both heats would only run the event one time and they would combine final times to determine the winners.

She would end up finished FIFTH in the conference in the 200 hurdles.  Not her best race.  Not her best time.  But she earned points for the team and she was happy with that.

And finally, she would once again lead off for the 4x400 relay team in the final race of the meet.  She ran a really quick first leg and they were in a very tight race - her team barely in 2nd when she handed off.  They would fall off the pace just a bit and finished in THIRD place overall.

I think that I took a few too many pictures of this race because I just love to watch her run the 400.  She hates running it but she's too good at it.  She just makes running look easy and it's so much fun watching her chase down the runners and pick them off one by one.  

Overall, her team placed 2nd in the conference losing to the first place team by about 18 points.  

Congratulations to all of the girls on a great season.