Track Meet VS Northwood and Wawasee

 On Tuesday the 22nd, Melayna would run in her 2nd track meet against conference foes Northwood and Wawasee.  

After I picked Nolan up from school, we grabbed some snacks and then made the drive up to Northwood.  Thankfully it was a really nice and cool night for running (and spectating) and I didn't even need a coat until right at the very end.  Now that's something to get excited about during track season!! LOL  

I went down to the track to say 'hi', but she was getting ready to get warmed up so she didn't even turn around to see me.  

Melayna would kick off her night by running in the 100 hurdles.  She would be in the 2nd of 3 heats and won her heat, but we weren't sure until the end of the night how that would stack up against the 3rd and final heat.  'Turns out that she ran well enough to finish 2nd overall with a time of 17.49 and she was able to run a smooth three-step once again.  Overall, she seemed pretty happy with that.

In her second race, she would also finish 2nd in the 300 low hurdles and would finish with a time of 50.63.    She still took a couple of extra stutter steps before a couple of the hurdles, but once again, she looked more smooth than her previous meet, so that is good.

And then to finish out the night, Melayna would be the first leg in the JV 4x400 relay.  She went out hard right from the beginning and built up a strong lead before handing off to the 2nd leg.  That relay would eventually finish in first place for the JV team and Melayna would run a 1:06.  I think that may be a new PR for her in the 400, but if not, she's getting closer and closer.

All in all, it was another great night for the Lady Tigers and Melayna specifically.

As you can see, Coach Howett was also pretty pleased!

Outdoor Season Begins

Melayna finally had her first outdoor meet on Wednesday, April 10th.  The weather has made it difficult for outdoor meets so far this season so last night would officially kick off the outdoor season.  (And even last night ended up being chilly and sprinkling, but definitely better than the last two weeks.)

Nolan and I got to the track about 5:30 and Melayna was right down by the gate warming up for her first event.  (You can easily find her by the bright yellow shoes!)

And then Coach Howett - getting all the hurdles up and ready to go.

Melayna would have a great 100 hurdle sprint finishing in 3rd place with a brand new PR time of 17.15 beating her sectional finish time last season of 17.49.  She was also able to three-step the first three hurdles, (which she has been working diligently on in practice) so she was really excited about that race!  Now she will continue working on the three step and hopefully get a fourth or fifth hurdle in.

I would have to leave a few events later to take Nolan to his Wednesday night church and I knew that we would be pushing it for me to be able to get back in time to watch her 300 hurdles so we ran all the way from the track to our van and then I drove as quickly as I could across town to drop him off.  Then I jumped back into the van and sped back to the track praying that I wouldn't miss her run.  As I was pulling into the parking lot, I noticed that the hurdles were out on the track but there wasn't anyone running around the track yet so I either got there just in time, or just after the race was over.  Since I wasn't close enough to the front entrance, I just hurried to the chain link fence and that's when I noticed that the JV runners were still getting into their blocks.  She would be running in the varsity heat which was running right after, so I was so thankful that I got there in time to watch her run the 300'.  After she crossed the finish line, I went back around through the entrance and was able to sit back down with my parents.

Laynie had another great race in those 300's where she finished with another 3rd place finish and another PR of 50.88 topping her previous best time last year of a 51.82.  She also realized a few things in that longer race that she can work on and improve on so she's hoping to continue dropping time as the season progresses.

Finally, in the last event of the night, Melayna would run 2nd leg in the JV 4x400 relay.  There were four JV teams and her team finished with a very strong 1st place.  Melayna is not sure of her time but one of the coaches told  her that she ran a 1:08 split.  'Definitely not her fastest, but not a bad one considering she had already ran the 300 hurdles just a short while earlier.

She is the second girl in wearing the orange shirt / yellow shoes and her hair is in bubble braids.

They were just standing there in the 2nd position waiting for the race to begin.

A successful hand-off.  They were in a close race for 1st and 2nd when she received the baton but she really widened the gap and kept them in the 1st place position.

Here she comes with a fairly good lead on the 2nd place runner.

The Lady Tigers dominated the entire meet beating Plymouth for their first conference victory of the year. They will be back on the home track again on Tuesday night next week.

Track Updates // WCHS Vs Concord

 Melayna's meet that was suppose to take place on Tuesday of last week was postponed to Friday due to bad weather.  (Again)  So, on Friday night, I drove up to Concord High School where she was running in a double dual against Concord and Mishewaka.  At the end of the night, WCHS came away with another (close) victory for at least a share of the Conference Title.

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Melayna would start off her night in the second event; the varsity heats of the 100 hurdles.  Once again, she would be running in the outside lanes.  She didn't get a great start this time but she would come back strong and finish 5th on the night with a time of 18.32.  'Not her best time (and she wasn't happy with the race at all), but not a bad race running into the wind either.

A few events later, she would run in the varsity heat of the 300 hurdles.  She's in the first lane in this race.  Again, she got off to a really slow start and compared to the other runners, it seemed that she was running a really slow race all together, but despite finishing in 5th place again (and last in the varsity race), she would finish with a new PR of 53:15.

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In the last event, Melayna would lead off in the 4x400 relay for one of the JV teams.  She handed off in the fourth position after running a 1:07 (close to a new PR for her) and then her teammates all ran comparable legs to put them in first place and winners of the JV race.  

Melayna runs again on Tuesday the 9th in the NLC championship meet.  

High School Track Begins for Melayna

Melayna is running hurdles once again this year and it has been a fun experience for her as a high schooler and with Noel as her hurdle coach.  They get to work together everyday for practice and she is finally able to do all of the drills that she has heard him talk about and teach others over the years.  It's also nice that he is the one that she can talk to right before (and right after) her events.  

These past two Saturdays, she has competed in her first indoor qualifiers and she has gotten a good start to her high school hurdling career running 11.5 or better.  That time isn't good enough to qualify her for the indoor state meet at IWU next weekend, but she is learning new things and gaining valuable experience for the outdoor season.  

Here are a couple of pictures that a student photographer took of Melayna at the last meet.  I'll just post them here for future reference.  (And hopefully we will get some good "action" shots later).

We are excited to see how much she will grow and improve in the coming weeks and months.

Pictures from the Elementary City Meet // 2019

Since these posts are for our personal family scrapbook, I am posting a lot of pictures from Friday Night's Elementary City Meet.  Some of this will be repetitive of an earlier posting.

At the end of the night, Melayna's school came in 3rd place in overall standings for the girls.  

Heading into the evening's events, Melayna was seeded 5th in the 50.  Her time listed was a bit misleading because those are times that hand timers took earlier in the season and turned in.  At the meet Friday night, they would use an electronic system that would be more accurate.

She was seeded fourth heading into the 100.

Since Noel is part of the high school coaching staff and the high school track team hosts the city meet as a fundraiser for their program, Noel was asked to work the meet.  In previous years he has ran the concession stand but this year he requested a role where he could be on the field and watch Melayna as she participated in her events.  It was so neat seeing them meet up before the meet began.

And then Melayna would just spend some time warming up and visiting with her friends before the races would begin.  For her, track is very much a social event!!

'Just throwing in a picture of the girls' future high school for fun.

After the relay teams went through the first staging area, they were escorted over to the side of the track where they awaited their next orders.  Melayna would be the first leg of her 4x200 relay.

She said she remembers being SO nervous until the gun went off.  

Then she just settled down and did what she was suppose to do!  LOL

The girls' relay team would eventually finish in 2nd place.  Then the boys would run their relay before Melayna would head back to the 50 line.  She would be running in the fourth and final heat.

Finishing third in the finals with a time of 8.16.  Not quite as fast as she had wanted but a good result overall.

I'm not sure what Noel is doing here but he looked so "official".  I just had to take a picture of him.

A couple of events later, Melayna was back down at the start for the 100.  Again, she was in the fourth and final heat.  It took the starter numerous attempts to get the gun to sound but as soon as the race started, Melayna took off.  It was close right down to the end when the first place girl pulled away for the easy win while the next four places finished close together.  

Once again, she ended up with a third place finish overall.

I love this picture below because of what it represents. 

Mrs Hagen is an paraprofessional that works at Melayna's school.  She greets each of the kids in the morning as the parents drop them off.  Everyone gets a smile and a high-five or a hug, whichever they prefer.  All year long, Melayna has chosen a hug from Mrs Hagen and they usually have a short conversation before Laynie goes into the school to begin her day.  Abbey is so supportive of Melayna and as a volunteer for the track team, she celebrates Laynie's victories just as hard as Laynie does.  When I pulled this picture off my camera today and saw Abbey's expression of joy for Melayna, it brought tears.  We are SO blessed to have so many who love on our kids and pour sacrificially into their lives.  I am forever thankful to them for that!

Good job Laynie-bug.

You are officially the third-fastest girl in all the city!!  LOL

Until next year...