Wow.
What a year it has been!!!!!!!!!
Four sets of Nationals (Outdoor '08, Cross Country, Indoor '09, Outdoor '09), 5 All-American honors. I simply couldn't ask for more. It's been incredible, amazing, fun, & a blessing to have experienced what I did in the past year. It's been the best year of my entire life and I am just so lucky to live the life that I do! My family has been at every single meet (with the exception of maybe a couple) of mine in the past year, and when my family's not around, I have been able to turn to the incredible support of my 2nd family - my Coach and teammates. Without them around to push me, most if not all of the success I've achieved never would've happened!
Of course it's not just me that's been fortunate enough to run at a high level and achieve success. My teammate and best friend, Ashley Graybill, has had an AMAZING year as well. She recently capped off a fantastic career at St. Norbert with a "sweep" of the 800 meter run for the '09 season. As you all know, she won the Indoor title (by over a second I might add) in a time of 2:09.95... well, on Saturday, she did it again, besting her competition for a spot at the top of the podium with a time of 2:09.18. I think she did about all she possibly could to go out on top! :)
Ash also finished 3rd at our Conference cross country meet last Fall - after running the 400 meters at '08 Nationals, which just went to show her ridiculous and incredible versatility! She credits a good amount of her success in the 800 to her hard work during cross country season, and I would definitely have to agree with that. For someone who thought distance running wasn't for her, she proved otherwise as she was as solid as ever as our #2 spot on the XC team!
What makes Ash special is that just as she is an incredible athlete, she is an equally incredible person! She is one of the most compassionate and caring people I've ever met... she listens and understands and is always there to pick teammates up when they're down! Our team will greatly miss Ash next year - she's someone that will never, ever be replaced! I just keep reminding myself of this quote I've heard many times: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Ash & I certainly have a lot of memories that will keep us smiling for years and years to come. Ash is moving to North Carolina for at least a year to explore career options, so we'll all miss her a lot but wish her the best of luck in all she chooses to do.
Since it's been a month since I last wrote, I'll give a quick synopsis of Conference as well, where we had 3 of our other seniors compete in their LAST track meet. Connor, Kelsey, and Dustin competed hard at Conference and we all thank them as well for their tremendous commitment to the program!
The women's team finished 3rd at Conference behind Monmouth and Carroll. The men's team finished in 5th. Ashley and I finished with Performer of the Meet honors as she won the 1500, 400, 200, and 4x4 relay and finished 3rd in the 4x1!!! I won the 10K on day 1 and finished 2nd in the 5K on day 2. Dann Schneider was SNC's lone representative for Performer of the Meet on the men's side as he won the 400, placed second in the 200 (thanks Roden for correcting me!), 6th in the long jump, & 7th in the triple! Overall we were pretty satisfied with our performances but obviously know we still have a lot of improving to do towards the ultimate goal of beating Monmouth!
The next week we headed to Last Chance at North Central College. I was able to improve my time from 17:18 to 17:12 in the 5K which finally punched my ticket to Nationals in both the 10K and 5K.Our girls 4x400 relay team ran a 3:57, just barely missing the provisional mark of 3:56. We knew by that Friday night that St. Norbert would have 3 representatives at the Outdoor National meet: Dann in the 400 meter dash, Ash in the 800 meter run, and myself in the 5,000 & 10,000 meter runs.
On Monday the 18th we headed out of the Green Bay airport and landed in Columbus. We were pretty pleased to have the opportunity to fly - definitely saves our legs a lot not being crammed in a car for 10-12 hours! We spent Monday night in Columbus and then were able to practice at Ohio State on Tuesday! After practice we made our way to Marietta. Wednesday we picked up our mementos (a blanket, an iPod speaker, & a knit hat) and had the banquet that night. Ash narrowly missed Regional Athlete of the Year for her phenomenal outdoor season where she made it on the list in the 400,800, & 1500. Running with her all season long, there's no doubt in my mind she truly deserved the honor, but we just remind ourselves that we don't run just for the honors & write-ups! They're just an added bonus I guess.
Thursday was the start of competition, at least for me! I was pleased to run at 7:40 as the sun had mostly set and the temperatures were lowering. Temperatures still hovered around the 75 degree mark, so still a little warm for me, but they had water being handed out nearly every lap, so it was fine. I finished 4th as previously mentioned and finally made it under the 36 minute mark. Philbrook of Williams was the winner with an excellent time of 35:24.
On Friday Ash and Dann each guaranteed themselves All-American status as they won their heats in the 400 & 800, respectively. We were also able to watch the steeplechase, which is definitely one of the best spectator events in all of track and field! I hope to run in that at Nationals next year. It's such a fun event.
Then came Championship Saturday! Dann started things off by placing 6th in the 400 meter dash (48.06) for his 2nd All-American honor as only a sophomore! Even bigger things are in store for him in the future for sure! Graybill then made it a clean sweep in the 800 for this season by taking the title; this time the race was a little bit closer, but with her amazing kick, she edged out Spadacinni of TCNJ in a new PR, a time of 2:09.18. In temperatures hovering around the 85 degree mark, I was able to make it a 4-for-4 performance for St. Norbert at the National meet by placing 4th in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 17:23. Definitely not a PR, but I was happy to have placed that high given the conditions. Props to Ayla Mitchell who came back to win the 5K (17:14) after placing 2nd in the 1500 earlier in the day! With Ashley's National titles and my 2 4th places finishes, we led St. Norbert to a 10th place finish (20 points), its best finish ever at the Outdoor National meet!
It's really hard to even put in to words how amazing this season was. I continued to run PR's throughout the entire season in several different events but also PR'd in the level of fun I experienced. From Indoor Nationals to Spring Break in Myrtle Beach to Outdoor Nationals, I've just had an awesome time with a seemingly constant smile on my face :)
As previously stated, it's going to be extremely difficult to run without Ashley next year - one of my very best friends and someone who's been a tremendous asset to our team! She'll never be replaced; her legacy in St. Norbert track and field will forever live on: 16 school records, 7 Midwest Conference individual titles, 3 All-American honors, and 2 National titles!!!
Thanks always to my Coach, Don Augustine, who has had faith in our abilities since the minute he arrived at St. Norbert. He's helped all of us achieve more success than perhaps ever thought imaginable! With his hard work and level of dedication, I have no doubt St. Norbert will continue to have unprecedented success!
I hope you've all enjoyed my Blog this Track & field season. I hope to be back again, possibly for cross country! Till then, have an amazing summer, filled with plenty of running of course! :) I plan on taking a little time to relax and get my legs back under me and then I will excitedly begin training for the fall Cross Country season!!
Thanks again for reading... happy running!
~Jenny
~Visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/track/09championships/ for a full recap of Nationals, including a YouTube video of an interview with Ashley after she won her 2nd National title!
Here's a picture of us at the Banquet... we all matched :)
And here's a picture of Dann, Ashley, and I with Coach on Championship Saturday, after we had claimed our All-American trophies in our respective events :)
View TONS more pics from Nationals as well as Conference and Last Chance at KodakGallery !
What a year it has been!!!!!!!!!
Four sets of Nationals (Outdoor '08, Cross Country, Indoor '09, Outdoor '09), 5 All-American honors. I simply couldn't ask for more. It's been incredible, amazing, fun, & a blessing to have experienced what I did in the past year. It's been the best year of my entire life and I am just so lucky to live the life that I do! My family has been at every single meet (with the exception of maybe a couple) of mine in the past year, and when my family's not around, I have been able to turn to the incredible support of my 2nd family - my Coach and teammates. Without them around to push me, most if not all of the success I've achieved never would've happened!
Of course it's not just me that's been fortunate enough to run at a high level and achieve success. My teammate and best friend, Ashley Graybill, has had an AMAZING year as well. She recently capped off a fantastic career at St. Norbert with a "sweep" of the 800 meter run for the '09 season. As you all know, she won the Indoor title (by over a second I might add) in a time of 2:09.95... well, on Saturday, she did it again, besting her competition for a spot at the top of the podium with a time of 2:09.18. I think she did about all she possibly could to go out on top! :)
Ash also finished 3rd at our Conference cross country meet last Fall - after running the 400 meters at '08 Nationals, which just went to show her ridiculous and incredible versatility! She credits a good amount of her success in the 800 to her hard work during cross country season, and I would definitely have to agree with that. For someone who thought distance running wasn't for her, she proved otherwise as she was as solid as ever as our #2 spot on the XC team!
What makes Ash special is that just as she is an incredible athlete, she is an equally incredible person! She is one of the most compassionate and caring people I've ever met... she listens and understands and is always there to pick teammates up when they're down! Our team will greatly miss Ash next year - she's someone that will never, ever be replaced! I just keep reminding myself of this quote I've heard many times: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Ash & I certainly have a lot of memories that will keep us smiling for years and years to come. Ash is moving to North Carolina for at least a year to explore career options, so we'll all miss her a lot but wish her the best of luck in all she chooses to do.
Since it's been a month since I last wrote, I'll give a quick synopsis of Conference as well, where we had 3 of our other seniors compete in their LAST track meet. Connor, Kelsey, and Dustin competed hard at Conference and we all thank them as well for their tremendous commitment to the program!
The women's team finished 3rd at Conference behind Monmouth and Carroll. The men's team finished in 5th. Ashley and I finished with Performer of the Meet honors as she won the 1500, 400, 200, and 4x4 relay and finished 3rd in the 4x1!!! I won the 10K on day 1 and finished 2nd in the 5K on day 2. Dann Schneider was SNC's lone representative for Performer of the Meet on the men's side as he won the 400, placed second in the 200 (thanks Roden for correcting me!), 6th in the long jump, & 7th in the triple! Overall we were pretty satisfied with our performances but obviously know we still have a lot of improving to do towards the ultimate goal of beating Monmouth!
The next week we headed to Last Chance at North Central College. I was able to improve my time from 17:18 to 17:12 in the 5K which finally punched my ticket to Nationals in both the 10K and 5K.Our girls 4x400 relay team ran a 3:57, just barely missing the provisional mark of 3:56. We knew by that Friday night that St. Norbert would have 3 representatives at the Outdoor National meet: Dann in the 400 meter dash, Ash in the 800 meter run, and myself in the 5,000 & 10,000 meter runs.
On Monday the 18th we headed out of the Green Bay airport and landed in Columbus. We were pretty pleased to have the opportunity to fly - definitely saves our legs a lot not being crammed in a car for 10-12 hours! We spent Monday night in Columbus and then were able to practice at Ohio State on Tuesday! After practice we made our way to Marietta. Wednesday we picked up our mementos (a blanket, an iPod speaker, & a knit hat) and had the banquet that night. Ash narrowly missed Regional Athlete of the Year for her phenomenal outdoor season where she made it on the list in the 400,800, & 1500. Running with her all season long, there's no doubt in my mind she truly deserved the honor, but we just remind ourselves that we don't run just for the honors & write-ups! They're just an added bonus I guess.
Thursday was the start of competition, at least for me! I was pleased to run at 7:40 as the sun had mostly set and the temperatures were lowering. Temperatures still hovered around the 75 degree mark, so still a little warm for me, but they had water being handed out nearly every lap, so it was fine. I finished 4th as previously mentioned and finally made it under the 36 minute mark. Philbrook of Williams was the winner with an excellent time of 35:24.
On Friday Ash and Dann each guaranteed themselves All-American status as they won their heats in the 400 & 800, respectively. We were also able to watch the steeplechase, which is definitely one of the best spectator events in all of track and field! I hope to run in that at Nationals next year. It's such a fun event.
Then came Championship Saturday! Dann started things off by placing 6th in the 400 meter dash (48.06) for his 2nd All-American honor as only a sophomore! Even bigger things are in store for him in the future for sure! Graybill then made it a clean sweep in the 800 for this season by taking the title; this time the race was a little bit closer, but with her amazing kick, she edged out Spadacinni of TCNJ in a new PR, a time of 2:09.18. In temperatures hovering around the 85 degree mark, I was able to make it a 4-for-4 performance for St. Norbert at the National meet by placing 4th in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 17:23. Definitely not a PR, but I was happy to have placed that high given the conditions. Props to Ayla Mitchell who came back to win the 5K (17:14) after placing 2nd in the 1500 earlier in the day! With Ashley's National titles and my 2 4th places finishes, we led St. Norbert to a 10th place finish (20 points), its best finish ever at the Outdoor National meet!
It's really hard to even put in to words how amazing this season was. I continued to run PR's throughout the entire season in several different events but also PR'd in the level of fun I experienced. From Indoor Nationals to Spring Break in Myrtle Beach to Outdoor Nationals, I've just had an awesome time with a seemingly constant smile on my face :)
As previously stated, it's going to be extremely difficult to run without Ashley next year - one of my very best friends and someone who's been a tremendous asset to our team! She'll never be replaced; her legacy in St. Norbert track and field will forever live on: 16 school records, 7 Midwest Conference individual titles, 3 All-American honors, and 2 National titles!!!
Thanks always to my Coach, Don Augustine, who has had faith in our abilities since the minute he arrived at St. Norbert. He's helped all of us achieve more success than perhaps ever thought imaginable! With his hard work and level of dedication, I have no doubt St. Norbert will continue to have unprecedented success!
I hope you've all enjoyed my Blog this Track & field season. I hope to be back again, possibly for cross country! Till then, have an amazing summer, filled with plenty of running of course! :) I plan on taking a little time to relax and get my legs back under me and then I will excitedly begin training for the fall Cross Country season!!
Thanks again for reading... happy running!
~Jenny
~Visit http://pioneers.marietta.edu/track/09championships/ for a full recap of Nationals, including a YouTube video of an interview with Ashley after she won her 2nd National title!
Here's a picture of us at the Banquet... we all matched :)
And here's a picture of Dann, Ashley, and I with Coach on Championship Saturday, after we had claimed our All-American trophies in our respective events :)
View TONS more pics from Nationals as well as Conference and Last Chance at KodakGallery !
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