Even though the new school year started off very differently this year, we were happy to find out that they were going to give the fall sports a try. After running on the cross country team last year, Tessa knew she wanted to run again this year. With the new COVID restrictions, they had to have tryouts this year and only keep 10 students per group. Last year it was a non-cut sport, so Tessa was a little nervous for that first run. Abby, Tessa, and I spent a couple days running courses around the school to help Tessa feel prepared. On the day of the tryout, there were only ten 8th grade girls that tried out, but Tessa was the second fastest runner, so she was excited to be at the top of the team. I finally took a picture when I dropped her off for her first practice. It was cold and windy that day, but she was excited to get started even though they had to wear masks the majority of the time.
They had a short season with only four meets. The first meet was a fun run - only one mile. We were told that fans weren’t allowed (due to the virus), so we had to stay in our cars and hope for a view of the runners as they passed by. I took this first picture as the teams warmed up feeling like a stalker since we couldn’t leave our cars. They ran one lap around the high school which made up the one mile, so when it was the 8th grade girls turn to run, we stepped outside of our car to watch from the sidewalk. This is a picture of the girls as they passed by at the beginning of the race.
Tessa finished the race in 3rd place with a time of 7:21. It was a very fast one mile pace for her and she was the first Hornedo girl to cross the finish line. We were so proud of her. Her highest place last year was 6th, so she was very excited for the start of this season. I also had to take a picture of the cheerleaders who sat on top of the van to cheer on Tessa and her teammates (with their masks on of course).
The next week, they had their first full meet which is two miles long. They ran the same course around the high school but just running the lap twice to make it two miles. Our school was in charge of this meet, so I was able to be closer to the action since I was volunteering during the race. I took this first picture as the girls warmed up before the start of their race. My volunteer job was to hand out bottles of water to the runners as they crossed the finish line so I had a great spot for pictures. This second picture was of Tessa and some of her teammates as they started off. I did not get pictures as they finished since I was busy handing out water bottles, but Tessa ended up 2nd at this race right behind her teammate, Ayla, with a time of 16:31. They were less than a second apart crossing the finish line. Tessa had started to sprint at the end and was ahead for a bit, but Ayla came back and crossed first. They run the entire race together and Tessa has no problem keeping pace with her, but she didn’t quite have enough umph to pull ahead at the end. We were still very happy for her and her 2nd place time.
The following week, their meet was held at a city park. The girls had a map and the instructions given them by the coaches to know the route of the race. As the girls lined up to start the race, I got this picture as the girls discussed the turns of the path they were about to run.
I took this picture of the girls right before the starting shot went off. Tessa and Ayla ran together again. Tyler and I walked through the park to a middle spot of the race so we could cheer them on. The girls were behind three or four other runners, but by the first mile mark, they had pushed ahead and the race was between just the two of them by the end.
Again, Tessa tried to pull ahead by sprinting at the end, but Ayla caught up and passed her to cross the finish line first. I got these pictures of the girls as they finished up. One right before the finish line, and one as Tessa stepped across the finish line. Tessa finished this race with a time of 16:54. We love watching her run and being able to cheer her on. We’re so proud of her hard work and her accomplishments.
Abby spent a lot of time during quarantine doing her own workouts and runs to stay in shape for volleyball season. They did a lot of zoom workouts together and had about three weeks in the summer to work out in person before they went back to zoom workouts before school started. Once they were allowed to meet in person again, which was after the Labor Day break in September, they went right into tryouts. They did a full week of practices and tryouts and finally Abby found out that she made the JV team. We carpooled a lot with her friend Natalie so I took a picture the day they found out that they had made the team. So proud of these girls and their hard work and determination.
They had scrimmages and games the same week they found out they made the team. The girls all get workout clothes and warmups, so I took pictures the first day Abby had a game where she got to wear her uniform. They have to play wearing masks so we were able to find Cougar masks that the Football boosters were selling so the entire JV team had matching masks that looked really sharp. I wanted to have a picture with her in a mask, but I definitely had to have one with her beautiful smile as well.
They spent a day taking pictures instead of practice one day. I wasn’t there, but Abby took some pictures on her phone, so she sent her favorites to me. As the 2nd longest member of the team (there’s only one junior and after her, Abby was the next longest player from the JV team), she was able to have first pick on her number choice. She was very happy to be back to #6 - her favorite. Here she is with Natalie and with some of her teammates - Andrea, Lala, Miranda, and Idaly.
Here’s another picture of Abby with Natalie and Sabrina. These are probably her closest friends from the team, although she gets along with and loves everyone on the team.
Because of the COVID restrictions, fans are not allowed at the games. Any away game we had to watch on a streaming service online. Luckily they mostly worked and we were able to see those games, but it was hard watching the action on a tiny electronic device instead of in person. At home games, one parent was allowed to attend the game as an “essential worker.” So we were given jobs to do during the game like line judge, ball rotation, cleaning the floors, or taking pictures or videos. All the games that I worked, I did ball rotation which basically keeps balls rotating and cleaned to keep the game moving along. I liked it because it was close to the action and I could watch all the plays. The hard part was you’re busy the whole game with the balls so you can’t take pictures or videos during the game. One game I arrived early enough to at least take a few pictures during their warmup. Here’s Abby setting and serving during their warmup.
Here’s another picture of Abby setting. This year was a little better than last year in that Abby got to play during most games, but it was still a little frustrating because she was technically the third setter after two other girls, so she didn’t get to play as much as she would have liked. She worked out at practices and was told consistently by the coaches that she was working hard and giving her all, but unfortunately that didn’t always turn into court time during games. However, Abby kept up a good attitude and a dedicated work ethic and she got better as the season went on. Whenever she was on the court, she did her best and she dominated. She never missed a serve during the games and by the end of the season, she was producing amazing plays by assisting the hitters with awesome sets. We’re so proud of her and her hard work and determination.
One of the parents who helped keep the books for our team was able to travel with them to all the away games. She usually took a team picture and would send it to all of the parents, so I was happy to receive these team pictures during their season.
Here’s another team picture from another away game. They played two games a week and by the end of September, Abby’s team had won all of their games except for one. The game they lost Abby didn’t get to play at all, so I didn’t mind that they lost that one. She really loves playing with these girls and she was happy to have the chance to work out in person after being stuck at home the rest of the day for online school.
No comments:
Post a Comment