As soon as we found out that there was a cross country team at Maya's school, we knew she would be on it. This was something she had been wanting to do but they didn't offer it at her previous school. She was thrilled because she had been beating even the boys in her PE class during their timed runs, she could wait to run a real race.
Maya's first meet was a little intimidating. We had no idea what to expect. This is what it looked like when the gun was fired...
That is 150+ girls running from five different schools...it was insane. But the water behind them was pretty...
It didn't seem to phase Maya, she just ran like the wind. I had so much fun cheering her on...
I had to include this next picture because that little girl behind Maya was fierce and it seemed like they were always racing near each other.
Maya's placed 23rd out of 154 in her very first race...
We had no expectation of where she would place because we had no idea what the competition would be like. I was so proud of my girl!
After that my little Speedy Gonzalez just kept getting faster and faster. Every week she placed higher and higher. She was the 2nd fastest kid in her school! Her friend Olivia was the only one ahead of her.
She ended up placing well enough to go to State!! So I spent my 37th birthday watching Maya run in her first State competition.
Look at this line up!!!!
I was a ball of nerves. I was so excited and nervous for her. The gun fired and off she went. We ran over to the next spectators spot and we were surprised when she wasn't close to Olivia. After a few minutes we finally saw her. She was crying, but still running hard. It was killing me not knowing what the heck was going on. (I have to stop at this point in the story to make sure you notice crazy little friend with giant earmuffs jumping up and down in the background, she was one of the slowest girls on the team but wanted to come to state just so she could cheer. She was hilarious!)
Speaking of hilarious...I had to include this picture of the "C sandwich". Everywhere this kid goes he gains a fan club. It's so ridiculous.
Back to story...so when we got to the next spectator spot I was surprised to see that she had made some ground and was fighting her way back into the front of the pack. By the final stretch of the race we were screaming like crazy and she was running like a champ. She finished in the top 40 from what we could tell. It was so frustrating trying to find her in the crowd to find out what the heck had happened. When we finally found her she ran to me and the minute she landed in my arms the tears and emotions came gushing out. It took a couple of minutes to figure out what happened. Her teammates and coach explained that Maya was tripped during the first leg of the race and she fell pretty hard, but my amazing girl got right up and kept going.
By the time she got herself together she was ready to go home. She didn't want to stay to hear the results, she just wanted to get her medal and get out of there. We honored her wishes.
By the end of the day I think we finally were able to get her to recognize her accomplishment. It wasn't the way she wanted to end her first season but we couldn't have been any more proud of her.
Maya can now look back and see all the good memories she made and I know she will never forget her first season of Cross Country. These are some of the reasons that made it so wonderful for her...
Her Buddies...
Her Coach...
Her Young Women's leader from church (Nicky Dallin) who came to watch...
The beautiful course she got run every week...
And Her Family...
I have been a cheerleader my whole life, officially and unofficially. I have always loved being on the side lines screaming my guts out for the team/person I loved, but cheering for my own child was the best kind of cheering I have ever done. It is one of the reasons I am embracing this stage in my life, even though it's hard to watch my babies grow up, I love that I am the mom of big kids who do things that allow me to cheer so loud I lose my voice.
GO MAYA GO!
6 comments:
I love the C sandwich! I love cheering my guts out too and Garrett recently told me to pipe down while I was cheering for Carter in his basketball game. I was so annoyed! I am loud and my Mom was loud before me. My kids (and husband apparently) are just going to have to deal with the crazy loud cheering mom:) Our kids can console each other.
I applaud Maya for getting back up and finishing the race even when it was hard!
Look at the determination in her face! Love it! I am still hoping for an "athletic" one. :)
How exciting for Maya. Making it to state is a big accomplishment. I'm sure that once the disappointment of not doing as well as she hoped, she will realize the good things from that day. The fact that she got up and continued on after being tripped and falling hard says something about her nature. And to some extent, your parenting as she has watched you go through hard things and fighting your way through them.
I anticipate you won't be running alone for long. Looks like you have a budding running partner.
So, so, lovely, Jessica! I love the pictures of her. That ponytail flying and her face is so determimed and focused. So amazing. She did so well!! So sad that she got tripped but so wonderful that she got up and kept going. WAY TO GO, MAYA!!
Great pictures of our super running star. Love her determination and strength to make it to the finish, when so many wpuld give up. Just imagine how much this experience has helped her for future challeges in her life. We love her so much!!!
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