Sports Talk: Storybook endings to track and field careers

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published May 22, 2013. 

The ending of Micah Smith’s high school career brought back memories of my own “storybook ending,” as I once called it. He not only won the title but his very last high school meet saw his best performance ever.

A lot of pressure can build up in that final meet after putting so much into your athletic career. The last thing you want is it to finish feeling like you fell short in your final performance.

From Danville Advocate Messenger

 While many people pushed me to focus on the 400, and I love-love-loved the competitive nature of the meet-ending 1600-meter relay, the 800 was what I loved most.

After running a great time at region—but not my personal best—I wanted nothing more than to finish out my CCHS track career at state—back then it was on U.K.’s fancy blue track—knowing I had run my best race ever.

God has an interesting way of working sometimes and he decided to play a little trick on me that particular day. In regular meets my dad or someone would always call out my first lap split so I knew whether I was on pace or not. At state I could simply look at the large finish line clock as I passed by on my first lap.

My heart sank to my gut when I saw that my time was about four or five seconds off on my first lap. What was worse is that I had been gunning for a fast first lap in order to better my chances at a P.R.

The fear of living with a less than satisfying final race outweighed my fear of dying or the pain my legs or lungs were feeling. I pushed harder through that second lap, in attempt to make up for the slow first lap.

I finished in fourth, a much higher finish than I’d been ranked going into the day but saw a time that was even slower than my regional time. Despite my place, I could not help but feeling disappointed, so I was rather confused by the excited greetings and congratulations I was receiving once I exited the track.

It turns out the display clock had been showing a time that was about five seconds off the real timer. Not only had my first lap actually been extremely fast, but my overall time was a personal best and the new school record. Had the clock incident not happened, I may not have run my second lap as well and finished with the time that I did.

I still remember that feeling of capturing the perfect race on my final day as a high school athlete. My excitement to know Micah had not only won his event but had the perfect day to end his career brought back those memories and feelings and makes me that much happier for his hard work and accomplishments.

Then there is Shelby Stringer, who has blown everyone from her coaches and fans to her competition away with her stellar performances this year. State was no exception with her 10’ vault and tying the state record. For Shelby, she has an entire season left to raise the bar that much higher—literally and figuratively!

From Danville Advocate Messenger

 But any experienced athlete in Shelby’s shoes knows there is nothing to be taken for granted and her achievements this year do not guarantee a cakewalk next year.

The thing about track and field is that you simply never know from season to season who is going to come into the mix of competition and just what kind of day you are going to have when it matters most. Unlike team sports, if you have a bad day, there is no one else for you to look to for picking up the slack.

I was overjoyed with another area title achieved last Friday when my cousin, Clint Hellyer, took the gold in the 300-meter hurdles. While I wanted nothing more than to see him accomplish this, I could not help but see the other side of this situation. This was Clint’s first year on Boyle County’s track team. 

From Danville Advocate Messenger

This means he was not only not in the mix of 300-hurdle competition last year, but he never was. No matter how well other athletes did in the past, they had no way of predicting Clint would be a state contender until this season arrived. There were guys gunning for that state title this year who have been hurdlers for years, yet Clint came out and captured it with one season under his belt.

I saw the same thing happen to friends and teammates back when I was running for Casey. The important thing is to relish the moment while it is I here and be proud of what you accomplished and take the time to live in this particular moment. Whether it’s your first season or last season, a state title or a personal record, celebrate.

As for Shelby’s final season as a CCHS vaulter, I am stoked to see the milestones in her future. Plus, I have seen her compete enough in all of her sports to know the dedicated competitor that she is. There is no doubt in my mind she is going to do everything in her power to seal back-to-back state titles—and claim the state record for herself.

Congrats Class of 2013--especially you student athletes!

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published May 15, 2013. 

Graduation is always a bittersweet time for everyone connected to a senior student—teachers, administrators, coaches, friends, family, and, of course, the seniors themselves.

Every student who is closing out their time at Casey County High School has accomplished major feats and some may be more obvious than others, so never assume that those finishing at the top of the class have accomplished more than others. You just never know what it took for any one person to be where they are.

Having said that, I do feel the student athletes deserve an extra pat on the back. Now, I’ll be honest and say that when I was a student athlete, in many ways I found being heavily involved in a sport bettered my work ethic when it came to the books. This was mainly because my schedule was so booked up with games, travel and practices, I had no choice but to squeeze in studying during the windows in between, rather than putting off your studies because you could do it any time.

Then again, working like this became my norm and probably does for any student athlete. You don’t have the convenience of “free time”. If you aren’t practicing, playing or studying, you are probably sleeping—because you can’t get enough of it!

Despite what became the norm for me as an athlete, you have accomplished something special.

First off, we all know that in order for them to even compete in athletics, their grades must reach a certain standard; therefore, all of Casey’s senior athletes were making time for school.

Second, being a part of a team is a learning experience in and of itself. The classrooms teach you the facts, how-to and prep you for college or a career, but sports teach you lessons you can carry through life about the kind of person you want to be; the way you dedicate yourself to something; the way you handle problems or defeat and the way you work with others. 

No matter if you were a four-year athlete or you came out to a sport for the first time as a senior, you’ve accomplished something special. Regardless of whether you plan to continue your athletic career at a collegiate level or not, I can guarantee you nothing will be the same as what you experienced while being a part of a high school team.

Be glad and proud that you took the opportunity to participate in one or multiple sports while you were at CCHS. Whether you were a starter, benchwarmer, record setter or MVP does not matter. You took the opportunity to be a part of something you may never get the opportunity to try or do again.

Congrats to all of the graduating Rebel and Lady Rebel athletes!

Way to keep it classy, Ladies--both on and off the tennis courts

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published May 8, 2013. 

Living in the basketball-centric state that we do, it is always exciting when Casey County has a successful basketball team. District titles are always a major celebration and even runner-up is an accomplishment. Regional titles are a whole other ball game of excitement.

Sometimes our other sports teams’ and programs’ accomplishments get overlooked due to the fact they are simply not basketball. As someone whose primary sport while attending CCHS was track and field I know this. Regional titles got (get) some recognition and a pat on the back. Other state qualifiers may get noted in an article in the paper. Those who place at state are known by some and those who earn runner-up and state champion titles are celebrated but often time lost in the late school year hub-bub.

But despite the sport, regional titles and state berths are huge and I hope even those who do not closely follow the boys and girls tennis programs (or are not necessarily tennis fans) recognize this with what they’ve accomplished this season. Casey County, year in and year out, has stand-out tennis teams from the boys and girls side of the house. Repetitively do they have winning records and are ranked top in the 12^th Region.

The boys’ team earned the regional runner-up title after only sending a single player to state last year—and that player having graduated.

The girls, made school history with Casey’s very first regional title. What an amazing accomplishment. To top it off, all six girls who competed made it to the semifinal round of the tournament, earning an outright bid to compete in the state tournament.

That team of girls has worked hard for two solid seasons to earn their first regional title. Having not lost a single player after the 2012 season ended, they built off of the regional runner-up title they earned last year after going 11-2 during the season.

I have also been told that the young ladies who make up the tennis team are not only stellar at how they perform on the court with a racket, but they are also superb with how they perform in the classroom with the books. The entire team—not just the regional team—is made up of students with 3.5 or better GPAs. Both seniors, Tylyn Leigh and Allie Tinsley, carry over a 4.0 GPA.

Congrats to the entire team on being phenomenal all around and best of luck to you at sectionals, state, and the road ahead!

Sports Talk: Champions, again... sort of...

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published Apr. 10, 2013. 

Sorry all of your hard core Wildcat fans… one more week of Cardinal love from this sports fan.

On one hand I can understand those that call themselves “true blue” fans who will never cheer for Louisville… because that was me on Monday night, the true Buckeye fan that would never find herself cheering for those dirty Wolverines.

But stinkin’ Michigan being the opponent or not, my reason for staying up late when I had to wake up extra early to work in Louisville in the morning was 100% to do with cheering on the Cards.

Albrecht gave me a scare, but Louisville’s stamina really seemed to win out. When Michigan looked tired, the Cards never seemed to. That and, of course, Hancock’s sweet streak there at the end of the first half. What a cool and unique thing to see a non-starter earn the MVP for the Final Four.  No doubt his performance deserved it.

What is unfortunate for the die hard UK fans, is they miss out this awesome feeling.

In 2011 Bellarmine University won the NCAA Division-II championship. In 2012 the Wildcats took the DI crown and this year it’s the Cardinals… and, if we’re lucky, those Lady Birds will have done it on Tuesday night.

 A year ago I stayed up extra late cheering on the Cats and this year it was the Cards.  I loved seeing the Cats win the title last year, as that is what I grew up with as a child admiring and knowing: UK was the basketball powerhouse.

In high school when I realized that certain people in our state cheered for Louisville and were against the Cats, I kind of found it strange. Why live in Kentucky and cheer for the team that wasn’t as good?

But my seven year tenure in Louisville came on the coattails of Pitino’s hire at the school. Between following the team more closely, seeing them improve, gaining many hardcore Cardinal fan friends, watching many games wearing red, and now continuing to spend time working in that city on a weekly basis, I too have come to understand why it’s so easy to live in this state and love the Cardinals.  

It’s fun to see the kids you’ve been watching for awhile capture this moment. A fan that gets to experience a championship through different teams in back-to-back years must be rare, so I will relish the moment, knowing it may not happen again too soon.

Go Cards!

Sports Talk: Look past the jersey and love the TEAM

As a correspondent sports writer for The Casey County News, I write an weekly editorial column for the publication. Published Apr. 3, 2013. 

Considering this is Wednesday and the Louisville-Duke game took place on Sunday, there is little I can probably write about the Cardinals and Kevin Ware’s terrible injury that has not already been said by a sports writer or commentator that  closely follows the Cards or sports in general.

However, I still cannot bypass the opportunity to comment on the incident.

I know we live in a dense Wildcat region and the NCAA tournament has been less than thrilling this year. I know that because of our Big Blue Nation, there is a high amount of Louisville loathing.

I hope most of those Cardinal haters and Kentucky lovers have been able to see what so many sports fans across this country saw from this occurrence. We should all be able to look at the players on the University of Louisville’s team, as well as Kevin Ware himself, and desire to have a team of that stature.

Much of the reason I love college sports more than professional sports is the innocence that still exists in the love of the game. Sure players want to go pro from that level, but there is less possibility for corruption in your love of the game.

These are very young adults on the court who still have vulnerable hearts. There is nothing better than to see that heart going 100% into a game we love to follow.

If you love sports, you know that despite the jersey and colors being worn by those guys on Pitino’s bench, those are the type of people you want to compose your team—whether it is one you simply cheer for or play on.

Everyone wants a team that cares most about each other and the achievements you bring to the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. What’s even better is that a team like that gives people like us—the spectators—the ability to really feel like a part of the team as well. They are so all encompassing of the factors outside of themselves that matter, that we can even feel like we, as fans, matter.

Seeing several of my die hard Wildcat friends take time to step back and recognize this group of players has really said a lot to me about this team and what being a team should be all about. It is about being there for each other and truly caring about each other as people and not just as ball players.

I know there is not a lot of Cardinal love out there in this area, but I hope you all have a team—whether it be basketball or another sport; college, high school or professional—that has the quality of people, not just players, as this year’s U of L team.

Go Cards!