My Championship Experience is a diary
blog written by Summit League student-athletes detailing their experiences at
each of the 19 Championships.
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South Dakota State junior Lexi Laird writes about her experience
at the 2014 Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships:
As I began my third Summit League
Championship, I not only felt prepared but with the championship being held at
IUPUI, I felt I had the “home court advantage”. Thankfully Indianapolis was
warming up from the sub-zero temperatures we had earlier that month. I had two
exams the day before our championship, but I had made sure I was mentally ready
to race the next evening.
Wednesday night finals began at 6 p.m. and I
would be swimming the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay. Before the relay
that night, I was less nervous than usual, maybe because I was in my home pool,
but I was unsure if this was a good or bad thing. We began the walkout for the
200 medley relay and the natatorium filled with a roar of cheering teams,
family and friends. At that moment, I finally believed it was Summit League
Championships, what I had trained all year for had come so fast and I had never
realized it. Being a junior, the league championships had been held at the same
site the past two years so this was a new atmosphere for not only the freshmen
and sophomores but for myself. When I swam the 1st leg of the 200
medley relay, I put us in second with a time that was a personal best but was
not satisfactory to me. My teammates on the relay put together some amazing
splits and we ended up placing second in the 200 medley relay and nearly broke
our record set last year by 0.35 seconds.
Our 800 freestyle relay that night swam phenomenally and broke our
school record by more than four seconds. The energy from that night is what
brought us into the next day with confidence.
On the second day the ladies came in strong
and put together some great swims all around. Jenny Oleksiak and I swam times
that placed us second in our third best events, which came to us in much
surprise. The 200 freestyle relay came out with energy and confidence, and
because of this we broke a record that hadn’t been broken since my freshman
year. Due to these and other strong swims, we put ourselves good position to
place well in the whole conference.
On the third and fourth day we had
amazing swims as we did on Wednesday and Thursday, but we lost second place behind
Denver. Maranda Buha had come off a serious surgery and several months out of
the pool and dropped a second off her personal best time from high school. Her
perseverance through this inspired me in so many ways. She was not the only
lady that fully amazed me through their determination and I admire all the Lady
Jaguars for that. Throughout this year, we have created an amazing support
system that I have not yet seen in my three years here at IUPUI and I’m excited
to see it grow into something bigger than ourselves.
I had amazing swims, like my 50,
which I dropped a half second and placed second and disappointing swims, but
throughout everything my teammates supported me. As I finished the championship
and reflected back, I was slightly disappointed about things. I think that
never being satisfied is not only a great characteristic in myself, but in all
of the IUPUI ladies. The Lady Jaguars put together a great performance this year
at the league meet and I am so proud of each and every one of them. We,
unfortunately, fell to South Dakota State and Denver, but we plan to come back
next year stronger and larger in numbers.
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Don’t forget to check out the next
edition of My Championship Experience as it follows the Indoor Track
& Field Championships, Feb. 28-March 1 and throughout the 2013-14 season
for coverage at each of The Summit League Championships.
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