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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North Dakota State junior Emily Lesser writes about her experience at the 2014 Summit League
Indoor Track and Field Championships:
First and foremost, I
would like say thank you to The Summit League. These championships are some of
my favorite memories of track and field thus far. Another big thank you goes
out to the coaching staff here at NDSU. I can confidently say that my team is a
group of the hardest working people I know, and that has been instilled in us
by our coaches who don’t just talk about it, but they show us what hard work
and excellence is every single day. To coaches Justin, Ryun, Stevie, Lars,
Trevor, Andrew, and Coach Nap, thank you. And to my team, I’m beyond blessed to
be surrounded by a group of such amazing individuals. It’s a beautiful thing to
be able to push each other to be the best we can be. Thank you.
7:15 a.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 26 – Day 1
My alarm went off at 6 a.m. this morning and it was surprisingly easy to wake
up. Probably because I was so excited to head to Fort Wayne, Ind., for the
league meet. This was my first indoor championship in a couple years since I
redshirted last indoor season.
The most difficult part of the travelling
process this morning was trying to figure out how to keep all the checked bags
under 50 lbs. When you’re travelling with 35lb and 20lb weights and 16lb and
4kg shotputs it can get difficult. Needless to say our math skills were tested.
Eventually, we figured it all out. We were now in the Fargo Hector
International Airport waiting to board our plane to get out of this frozen
tundra!
11:10 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 26 – Day 1
It’s been a long day of traveling. We got on the plane in Fargo, N.D. at 8 a.m.
and got into Indiana at 5 p.m. It’s always a fun day though because my
teammates are never boring to be around. Once we got settled into the hotel
rooms, we were off to the track to do a shakeout. I always have a hard time
sitting for extensive periods of time, so getting to the track to move around
was quite the treat. We warmed up and got to do a few sets of turns in the
ring. It was a bit of a teaser since we didn’t get to throw anything today;
hopefully tomorrow we can toss a few.
After we were done at the track we got dinner and headed back to the hotel for
the night. My favorite part of the night would have to be FaceTiming along with
my teammate Ashley Heinze into our Blue Key Honor Society meeting. I love that
technology wouldn’t hold us back from getting to be in the weekly meeting. That
part was a blast because our “blue peeps” are the most high energy and kindest
group of people that I know. Now, it was time to rest up for another day of
competition prep tomorrow.
10 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 27 – Day 2
Today was a great and relaxing day. In the morning we went to the track for an
easy shakeout and a couple throws. When we are tapering it’s all just about getting
our bodies moving and activated. We have been working so hard for so long that
a good taper makes our bodies feel AMAZING. After we left the track, we went
for some lunch and then it was just a good day to hang out. A lot of the Bison
were scattered around the hotel lobby working on homework and studying for the
majority of the day. The league meet always means missing out on a little bit
of school so it’s just a matter of good time management and staying ahead in
classes.
Later, I went to
dinner with my parents. They are the most supportive parents I could ever ask
for. They drove from my home town near the Twin Cities this morning just to
come watch the meet. We had a team meeting in the coaches’ hotel room and then
it was straight to bed for this girl. I’ll be doing a lot of mental throws in
my head tonight to prep for the weight throw competition tomorrow!
10 a.m.
Friday, Feb. 28 - Day 3
Coach St .Clair, Brandt Berghuis, Brian Blasey and I went and got our
implements weighed in this morning and did a nice pre-meet. I had a couple of
hours until we head to the track. Until then I just read my Bible for a little
bit. It’s great to know that whatever we do it’s not for ourselves but for
God’s glory. It makes it easier to step into the ring with confidence because
the Living God has complete control J There’s a reason I wear my “I Am Second”
bracelet every day. It’s a good reminder.
10:45 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 28 – Day 3
Today was a great start to the league championships for the Bison! I’m so
excited to have gone in and performed like I did. For the first time I’m
walking away from this meet with an individual title. This year I’ve been able
to trust my training and believe that I’ve done everything I possibly can to
prepare for this meet, which is a huge step up from previous years on the
mental toughness scale. As far as the throws themselves, they felt consistently
great. With that being said, I’ve been blessed with an amazingly fun talent. After
Katelyn Weimerskirch and I did work (her placing sixth place as a freshman..
rockstar), it was the guys’ turn. The bison men throwers were able to come out
and throw real far. Brandt placed second, Trevor Berner placed third, and Josh
Eiler placed fifth. Brian and Alex Renner both threw well for themselves and
being freshmen they are young and have insanely awesome futures in the throwing
ring.
Before we left the hotel earlier this morning I had found the scripture “Be
strong, and let your heart take courage” –Psalm 31:24 and I thought about that
a lot throughout the day. We have trained hard all year, every single day we push
our body to the limits only to wake up sore and do it again. Now, all we have
to do is take a leap of courage to go out and lay it all on the track. We
capped off the day with a team meeting and Coach Ryun Godfrey discussed how it
takes courage to go out and compete (convenient, right?). I get so inspired by
my teammates who are able to race hard and leave every ounce of their heart out
on the track. We may do solo events, but I love this meet for the fact that we
can join together and bond under the common goal of winning the team league title.
Today was a great start, but we have work to do tomorrow as well.
8:45pm Saturday,
March 1 - Day 4
So, today was a blast. My team was able to pull off our seventh-straight league
championship. We really all came together as a team on the track and in the
field and I couldn’t be more blessed to be a part of it. Personally, I was able
to pull off a championship title in the shot put to add to my weight throw
title yesterday. The margin was small.. second place went to Shelby Assmus of
South Dakota State and it was a GREAT competition. She is a sweetheart and
always a pleasure to compete against. My throws were alright but I had fouled a
really good one, which is always a bummer. The men’s shotput was a blast.
Watching our boys dual it out with passion and class was the highlight of my
weekend for sure. I train with these guys every day and they deserve every
personal best that they were able to throw.
Another highlight would
have to be watching Maddie McClellan absolutely WORK each and every track event
she competed in (1 mile, 3k, 5k). She won individual titles in each of them.
You guys, that’s so many left turns… wouldn’t you get dizzy running that fast
in that many circles? Either way, she’s pretty much my hero. Watching the Bison
women take every running title except for the hurdles was so exciting!
The Bison throwers
have come a long way in the past couple of years, but they are a young bunch. I
would expect a lot from them in the upcoming years. It’s an extremely hard
working group of people. I’m just absolutely honored to be a part of it. Right
now, we are on our way to Indianapolis where we will spend the night before
flying out first thing in the morning. I’m not looking forward to that slight
reality check about missing a half a week of classes. This upcoming week will
consist of a lot of time spent making up classes. I have to admit, though, it
was worth every single second of it. I’ll be redshirting the outdoor season,
but I hope to get as many meets in as possible despite the tendency of Fargo
having miserable weather in the spring. See you next year, Summit League!
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Don’t forget to check out the next edition of My
Championship Experience as it follows the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships,
March 8-11 and throughout the 2013-14 season for coverage at each of The Summit
League Championships.
