Ceremonial Speech

I remember the day when I walked out onto the track at the IHSAA Men’s Track and Field State Championship. I remember the bustling of the spectators as they all rushed to grab a seat in the fast growing stadium. Before I walked out onto the field my coach gave me a piece of advice like she normally did, she said “remember, it’s left foot, right foot, left foot, then right foot. Not left foot, left foot, crash and burn”. I recall seeing my girlfriend and family waving at me as I walked to my starting spot. I remember the sound of the ref saying “On your marks, get set” BOOM! It took my breath away in a sense that I felt as if I had accomplished one of my many goals while in high school. I can still remember all of those hard practices that I went through to work up to my stature as one of the top mens sprinters in Indiana. All of those countless hours that pushed me to my breaking point have finally paid off. I remember my very first track meet back in the ninth grade. I was competing at an indoor meet at Trine University. I was scheduled to run the 40-meter dash and also the 4×200 meter sprint relay. Well, I ended up missing the call in for the 40-meter dash and in return didn’t get to run, not to mention how mad my coach was at me. Once it came time to run the 4×200 meter relay, I was ready.

I knew that everything was going to go accordingly, I was going to make it up to my coach by performing the best I could. The gun fired and they were off, the first leg passed the baton to the second, the second to the third, then all of the sudden it was my turn. As my teammate approached me I took off at a full dead on sprint and within only a few footsteps I tore my groin muscle. I was pronounced done for the season. My coach came up with a new saying for me throughout this process “remember, it’s left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Not left foot, left foot , crash and burn. That ‘minor’ tear in my groin only pushed me harder to succeed in the sport of track and field. After all of the surgeries that I took on I was finally able to run again the following year. That year was my year to shine I could just feel it. I was there for one sole purpose, and that was to make sure I don’t embarrassed myself as badly as the year before. I worked at it and ended up breaking the high school record of 10.8 seconds on the 100-meter dash with the time of 10.73 seconds. My family and friends had a lot of faith in me my senior year. That faith is what guided me to the IHSAA Men’s Track and Field State Championship.