Bears Take on Terre Haute

 As mentioned in my previous blog, this weekend my cross-country team competed at the DIII Pre-Nationals meet. It was a great time! I was not thrilled with how my race went, but considering the course had some hilly terrain with over 400 athletes competing at once, my legs felt like Jell-O and the race was at night, running a time close to my season average was OK. Some of my teammates had great races on Friday, which was exciting and fun to celebrate. 

We drove down on Friday and arrived at the course a little before the sunset, making the atmosphere exciting. We set up team camp and picked up our t-shirts for the meet. There is a podcast called “D3 Glory Days.” Typically, they partner with the big races, like Pre-Nationals. They were passing out the t-shirts and we had the opportunity to say hi to a distinguished ONU alum, Emily Richards, who works for them. 

For those unfamiliar with Emily, she was on ONU’s track and field team until she graduated in 2018. She holds the DIII 800-meter record, is a multi-time All-American in several events and currently runs for a professional club out of New York City. Essentially, she is my role model and I wouldn’t mind being her one day. She is also one of the most down-to-earth people I know and is always fun to chat with. It was exciting to see her again! 

At the meet, there was also a Nike photo booth. Our team went inside for some photos after cooling down from our race. We were given free Nike Running stickers and postcards. I loved this as a consumer and as a marketing student. What a neat way to promote your partnership and brand! I also had the opportunity to recreate some photos of me from when I raced on this course as a freshman in high school. After the meet, we went to our hotel and ate pizza while we recapped the night. Saturday morning, we woke up and ran on a local bike path. While I adore Ada, I enjoy the days I get a different view on my runs. The trip ended with a 4-hour bus ride home. To say we were exhausted would be an understatement. The rest of the weekend was spent trying to catch up on sleep and recovery. Thank goodness this week is a low mileage week and fall break!

This trip was nostalgic and bittersweet. It was a highlight of my time here at ONU and I wouldn’t trade these moments with my bears for anything else. I can’t believe my last cross-country season is quickly approaching its end. Hopefully, I get about six more weeks if we qualify for Nationals. Until then, I will be sure to soak up every moment I have left with this amazing team, even the workout days that make me want to fall over. There’s also still track season, which between you and I is the superior season.

That’s all for now,

Abby