This week's cross-country meet was an emotional roller coaster, one that started Thursday. Through lack of communication, I found out late in the week that if any high school kids were to run next week in Unlakleet they needed to finish in the top 10 this weekend. The problem was my Principal wanted me to take with me 2 Elementary Runners, 2 Middle School Runenrs, and 4 High School runners. Thankfully, one site, Ambler didn't need the alotted 2 planes, one of 5 one of 6 seats, so Buckland was able to acquire a 5 seat plane, meaning I could take an extra chaperone, and 4 more high school students (3 boys, 1 girl).
So Saturday morning, I was excited that 12 kids got to go to Kiana to run. So, as I boarded the 5 passenger plane with my middle and elementary school runners, I had no idea about what was to come in the day ahead.
First, on the way to Kiana, our pilot spotted a bear, since this was a small, family owned airline, the pilot decided to turn back around to get a better look. So, we flew down low, to what felt like 100 feet off the ground. We saw the bear up close, it was an amazing experience, which scared the bear, and he beagn to run. Another "Only in Alaska" experience!
As for the meet, well it started off well, the boy i chose to ran in the Elementary race got 5th place, and a ribbon! The girl running in the same race finished 8th, another great result, as there were 25 girls running in that race.
Next was the girl's middle/high school race. I was excited to see close to the finish that my middle school runner was in 3rd place overall, 2nd in the middle school race. She would finish in the same position that I saw her in, but that would be a hotly contested placing later.
As the Girl's race continued, I focused my attention on the 3 girls racing. The first one came in 6th, and easily qualified for next week. My next two runners were not the best, but they both ran thier hearts out finishing in 11th and 12th, just missing out on qualifying. However, if there are extra seats to be had on the plane to Unlakleet, they should get two of them, I was very proud of them, as they both exceded expectations.
Next came the boy's middle/high school race. My middle schooler who won last week ended up cramping, and finishing 8th in the middle school race. The high schooler that won the week before finished in 11th place, after running 2 miles with a hurt knee, and the 5th runner did more than what was expected of him, finishing in the top 15, and also nearly qualifying for regionals.
The other 3 boys however were the highlight of the day. First off, as expected, the top runner, the one that was missing last week, ended up winning the race, clearing the field by a whole minute. The next two runners were important because we were scoring a team championship, the lowest score for your top 3 runners, getting a point for what place they finish in (eg. 1st gets 1 point, 2nd gets 2, etc.). As the runners came close to the finish, I told the 2nd Buckland runner that if he wanted to run next week, he needed to start sprinting now, and sprint he did, right past 2 Selawik runners. Our 3rd boys runner was shortly behind him, and the same motivation worked for him as well, finishing stronger than the other runners around him, and in the top ten as well. When it came down to scores, it was Buckland 12, Selawik 14, a 2 point win for us! We were the 2009 North West Arctic Borough School District boy's cross country Champions!
After dealing with 3 injured runners, i was called to a coaches' meeting after the race. Apparently, the first two girls in the middle/high school race, girls from Kotzebue took a wrong turn and my girl, not having been around the course, since we didn't have time after arriving, followed. After 20 minutes of hotly contested debate, the coaches voted 6 to 5 to disqualify the three runners from the race. To no fault of the kids, the course should have been better marked, and spotters should have done thier job, they were taken out of the results. Rules are rules, it is just that the Kiana people should have had done a much better job marking the course. The kids weren't doing it on purpose, and they probably would have still finished 1,2,3 as it is. Even though my runner was disqualified, she took it very well, a testament to her upbeat character.
To top it off, my plane was the last one to leave. It is hard to keep kids amused in a gym for 3 hours. Basketball is only going to keep them busy for so long, but we also played Norwegian, the form of baseball played up here, soccer, and volleyball. Finally, we got the call to the airport, our plane was in, taking off from Kiana at 9:30, landing in Buckland in the dark, on a dirt runway, on a 5 passenger plane at 10:10, another new experience for me up here!
After this day filled with highs and lows, one more blow was dealt, MSU football is 1-2. But the experince of the day is one I will never forget!
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