Since my freshman year, I had one goal for my track career. That was to get to the state meet and run in it. My freshman year I got to state as an alternate, and I did the same my junior year. I knew that if I wanted to make my goal happen, I only had one year to do it.

My senior year I started to run a different event in addition to the ones that I had been running. Instead of just running 400s, I also was running 800s. And I was having a pretty good year. Our district was pretty tough, but as the district meet arrived, it looked like we were going to have a pretty good shot.

The district meet couldn't have come on a better day. The weather was pretty nice and everybody was feeling good. I was running two races; the 4x800 and the 4x400. Obviously I wanted to make it in both races, but I knew that if I were to make it in the 4x800, the first race, it would take a lot of pressure off of the 4x400.

Our leadoff guy was the best runner on the team, and as he passed the baton on to me, we were leading the race. I knew the kid in second place was a good runner, so I had to have a good run. And I did. I cut three seconds off of my best time and maintained the lead. I was as tired as I can remember being at that point, but I managed to stay on my feet to watch the third and fourth runners, yelling the whole time. We had made it. Our anchor had sustained an injury a couple of weeks prior, but he was able to run just fast enough.

We made it in the 4x400, too. It felt so great to know that I had finally done what I had been wanting for so long. Knowing that all of the work that I had put in since freshman year made the whole experience worth it. I can take what I have learned from this experience and transfer it to my college experience, too. If I prepare properly and work really hard at what I want to do, I can do it. And it might not feel quite the same as making it to state, but that doesn't mean it won't feel just as good.