Pirates of 88-8

Texas Lutheran Invite

Saturday, the men’s and women’s crpss copuntry teams had another meet. This time we traveled all the way to the Hill Country to run wild in Seguin, Texas at the Texas Lutheran Invitaional. Though the trip was very long, it was well worth the drive. We had not had a very good run at our previous meet at Texas Tech, so we were all very hungry for redemption.

The ladies ran first, and they really beasted the course. Our wise coach had been training us for running over hills, and around corners, and it definitely showed. Every single girl dropped some time during the race, and looked strong as they did it. However, during the last six or so minutes of the race, it started pouring rain! The ladies did not let this slow them down, as they raced to a second place victory…a feat that the Falcon cross country program had never achieved.

As the men jogged up to the starting line, we looked around us, and we could barely see 20 yards ahead of us, because it was raining so violently. During our warmup, we felt the ground slip beneath our feet, as the mud gave way to our weight. This was not going to be a fast race, we decided. However, we were so determined, and excited to run, that the rainy conditions only heightened our excitement, and made us more hungry for victory. However, at the last minute, TLU officials announced that the meet would be canceled due to the lightning, and rain. As other teams packed up their gear, we looked around feeling betrayed. We anted our chance at glory. It arrived, when the Texas A&M International Dustdevils challenged us to a dual meet.

Both teams were restless as they slogged to the starting line. However, when the whistle blew, we were off! We wanted to race soooo bad, and our race was provided. We battled the rain, mud, and rushing water under our feet the entire 5.2 miles. I took the lead for the first mile until I slipped and slid down a hill for about 8 yards, letting about nine people get in front of me, while I frantically tried to right myself, and find my footing in the wet terrain. As we finished, we looked at each other, Falcon to Dustdevil, shook hands, embraced, and just laughed. We had made some new friends in our Heartland Conference rivals. Both teams realized in those moments after the race, as we looked each other mud spattered, rain soaked bodies, that we were all runners. And even though it did not count in any official sense, the Falcons beat the Dustdevils for the first time ever. However, neither side cared, for we had all run because we love to run; climate, not an issue!

Exciting Happenings

Today, the NCAA Clearinghouse finally cleared our final addition to our cross country team! Though it is late in the season, I have no doubts that he will be a big asset. Our wolf pack of six runners will have augmented to seven; meaning that injuries or illnesses will not effect us as much.

Furthermore, I am extremely busy because tomorrow is my first midterm exam. It will be in my Social Psychology class. I am pretty nervous about it, because there are no other grades that have been taken in that class, meaning that I need to do very good on it. the subject is interesting enough, but many of the terms are seemingly ambiguous, and sometimes difficult to differentiate.  However, if i study enough today and tomorrow, I should be alright.

As vice president of the Honors Two Club, I have been stressing out a little because since the president has been ill the past two weeks, all of his tasks have been handed to me. The most difficult of these tasks is the planning of a trip to Dallas to visit several art museums. I did not think that they would be so difficult, but it sure is cumbersome!

I just got home from our cross country meet yesterday in San Marcos, Texas, at Texas state University. It was nice to be out of the arid Odessa climate for awhile, while enjoying the more humid hill country environment. However, the meet went pretty well. The men finished fifth, but everyone had pretty good races. We beat Texas State, a division one school. I think the most rewarding experience of the meet was running with our mother school’s athletes, University of Texas-Austin. They had a team of only freshman, and they were flying! I am very proud of everyone’s finishes yesterday. Our coach overheard some other team’s coaches talking about UTPB. He heard them say, “Watch out for a couple of those UTPB runners. They have some good ones this year.” This is a huge step for our cross country program. Now, we are finally starting to get recognition and respect in our conference.

UTPB Soccer

So, yesterday, I went to the men’s soccer match at three. They were playing Eastern New Mexico, I believe, but it was a great game. Everyone seemed to get some playing time, yet everyone seemed like they had finally shaken off the rust tht had accumulated from the summer. The new canopies they installed over the bleachers by the soccer field were really useful, as it was really hot out there. We ended up winning two to zero, so kudos to the team.

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