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!
