Caught With My Hair Down
Running to a starting line three minutes before a cross country race was something I never envisioned, but there’s a first time for everything.
PHOTO | submitted by Olivia Dopheide
Seniors Nora Malone, Kameron Koppers, Katie Buhrmeister, sophomore Molly Conway, junior Olivia Dopheide and seniors Katia Hauptmann and Clare Kimmis hang out together after one of the last few cross country meets, the Warrensburg Invitational.
3:56 p.m. Chatting and lounging on the ground with my friends. Four minutes later. 100 meters into a Junior Varsity cross country race.
“The JV boys and girls race will be the first race of the meet,” the announcer said over the loudspeaker.
Seniors Katie Buhrmeister, Kameron Koppers, Nora Malone, Katia Hauptmann, Clare Kimmis, sophomore Molly Conway and I looked around in complete disbelief. With our sweatshirts on, hair down, shoes off and sitting on the ground far away from the starting line, there was no way we could be running in less than five minutes.
“Sion girls please come to the starting line,” the announcer echoed again.
A million thoughts started running through my mind. I didn’t have my number on. My hair was not up. I had not warmed up at all. In fact, Malone was actually sitting in my lap when we realized we had to run right then.
Heads turned as seven girls with baggy sweatpants and flowing hair sprinted out from behind a shed where we were sitting, towards our tarp where the numbers were. It was evident to everyone we had no idea we were supposed to be warmed up and at the starting line.
Still confused, everyone bustled along in a frenzy. Somehow the times of the Junior Varsity and Varsity races had gotten mixed up. The managers frantically handed out numbers and shoe tracking chips. With my shoes untied and hair falling out of my ponytail, I ran over to the starting line. Was this really happening? Normally, I would have at least an hour to mentally prepare myself to run 3.1 miles after an eight hour school day. My number would be perfectly placed and my shoes would be double knotted.
I was still contemplating why I didn’t go to the bathroom at school sometime during the day, when the starting gun went off. Boom. With no warm up, the Junior Varsity team sprinted away to begin a 3.1 mile race. Surprisingly enough, we didn’t do too bad. Freshman Nina Trouvé placed second and in the varsity race freshman Lily Henkle place third, with senior Kathleen Gansner following in sixth.
After struggling through that race, we all enjoyed chocolate milk, a staple after typical cross country meets. During the frenzy, it seemed like I would never forget that horrible chaos. But soon after we all were back to eating post race rice krispies and joking around. Now on to the next race.