KG's Hideaway

... ESPECIALLY when we found out that this meet had big schools from the big conferences there. UT, Tx Tech, Baylor, TCU... Oh boy.

We left the house about 9:30 this morning so that we could just take our time getting down to A&M, which is about 3 hrs away. I texted Ryan on the way (they were on a chargter bus) to see how she was feeling. She said she was excited, nervous and every other emotion you could think of. I asked her what her goal was and she said that all she really wanted to do was to make sure she cleared something so that she didn't "no height" for the meet. I thought that sounded fantastic, considering she'd only had two days of practice and hadn't jumped for height in more than 9 months. I said we're already so proud of you so just go out there and have fun.

So, we get into the facility and buy the program. And saw that 35 girls were entered. Shit! Plus, the #1 ranked high jumper IN THE NATION was there (Destini Hooker- Univ of Texas). Oh boy. This girl has a personal best jump of 6ft 5in. Yeah, she's good.

This was going to be torture and I just wanted her to enjoy it. She was seeded 10th (and that's because her coaches didn't want to use her 5' 10 jump and just entered 5' 7) so she was jumping in the 25th spot. That's both good and bad. It means that by the time she actually jumps (depending on the height she chose to enter at) alot of the girls would already be out. But that also means that she sits for a LONG time after warming up. They opened at 5ft 1.75in but she decided not to enter until the bar had been raised to 5ft 3.75in. By that time, there were only 18 girls left. When she stepped up by her mark and stood there looking at the bar and I swear it looked like I could see her shaking from where we sat and I couldn't help thinking that nerves were gonna get her.

So, off she goes and her approach and something was totally different right off the bat, but it didn't dawn on my what it was until later. (she went from and 8 step approach to a 10 step) It was ugly... and that's being kind.

But she cleared it. They cycle through all the girls who are still jumping. She and 9 other girls were still in it but there were still 4 who hadn't entered. And Destini hadn't even gotten out of her chair yet to walk around. She just sat there watching. So the bar goes up by 2 more inches. Ryan was starting to settle down and seemed pretty comfortable, but she was distracted a little by the activity on the track. A sprinter just ran the fastest time IN THE WORLD and the place got a little crazy for a few minutes. She looked caught off guard when they called her name, quickly stripped off her warm up and stepped over to her mark. I'm fumbling with the damn video camera and Craig gets the digital camera on just in time to catch it...

... so at the end of this round it was Ryan and 9 other who cleared and moved on to the next round. Plus Destini, who was still seated.

I couldn't help but hold my breath as I watched the officials lift the bar... another two inches. She misses her first attempt at 5ft 7.75in. Now, I was nervous because it looked like she just didn't have it in her. But they came back to her and she cleared it easily on the 2nd attempt.

You know what comes next... the bar moves 2in. Now let me clarify something. Ryan regularly cleared 5ft 10 in high school but regardless of what height she was clearing they NEVER moved the bar more than an inch at a time. It's a BIG change... so combine that with no practice and it starts getting dicey. She's the worst seeded of the girls left, so she's now the first jumper in the round. Not great. But we did get to see her listed in 1st place on the scoreboard!! (This is by virtue of having only one miss Since Destini hadn't entered yet, she couldn't be listed in any place. FYI: You get 3 attempts at each height. If you clear, you move on. At the end, it comes down to who clears the highest mark, but if two or more people all miss at the same height they go back and count your misses, so it's best to clear on your first attempts each time)

So, the bar goes up two inches again. It's Ryan, 2 other girls and Destini (who was entering at this height) Two of these other girls are nationally ranked; #1 and #24- and the girl who is ranked #6 in the NATION had been eliminated in the previous round!

So off they go. Ryan and the other unranked girl both miss all three of their attempts at this height and are eliminated. But Ryan only had the one previous miss and the other girl had 2, so Ryan WON 3rd PLACE!!! Sooooooooooooooo AMAZING!!!! (the girl from Texas Tech, who is ranked #24 didn't clear at the next height, but Destini did on her first attempt. She went on to clear 6ft 1.25in for the day!)

I'm so excited I CAN'T sit still!!! The Southland Conference track meet is next weekend in Houston. Ryan's jump would rank her in 3rd place going into that meet. But guess what????? The girls who are ranked about Ryan PLACED BEHIND HER IN THIS MEET!!! (Their ranking is based on their personal best jumps of the year and Ryan's can only be based on this meet since its her only one going in)

But there could be a wrinkle. Ryan's ability to compete in track has more than the average requirements. She can't miss any practices or workouts for the basketball team. Well, the track team will leave Thursday for next weekend's meet and there will be a basketball practice that day. So there is the chance that her bball coach won't let her go with the track team and that would mean she'd have to ride down to Houston with Craig and I Friday morning. That's a long time riding in a car when you have to get out and compete... so we'll see.

So while it wasn't a PERFECT track meet, it was beyond our wildest expectations and it's just wonderful to see her smiling about sports again. This year has been so stressful because of all the basketball stuff and this just balances all of that out.

UPDATE::: As I was typing this, Craig was checking out the National Rankings just to see how Ryan would stack up. We were SHOCKED to see that the list is already updated and Ryan is RANKED... #12 in the NATION!!!!! Destini is now ranked#2, so evidently there are alot of really talented girls pushing it
http://www.milesplit.us/rankings/2009/indoor/college/f/HJ