Track and Field Update

One Wednesday afternoon, when Western schoolboys were desperately warding off both mental and bodily fatigue, when teachers were white-knuckling the approach of Spring Break, a group of Green Jays slipped out of the nest a few periods early, and bounded forth excitedly for one last flight. They sought local competition, and without looking very far, they came upon the well-kept campus of some Houston Christians, where a worthy track and field was found no more than four miles away, as the bird flies. 

The races began with the 4x100 meter relay, and from the firing of the first pistol, the Western boys knew that competition would be formidable indeed. Their little hearts pounded with nervousness, for over twenty teams were present, and the Green Jays were being timed across heats; this meant that the runner with the best time overall would receive that coveted ribbon, which is representative of, as the world well knows, that precious earth metal for which kingdoms are fought. The 6th grade was the first to strike gold with a relay team made up of Ben Madden, Joshua Hebert, Nate Twardowski, and Luke Anigbogu. They outran all the competition with a 57.72 second time, with Anigbogu leading them home. 

When Luke Anigbogu is not leaving the boughs of trees shaking in his speedy wake, one might find him looking pleadingly toward the heavens, awaiting the day when a fierce nemesis will come along, thus forcing him to run as fast as he is truly able. But alas! There is only one Luke Anigbogu, and it just so happens that this year he is neither in the 7th grade nor the 8th. For both of which could have used him on their relay teams. The former would finish third overall in the 4x100, while the latter just missed the podium by finishing fourth. 

And how did the Green Jays fare on those longer roads? You know, the ones that beat the shins and test the will for a longer time? Well, to answer this I must tell of a young sixth grader, who managed to take second place in the 800 meter. Norman Barud, with feet like those of the messenger god, albeit not winged, beat seventeen foes in his feat of endurance. In the 7th grade division of the same event, Nathan Polzer shifted through sixteen opponents, thus taking third with a time of 2:37.10. Cesar Antonio Melendez would sustain a brisk pace in the 1600 meter good enough to take third as well, beating thirteen opponents thereby. 

Hear now about two Green Jays, Joey Davidson and Luke Anigbogu, who each took home a pair of golds in both the 100 and 200 meter hurdles, from the perspective of those who they vanquished. One boy might have been heard mumbling, “What am I to do when I try to pursue a force of nature such as this?” Another said with a long woe, “By who, by who, do we slow ones go to ruin!” A third just uttered an inarticulate moan, and a final one speculated, “It is as if the ground before that hurdler is springier than that before me, though dare I say it is not?” 

Whatever the reader makes of these reported sentiments, know that they are true, mostly. For at one point in time or another, though they may not have been articulated in this exact way, something of the like was surely conceived in the minds of those bested by the above-mentioned hurdlers, even if it was uttered or thought with lesser words. 

Rest now, you Green Jays, you mothers and fathers, enjoy the peaceful roads traveled during this time of leisure, but know that when you return, the round-road of industry and toil will beckon once again.