Good morning DyeStat Florida fans!

I hope all of you are resting from all of the excitement we got from all of the region meets this week. With that being said, I’d like to congratulate all of the teams and individuals who made it to the state meet next week. If you haven’t been before, you’re in for a treat. It’s a great experience.

I myself will be in Tallahassee this weekend, but I won’t be running. This time, I’ll be doing the cheering. I may help Dr. Bob and the DyeStat Florida crew a bit, but my main purpose is to support my best friend and teammate, Justin Pacifico, who is running as an individual. I, along with my team, ran our region meet yesterday morning, but didn’t qualify to advance.

It hurts. It was tough knowing that I went as a junior, but not as a senior. But here’s the odd twist: I’m not upset.

As a sophomore running for FPC, I was our fifth runner at the region meet. That year, we only had an individual go, and the team was heartbroken. I remember feeling so much guilt over how I should have pushed more, and that me being number five, in part, it was my fault that we didn’t make it. However, two years later as a senior, I was faced with that moment again, but my attitude was different. Maybe it’s because I was too proud of Justin, maybe I was proud of our younger guys stepping up and grinding it out, or simply that I got to run this last race with a good group of seniors.

Or maybe that it was just God letting me know that it’s alright. The fact is, I’ve been there. I’ve been on the line. I charged up “The Wall.” My coach has told me since my freshman year that the experiences I had at states, whether it’s for cross country or track, are something special because there’s so many people who run all four years like I have, and will never make it to a state meet.

John 14:27 says “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Upon hearing that the team finished 10th, I wasn’t angry. Not at my team, myself, not even the course. For me, it was an experience. A lesson. And as I sit and ponder on various things, I remember that I’ve had this feeling─this peace─before. I felt it upon not making it out of regionals in the 800 this past track season. After the race, I just sat on the ground. I saw my sisters in the stands just looking at me, and she mouthed the words “What happened?”

Before the 4x400 relay, my coach came up to me beginning to say words of comfort or motivation. However, I stopped him and said “Hey. I’m not even worried about it.” Sort of shocked, he said “Oh. Well then let’s do this!”

I didn’t know how this season would turn out. I surely didn’t expect it to be like this. I haven’t ran faster than 17:10, which I ran in a road race back in July, my team lost our three-year conference streak, we weren’t district champions again, I didn’t make it to the state meet, and I never broke 17 minutes. 

But I find good in this season as well.

I went back to camp with my team and had a great experience up there. I have gotten fast than last year, even if it was by only a few seconds. For the first time, I finished with the honor of 1st Team All-Conference, as well as qualifying to regionals as an individual. I’ve gotten to run with some amazing runners, and I got to meet American 800 meter record holder Johnny Gray.

At the end of the day,  I'm at peace about it. It’s not what I envisioned, but I thank God for a great senior season. In the meantime, I look towards the track.

See you in May.