“Today’s the day, girls,” Briana exclaimed. “Are you ready?”
We were all piling into the van to go to the state Track and Field meet. Greta, Lisa, Briana, and I all got into the van and started our 100 mile journey to St. Paul. We also had to take Aaron and Jacob along. It was not fun getting into the van with seven other people and having to sit by Jacob the whole ride there.
“O my gosh, Dani, move over,” Aaron said. “You’re taking up all of the seat.”
“No, you move over, Aaron. I don’t have any room at all.”
“Guys, stop fighting and move over because I hardly have any room,” Jacob exclaimed.
Once everyone had gotten situated, I listened to music and read books the rest of the way. Sometimes I would stop and think about running in the race. I was in the 4 by 100 meter relay and ran second. I got a little scared every time I would think about running. I didn’t want to let my teammates down.
When we got to Hamline University where the meet was held, we checked in and had to sit around for a while because our race wasn’t for a long time.
“This is so boring,” Greta exclaimed. “Hey, there’s someone I know. I’m going to go over and talk to her.
“What are we supposed to do for another hour?” I asked as I looked though the papers that we got for the third time. “There is absolutely nothing to do.”
A few minutes later, Rich, our coach, came up to us.
“Are you all ready to run? You should start warming up in about an hour.”
“Yeah,” we all sighed with little enthusiasm.
An hour later, we were out on the track practicing our hand-offs and stretching. 4:30 came and we went to report to the tent where we are given instructions. When the guy was finished talking, we went to our positions on the track and got ready. I got my mark on the track and waited nervously for the start of the race.
When the gun went off, I got ready to run as soon as I got the baton. When Lisa handed the baton off to me, I ran with all my heart to Greta. At the end of the race, I found out that we got sixth place, good enough to get into the finals the next day. We were all estatic. We stayed for a little while longer then we went back to the hotel.
“Guys, I hope we don’t get a room with a door that leads outside. That would freak me out,” Greta complained.
Fortunately, we did not get a room like that . There was a pool in the hotel so we all went down there for a while, then went back to our room and went to sleep.
The next morning, we got up and got ready to go shopping since we didn’t have to run until later.
“Everybody check your eyes to make sure you have both of your contacts,” Greta suddenly exclaimed. “Because there is one laying on the counter that is all dried up.”
“I think that contact is mine,” claimed Lisa. “And I didn’t bring any extras along. What am I going to do?”
She finally decided just to wear her glasses until the race and then just have the one in for the race.
Unfortunately while we were shopping, it started raining. We were all so disappointed because nobody likes to run a race in the rain.
We shopped for a couple of hours and took pictures in a picture booth. It was so fun.
“Okay, let’s go warm up around the track upstairs,” Briana declared once we got there. “That way we can watch Aaron do high jump.”
We did warm-ups and stretches for a while and found someone we knew and talked to her for a while.
When it was time for our race, we headed outside to the tent to talk about the race. When I got out to my starting place, they handed out bags to put our warm ups in but I couldn’t get it open so I just laid my clothes on top of the bag.
As soon as our race was over, we went to get our medal for sixth place. It was so awesome!
Once everyone had taken pictures of us, we headed inside to the high jump area.
“Hey, Dani, nice job,” someone told me.
I looked up and I saw it was Brian Bonnema from school.
“Thanks,” I replied.
While we were watching Aaron jump, we had to take more pictures and show everyone our medals.
Finally, once Aaron was done, we started home.
“Where do we want to stop to eat?” Rich asked. “Aaron, you get to pick.”
“Let’s go to Fudruckers. I love that place,” Aaron replied.
After a couple of wrong turns and mixed up directions, we arrived there and had an amazing meal.
“You have to pose for a couple of more pictures,” my mom declared. “All of you, right in front of the restaurant.”
Once we were finally finished with pictures, we headed for home. Briana and I had the whole van to ourselves because everyone else went home with their parents. It was then that I learned that Briana had almost missed our race. She just jumped over the fence onto the track when the gun went off. It was a good thing she made it.
I know that I will never forget this experience. It makes me strive even harder every year so I can go again. Some people might say “Wow, you made it to State.” But it’s especially amazing because I was only a seventh grader running with two seniors and a junior. What was even more special was that I got to run with my sister.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Abby
Abigail Wynd Zwart. I could go on and on about all of the good times we have had together, but I will only write a page and a half. We have had so many fun and exciting times together it’s hard to choose which ones to talk about. I am also going to describe Abby to you.
Abby was born on November 29, 1996 to Steve and Angela Zwart. She has one older brother and four younger brothers. She also has one younger sister. She comes from a very big family and is the second oldest. When it comes to who will baby-sit them, Abby usually gets to do the honors. She has a lot of responsibility being the oldest of the two girls, but she can handle it.
Abby and I are kind of different, but we get along so well. She is in eighth grade while I am in ninth grade. Even though we are on almost opposite ends of the school, I still see her every day. Whenever I get the chance, I will go down to her hallway and talk with her. It is usually during breaks that I go and talk to her. Some days I only get to see her once, but most of the time it’s three or four times a day. There are a lot of other ways we are different from each other. She has brown hair and brown eyes. I have blonde hair and blue eyes. She plays soccer, basketball, and softball. I am in volleyball, basketball, and track. Abby is more of an outgoing person. She can go up and talk to almost anyone. I could never do that. I am a little more shy. I could keep going on but I won’t.
We have a lot in common as well. We both love basketball and play on summer leagues. In general, we both love almost any kind of sport. Both of us play three sports during the school year, one for every season. Abby and I are both athletic and about the same height. Our birthdays are also in the same great month, November. We love hanging out with friends and hate it when we have homework. We both go to CMCS and have a lot of the same friends even though Abby is younger. Both of us have to baby-sit too. She baby-sits her family and I do it for others.
Basketball season was a blast for both of us. Practices were so much fun. On the way to games, we would sit by each other and make up funny things. A lot of times, one of us would say something that didn’t make sense and would tease each other about it for a long time. We would also do that during volleyball season. She was in soccer so she would come to games when she could. During the varsity games, we would sit by each other and do weird things. We would make up silly things or walk around acting strange. I’m sure a lot of people thought that, but we didn’t care. Bus rides home were pretty intense most of the time. It was then that a lot of crazy things happened. When we were both so tired we couldn’t think or talk right. We would tell stories and get the wording all mixed up and tease each other about it. We would laugh about things that weren’t even funny and play fun games. Sometimes when we would get back to school, I would go with Abby to put the med. kit away. The school can be pretty creepy when it’s all dark and we are telling scary stories.
When I was in Knowledge Bowl last year, we had so much fun together. We would always be on the same team together and would do really well. One time, I was on a team of three. Abby, Courtney, and I. We were in the fourth room and at the end of that round, we moved up the the third room. That next round, Courtney had to leave so it was just Abby and me. Even thought we were the only ones on the team, we did good. We always did weird things. We would play card games and get really into them. It could get pretty crazy. It was always to fun, even though we had to get up early. I have so many other Knowledge Bowl stories but there wouldn’t be enough room to write it all.
Abby is such an amazing person and friend. There are so many stories and memories we have together. She can always make my day by reminding me of funny stories. Even when I see her, my day gets better. I know that she will always be my friend.
Abby was born on November 29, 1996 to Steve and Angela Zwart. She has one older brother and four younger brothers. She also has one younger sister. She comes from a very big family and is the second oldest. When it comes to who will baby-sit them, Abby usually gets to do the honors. She has a lot of responsibility being the oldest of the two girls, but she can handle it.
Abby and I are kind of different, but we get along so well. She is in eighth grade while I am in ninth grade. Even though we are on almost opposite ends of the school, I still see her every day. Whenever I get the chance, I will go down to her hallway and talk with her. It is usually during breaks that I go and talk to her. Some days I only get to see her once, but most of the time it’s three or four times a day. There are a lot of other ways we are different from each other. She has brown hair and brown eyes. I have blonde hair and blue eyes. She plays soccer, basketball, and softball. I am in volleyball, basketball, and track. Abby is more of an outgoing person. She can go up and talk to almost anyone. I could never do that. I am a little more shy. I could keep going on but I won’t.
We have a lot in common as well. We both love basketball and play on summer leagues. In general, we both love almost any kind of sport. Both of us play three sports during the school year, one for every season. Abby and I are both athletic and about the same height. Our birthdays are also in the same great month, November. We love hanging out with friends and hate it when we have homework. We both go to CMCS and have a lot of the same friends even though Abby is younger. Both of us have to baby-sit too. She baby-sits her family and I do it for others.
Basketball season was a blast for both of us. Practices were so much fun. On the way to games, we would sit by each other and make up funny things. A lot of times, one of us would say something that didn’t make sense and would tease each other about it for a long time. We would also do that during volleyball season. She was in soccer so she would come to games when she could. During the varsity games, we would sit by each other and do weird things. We would make up silly things or walk around acting strange. I’m sure a lot of people thought that, but we didn’t care. Bus rides home were pretty intense most of the time. It was then that a lot of crazy things happened. When we were both so tired we couldn’t think or talk right. We would tell stories and get the wording all mixed up and tease each other about it. We would laugh about things that weren’t even funny and play fun games. Sometimes when we would get back to school, I would go with Abby to put the med. kit away. The school can be pretty creepy when it’s all dark and we are telling scary stories.
When I was in Knowledge Bowl last year, we had so much fun together. We would always be on the same team together and would do really well. One time, I was on a team of three. Abby, Courtney, and I. We were in the fourth room and at the end of that round, we moved up the the third room. That next round, Courtney had to leave so it was just Abby and me. Even thought we were the only ones on the team, we did good. We always did weird things. We would play card games and get really into them. It could get pretty crazy. It was always to fun, even though we had to get up early. I have so many other Knowledge Bowl stories but there wouldn’t be enough room to write it all.
Abby is such an amazing person and friend. There are so many stories and memories we have together. She can always make my day by reminding me of funny stories. Even when I see her, my day gets better. I know that she will always be my friend.
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