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I recently took a trip to Knoxville, TN to attend the AAU Junior
Olympics Track and Field competition. This event was being
 held
at the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville. My daughter; Jerica was
competing in this event. She is a member of the Florida Elite Track Club,
sponsored by Orange County, Florida. Throughout the summer, many children
from the ages of 5 to 18 years old compete in various track meets to qualify
for the Junior Olympics. Jerica qualified for three events; the 400 meter dash,
the 4 X 100 relay, and the 4 X 400 relay.
We arrived in Pigeon Forge, TN on Sunday, July 29th.
We stayed in the Holiday Inn on the main street in Pigeon Forge. This
seemed to be an idea place for tourist to stay because of the various
attractions and shopping near by. There were also many restaurants to eat
that were within walking distance.
On Monday morning we loaded up the bus early and headed to
Knoxville. It was a 45 minute ride. Most of the events that day were for
the younger age children. Our team ran their best and most qualified for
finals; to be held later that week. Our ride back to the hotel was spent mostly
sight seeing. We also had a task to decide where we were to eat dinner that
evening. Most of the team did not run that day, so they had to have
practice. Pigeon Forge has many hills, so it served to be a great place
to run some sprints up the hills.
I decided to eat at a restaurant down the street within walking
distance. There are many restaurants in the area that serve catfish and
chicken. You will also see the usual fast food restaurants such as Wendy’s,
Taco Bell, Papa John’s, McDonald’s, Friday’s, Red Lobster, and many more.
Pigeon Forge has a trolley ride that goes up and down the main street that our
hotel was on, so we did not have a problem getting around. There are also
many stores for shopping, drug stores, grocery stores, and one of my favorites;
Walgreen’s. It’s always nice to see a familiar store when you are away
from home. The main street also was home to many attractions such as
bumper cars, a small carnival, laser tag, movies, magic shows, antique
shopping. There was even a gold mine where you can search for gold.
Tuesday was much the same and some of the kids were getting restless
because they were not competing until later in the week. On Wednesday, we
decided to leave the track as soon as possible to spend the evening at a local
attraction. We decided to go to Gatlinburg, TN which is a main tourist area
that has many things to do and see. One of main attractions there is the
ski lift. You can ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain where you
can shop and eat. Going up the mountain was not bad; however, coming down was
scary. It was dark at this time, so I’m sure riding that ski lift in the
daytime would have been a whole different experience. Time went by and we had
to return to the hotel.
Thursday was an exciting day for me. This was the first day my
daughter was competing. She had to run the 4 X 400 relay at 11:00
am. She was also excited and ready to run. The time seemed to go slow but
finally it was her turn to run. The team decided on their own to change
the order of runners. When the coach saw this, he was not happy.
Tatiana started the first leg of the relay. She got out in front,
however, seemed to run out of gas the last 50 meters. She passed the
baton to the second leg; Amber, who immediately got out fast. During this race
the second leg can cut in once she passes a certain mark on the track.
Amber took the lead and passed the baton to my daughter. There was one
team close to us and she sprinted pass Jerica. By 150 meters this girl
ran out of gas and started to slow down. Jerica passed her and continued
to make a large gap between the two teams. Our anchor is LaKiesha, and she took
off with the baton. LaKiesha had no competition to worry about. She
finished the relay giving us a 100 meter lead. Florida Elite was well
represented in the stands and we were loud as ever. We have our own
chants and cheers we sing while we are competing. This day turned out to be
very successful to the team. That evening, Jericas’ father arrived in
town. Jerica spent the evening with him, so I was free to explore some of
Pigeon Forge alone. I walked up and down the main strip observing the
bright lights and attractions all around.
Friday was another exciting day for me. Jerica had two
races to compete in today. At 10:00 am she ran in the 4 X 100 relay; and
again, they won their heat which qualified them to advance to finals. Later
that day Jerica also ran the 400 meter dash. She was very nervous.
This was the first time her father saw her run and she wanted to do well. Her
nerves got so bad that she ended up getting sick before the race. She
vomited three times. Some professional runners will tell you that this is
a good thing to do before you run, but she did not feel that way. Jerica had to
win her heat in order to advance to the finals. She came in third place. She
was not upset about that because she already qualified for two other
events. Later that night, most of us went across the street to the
carnival. There were many rides and games to play. The place was lit up with
bright colorful lights and music. Soon it was time to retire for the night
because Saturday was the big day when all finals are run.
Saturday morning the coach talked to the relay team about why he
needed them to run in a certain order. They all agreed. Many kids made it to
finals and were guaranteed a medal. The top eight fastest runners get
medals. It was time for the 4 X 100 and the girls were ready. They
knew that with their fasted time, they could get second or third place.
The race started and the hand offs went very well. We were in fourth
place coming down the stretch. Tatiana pulled up and we placed third in
the race. We were happy with that, and vowed to take first place in the
next relay. The time was here, the girls were ready, and the crown was
hyped. Amber ran first leg. She got out good and ran a good leg, passing
the baton to Jerica first of all the teams. Jerica ran a good leg and
passed the baton to Tatiana at the same time as another team. Tatiana ran
her leg very well and gave us a slight lead, passing the baton to LaKiesha.
LaKiesha blew out very fast; however the other team was right behind her.
Coming pass the 200 meter mark, LaKiesha seemed to get tired. We screamed
and cheered her on and it was as if she got a burst of energy, she tucked her
head and sprinted way ahead of the only team close to us. We WON! The
crowd was going wild and the girls were also screaming. I raced to the awards
building to take pictures. Hot and exhausted, the team gathered on the bus for
our long ride back to Orlando. The head coach congratulated the team and
also announced the split times for the 4 X 400 relay. It turns out the
Jerica ran the fastest split. The coach knew what he was doing by placing
them in a certain line up because he knew the other team would have their
fastest girl second. This was a great experience for Jerica and a very special
day for her dad because it happened to be his birthday and he watched his
daughter win a gold medal.
If the Junior Olympics is held at the same university in the future,
we may stay in Pigeon Forge again. It served to be a good location for eating,
attractions, and shopping.
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