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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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