The week and a half passed by with a blink of an eye. As soon as my last class finished I sprinted towards the changing room, picking up my track bag on the way. I walked out onto the field, seeing a crazy amount of people, my nerves started to kick in. I have always told myself that I would make it to SAISA, but it all started to be real, and now it all started to matter. The thought of making it to SAISA was a thought that made me feel different. A thought that made me feel determined, a thought that made me nervous. 

“Louis,” I yelled trying to get his attention. Louis and I were best friends, we were the athletic ones in our friend group. 

“Yo Ayman,” he replied walking towards me.

“It’s so hot,” I said, trying to bring up a conversation so my nerves could go. 

A herd of students walked out towards the massive green fields. Mr. Newman walked into the middle of the circle where all 200 of the students had formed. He started talking about how practice was going to go, and the other coaches, and SAISA. I wasn’t attentive to what he was saying, I was peering around the circle, marking everyone I think is 10-12, and is a competitor for a spot on the SAISA roster in my head. The herd of students started to get up. Louis and I decided we wanted to do the sprints workout, rather than the long-distance. The workout was incredibly challenging, and the excruciating heat wasn’t making it any better.

There was one event I was doing that made me uneasy, which was my 4x100 relay race. This event was on the last day of the 3-day SAISA tournament. I was extremely anxious the hour before. “10-12 4x100 relay race to the flag please,” When I heard the announcer say that my heart sunk, I couldn’t feel my legs, my heart now rapidly pounding. I started walking to the flag with my team, while the viewers all lining up at the side of the track, where I have to do the final stretch. We all split up to go to our starts, my heart feeling like it was about to explode. I was ready, the main problem our team had was passing the baton to each other, I was extremely anxious about that. The gunshot, starting the race. While Louis was running I could hear the crowd scream, different teams cheering each other on. Louis passed the baton over to Jalil who kept our position at 2nd. Both batons so far have been good, Jalil passing it onto Ethan who was now turning the final curve to hand the baton to me. We were now 3rd, this made me incredibly nervous, the need for me to give the final stretch all I have. I started jogging, then running, picking up my pace, I felt the baton in my palm, I closed my hand securing the baton making sure I had it in my grasp so I could dash ahead. Everything got muffled out, I was determined to complete the mission. I felt like my legs were going faster than ever. I zoned out all the noise, now just passing 2nd, it was head to head, I could vaguely hear, “LET’S GO TAISM,” chanted by my track family. I just passed first when I crossed the finish line. As soon as I passed the line, I heard TAISM first, and that was when my whole team ran towards me. All of us together, all of us a team, all of us proud. A few hours later they awarded my team gold for the 10-12 boys 4x100 relay.