(Photo by Jeff Adams)
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz- Journal #7
Hello! I hope everyone had a great Regional meet this past weekend! After all the many cross country weekends this season, taking place in all different locations around the state of Florida, I can finally write in my blog this week that the next race is the state meet taking place in Dade City. With the county, district, and regional meets now in the past the true focus is on the one and only state competition. The biggest race on the brightest stage with the best of the best competing is always the most anticipated Saturday of the entire season. Possible butterflies and pre-race jitters brings the greatest feeling for the state experience.
Over to this past weekend, Class 3A - Regional 3’s took place at the Tampa Bay Rays Training Stadium hosted by Charlotte High School. The same course from my freshman year regionals; I vaguely remembered the course as being on a primarily flat surface. Coming into Regionals, I expected it to be intense with facing the best competition in the Region. My first step off of the bus, I felt the strong burst of cold wind which added a chilly feel to the morning.
When the gun went off at 8:30am, from the start Kacy Smith from Estero and I were in the lead stride for stride. Kacy is always a great, tough competitor and has been someone I continue to face in almost all of my races this season. The first mile, I must admit the wind was definitely a factor that slowed the pace down, but as I have mentioned before I will never make any excuses because everyone else is facing the same conditions. During the first mile and part of the second there was a little confusion on where to go which actually made me come to a brief stop. Once I realized where to go, I sprinted to catch up and luckily got back on track. Overall, the course was on a flat terrain and had a finish line ending into the baseball stadium facing the stands somewhere shy of home plate. I am grateful to say, I finished first with a time of 17:49. As a team, Lakewood Ranch girls finished second to Estero. And the boys finished in 7th place, only one place away from qualifying to states. Of course, at first we were all a little disappointed but realized most of them ran a personal best and gave it their best effort which is all that can be asked. The girls are excited to have the opportunity to run at states but know we all need to continue to give our best effort more than ever in absolutely everything we do.
Individually, I need to continue to train hard and stay focused with “one goal” in mind throughout this entire week. States is always the toughest meet of the season with everyone knowing this is the “one” that matters the most. I wish everyone the best of luck at states!
One of my many favorite running quotes:
“The gun goes off and everything changes...the world changes...and nothing else really matters.” -Patti Sue Plummer
More On Olivia
Hello everyone! Where has the time gone? I can’t believe this past weekend Districts took place already. It’s crazy how time flies. Before I talk about my District experience this past weekend I wanted to share my thoughts about the sport we all love...cross country. - 2011-11-07 13:18:00
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz (Article)
This past Saturday I finally ran very close to home in the Manatee County Championship which included sven other local high schools. I was very excited to have a race finally in Lakewood Ranch; making it very convenient for family and friends to watch. Coming into the county meet, I had a feeling it might be a little different race compared to the other highly competitive races during this cross country season. - 2011-10-31 12:15:00
-
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz (Article)As I knew it would be, this past Saturday morning was intense facing the best competition in the state. Stepping off the bus, about an hour before race time there was a crisp chill in the air making it perfect racing weather similar to last year’s chilly conditions. The Pre State Invitational is a great opportunity to run the state course. - 2011-10-17 13:01:00
-
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz (Article)Wow! What an exciting past two weekends filled with cross country! Last weekend, I raced in the Flrunners.com Invitational in Titusville. Going into the race I was faced with a bad head cold, but I was determined not to let it bring me down. - 2011-10-10 10:43:00
-
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz (Article)
What a great cross country weekend! This weekend the Lakewood Ranch team and I ran in the Mountain Dew Invitational at the University of Florida. We all stayed in a hotel the night before since Gainesville is a three hour drive from Lakewood Ranch. That always makes for great fun and bonding time as a team. I was very excited and focused about this race throughout this week. As a team, we were excited about racing on the Gator campus again and then the opportunity to watch the college races, which is really inspiring before the start of our race. - 2011-09-26 10:20:00
In Her Own Words: Olivia Ortiz (Article)
My name is Olivia Ortiz and I am a junior at Lakewood Ranch. First, I want to say thank you to flrunners for letting me contribute to their incredible website! What a great opportunity and honor to be apart of. What an amazing start to the 2011 season with the first two races having intense competition, forcing everyone to get into race mode. Opening race last week was the Déjà vu Invitational in Tampa also know as the “mudfest”. - 2011-09-19 11:40:00
