Hello, Islander Fans, from Birmingham, Alabama!
Forty-five Islanders have travelled to Birmingham to compete in the Southland Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Monday and Tuesday. One month and ten days ago the squads reunited in Corpus Christi, cutting our Christmas break short, to begin the Indoor season. Sacrifices like cutting breaks and holidays short with our families to come back to the Island to train is never the greatest thing to do. But when we toe the line on the track or step into the ring at a meet with a huge platform, such as the conference meet, we know all the sacrifices we made to get to this point are worth it.
Our business trip began early Saturday morning as we departed Corpus Christi International Airport to fly into Birmingham. This allows us one and a half days of "rest" before we are set to compete. Once we landed, we had lunch, killed time at the mall, worked out at Samford University's track, checked into our hotel, and, finally, had dinner. Sunday was quite literally a day of rest for everybody. Coach Flanagan drove a teammate and I to Church - thank you, Coach, for making sure we always get to Mass! - but most of the day was spent doing homework at the hotel. In the evening we loaded the bus and headed to the Crossplex (indoor track facility) to get a feel of the track. At this point there isn't much we can do except get mentally, physically, and spiritually prepared to jump, throw, or run, the highest, farthest, and fastest than ever before.
'Twas the night before the Conference meet, when all through the hotel… athletes received treatment from the athletic trainer, prepared their gear for the next day, received pep talks, or even played video games. When Monday comes, we are going to be ready.
To watch your Islanders run, jump, or throw, you can click here for a live stream of events. I will be running my last event at 7:10 p.m. the anchor leg of the Distance Medley Relay (DMR), the mile. I'll share more stories and results of the first day tomorrow, so stick around!
Go Islanders!
-Rossi
