13 Minutes to Victory

It was a sunny spring afternoon in April, the fourteenth to be exact. A short blonde freshman headed down to the track behind her school after she had gotten changed into her uniform and ready to run. Well, if you probably asked her how she was feeling about the day’s meet, she most likely would not have given that answer. When asked after the meet about how she was feeling about running that day, she said, “I simply woke up this morning and found that my knees hurt pretty bad. Standing in the shower even turned out to be a pain! All day long I wasn’t feeling up for the challenge.” But by the time the end of the school day rolled around, she just tried to think about the task at hand and how she was going to get it done.
The outdoor track behind New Milford High School was hustling and bustling since there were three teams participating in the meet on this Wednesday afternoon. Bogota yellow and purple, Hawthorne Christian maroon, and, of course, New Milford green and white were scattered throughout the sea of colors all over the football field in the middle of the track and in the bleachers. Although her race wasn’t until the very end of the meet, the freshman girl warmed up and stretched before finding a shady spot in the bleachers to relax until it was her turn to run. She threw on some hunter green sweatpants and a black long-sleeved shirt, all New Milford gear, over her track uniform to keep warm while she awaited her event and watched her teammates in all of the other events.
The freshman that is being spoken of, Jennifer Teets, ran the 3200M race on this beautiful spring day. Despite her nerves, aches and pains, she managed to come out with a first-place win. Before the race, her sister, Katie, who would also be running the 2-mile, told her about one of their opponents from Bogota. This girl supposedly was a cross-country star and had just beaten one of Katie and Jennifer’s other teammates in the 1600M, a teammate who is one of the fastest on New Milford’s team. So naturally the relatively new-to-track Jennifer was nervous and anxious to run against this athlete. Katie, who is a senior at New Milford High School and has always been a track star herself, gave her little sister some words of wisdom and encouragement before the gun went off.
The 3200M is the longest running event at regular league track meets. Spectators and teammates casually glance back at the track every minute or so to check out who’s in the lead, but since it’s such a lengthy and slower-paced race, people don’t usually watch it as intensely as they may watch a sprinting race. However, if one in the stands or along the fence surrounding the track watches the 2-milers closely, they may be able to see how the runners are just as intense as any 100M runner might be. For almost the entire race, Jennifer was just a few steps behind her fellow competitor from Bogota, Elizabeth. As she revealed after her race, it was hard work staying close to Elizabeth, who is a cross-country runner and names distance as her specialty. Words of encouragement and strategy from Jennifer’s coaches and teammates, including her sister (even as she was running the race herself), gave her the confidence and motivation that helped her take first place. The last half-lap of the race, Jennifer made her move and passed in front of Elizabeth, sprinting towards the finish line with all the energy and strength she had left. She managed to keep this lead and come in first. “No one expected any of us to beat her, so the win felt great,” said Jennifer. Another one of Jennifer’s teammates took third place as Elizabeth took second.
The next day, at the usual meeting after school the day after a meet to recognize everyone who achieved personal bests at the meet the day before, Jennifer was one of her many teammates who were acknowledged for performing very well at the Bogota/Hawthorne Christian meet. Her time of 12 minutes and 54 seconds was 9 seconds away from making it into the Bergen Record newspaper and was her best time in the 2-mile so far that season. The head girls’ track coach, Mr. Greg Kelly, also gave her the star-of-the-meet pin for that meet. On receiving this honor, Jennifer said, “I am very honored to receive this sort of recognition just for this one race! I don’t think I could have done it without the support of my teammates and coaches, however.”