The 1983 State Meet experience was a whirlwind of emotion. When we returned from state and I shared the experience at our awards banquet several people told me that I really should write it all down because it was quite a story. I took their advice and wrote it out and saved it all these years so here it is in the same words it was originally written in. If there are any additions they will be in parentheses. The only reason that there might be a change is for clarification.
STATE TRACK MEET 1983
Several people told me I should write everything down about this years State Track Meet. The meet was held at Wilson Stadium in Albuquerque because the University track was in such poor shape. The facilities were terrible, with only one aisle in and out of the bleachers. If you went to the restroom, you would miss several races just fighting the crowd to get in and out. That's not what I really want to write about though.
We went up there the definite favorites. Anyone who knew anything about New Mexico track knew we had to be the favorites. I don't like the favorite label, but even I knew that it couldn't be ducked without sounding like an idiot. Coach Watkins (the boy's coach) started talking about us being the favorites after about the 2nd or 3rd meet of the season. I wasn't ready to think about it that early, but with 3 or 4 weeks to go, SB asked me at practice one day, "Do you really think we can win state this year"? I told her, "There's not a doubt in my mind, that if everything goes right, we will be the state champions". She said, "I really believe it then, because you never would have said that last year". And she's right, last year I told the AP writer that Socorro should definitely be the favorite and not us. He didn't listen, but I was right. Another time that I admitted that we should win was at the Rotary (I was the speaker at their meeting), I made the same statement that I made to SB. "I can guarantee you, that if everything goes right, we will be state champions by this time next week". As I was leaving the meeting, George Paul (my boss at the Hardware store) said, "I hope you're not over confident". Apparently he didn't pay attention to the 'if everything goes right' part.
On the way up, everyone was feeling pretty good, not over confident or cocky, but comfortable with the knowledge that we were good and it was going to take a lot of bad luck or a tremendous effort from another team to beat us. After going to the track to stretch, check handoffs and loosen up we still knew we should win. Many of the girls talked to other teams about times etc. and nothing was too earth shaking. Aztec did come into the picture as a previously unknown challenger, to go along with LV Robertson and St. Pius who we already anticipated as being good competition.
That night we went to see 'Porky's', bad mistake in mixed company. We ate at Furr's. We didn't have a whole lot of trouble getting them down for the night, the boys were worse than the girls and they weren't real bad. The other teams were the real problem. The next day we ate lunch at Furr's after going to the mall. Scottie and I were late getting to the mall because we had to go pick up the packets. After we ate we went back to the rooms to relax and get ready. We had a team meeting and team prayer before we left and talked about what we had to do to be the state champions. Basically all I told them was to do what they had done all year, give their best effort no matter what place they were in, our main goal was to qualify for the finals. If they all did what they were capable of, they'd win the meet.
After seeing the packets we saw that we had the best 400 and 800 relays, 2nd or 3rd best 1600 relay, 1 and 2 in the 200, 1,2 and 4 in the 100, 1st in the 400, 3rd in the 800, Kelly was close in the 1500 and 3000, we could be competitive in the medley and Kira was up there in the discus. As I said, we looked to be in good shape.
Next - The Prelims!!
We went up there the definite favorites. Anyone who knew anything about New Mexico track knew we had to be the favorites. I don't like the favorite label, but even I knew that it couldn't be ducked without sounding like an idiot. Coach Watkins (the boy's coach) started talking about us being the favorites after about the 2nd or 3rd meet of the season. I wasn't ready to think about it that early, but with 3 or 4 weeks to go, SB asked me at practice one day, "Do you really think we can win state this year"? I told her, "There's not a doubt in my mind, that if everything goes right, we will be the state champions". She said, "I really believe it then, because you never would have said that last year". And she's right, last year I told the AP writer that Socorro should definitely be the favorite and not us. He didn't listen, but I was right. Another time that I admitted that we should win was at the Rotary (I was the speaker at their meeting), I made the same statement that I made to SB. "I can guarantee you, that if everything goes right, we will be state champions by this time next week". As I was leaving the meeting, George Paul (my boss at the Hardware store) said, "I hope you're not over confident". Apparently he didn't pay attention to the 'if everything goes right' part.
On the way up, everyone was feeling pretty good, not over confident or cocky, but comfortable with the knowledge that we were good and it was going to take a lot of bad luck or a tremendous effort from another team to beat us. After going to the track to stretch, check handoffs and loosen up we still knew we should win. Many of the girls talked to other teams about times etc. and nothing was too earth shaking. Aztec did come into the picture as a previously unknown challenger, to go along with LV Robertson and St. Pius who we already anticipated as being good competition.
That night we went to see 'Porky's', bad mistake in mixed company. We ate at Furr's. We didn't have a whole lot of trouble getting them down for the night, the boys were worse than the girls and they weren't real bad. The other teams were the real problem. The next day we ate lunch at Furr's after going to the mall. Scottie and I were late getting to the mall because we had to go pick up the packets. After we ate we went back to the rooms to relax and get ready. We had a team meeting and team prayer before we left and talked about what we had to do to be the state champions. Basically all I told them was to do what they had done all year, give their best effort no matter what place they were in, our main goal was to qualify for the finals. If they all did what they were capable of, they'd win the meet.
After seeing the packets we saw that we had the best 400 and 800 relays, 2nd or 3rd best 1600 relay, 1 and 2 in the 200, 1,2 and 4 in the 100, 1st in the 400, 3rd in the 800, Kelly was close in the 1500 and 3000, we could be competitive in the medley and Kira was up there in the discus. As I said, we looked to be in good shape.
Next - The Prelims!!
PRELIMS
Disaster struck! A false start by TW in the 400 meter relay. My first thought was that it was a bad dream, our only false start all year, we were the favorites in the race by a wide margin. As soon as it happened I started calling the girls trying to get their attention and tell them to shake it off. RO and TW were both collapsed on the infield and PT and TM looked like they were in a trance. I had to calm them down because TW and RO had the 100 coming up shortly and TM had to report to the shot put immediately. I made sure they heard me tell them to shake it off and not sweat it and then I left them alone for a while. It definitely affected TM in the shot put and I think it did KB too, it happened right in front of her. Neither of them made the finals and both threw around 33' if that.
The 100 lows were next and TS was entered, she was 4th in the 1st heat with the 'better' hurdlers in the 2nd, her chance of qualifying looked bad. In the 2nd heat only two finished the race, 1 scratched and there were 3 false start DQ's. Smitty made it and looked to have a chance to pick up at least 5th.
One of our strongest events was next, the 100, we had 3 that should make the finals, TW, RO and AB. I was hoping that TW and RO had shaken off the relay and AB didn't 'choke' being a freshman. No sweat, we qualified 1,3,4. That was a relief and helped them start feeling better.
Next came the 800 relay, the same team as the 400 and we were even bigger favorites here. They wanted to prove something and in spite of one terrible handoff they won the heat easily and qualified 1st. The 400 was next after the intermission.
IB ran the race of her life in the 400 and qualified 2nd with the same time as the winner, 59.61, a lifetime best and the sub 60 she always wanted and I told her would come. She looked sure of a top 3 finish.
The 75 hurdles were the next event, TS and NA were both entered, we had come up hoping to qualify at least one if not both of them. They didn't even come close. It was particularly disappointing for NA because she had had such a great year after doing nothing last year and just starting hurdles this year. The + is that it was her first trip to the state meet and she had another year.
The next race was the Medley, the relay we were least sure about, we had a freshman, TP running the critical anchor leg. Everyone ran well and we qualified, we knew it would take a very good race to place.
Another of our strong events was next, we expected TW and AB to both qualify, they did what we wanted and qualified 1,3. An Aztec girl finished between them. AB certainly didn't run like a freshman.
The final prelim event was another relay that we wanted to finish well in, as a matter of fact, we knew that after losing our 400 team, we had to do well in the 1600. TP led off with a good leg and everyone else did the job. We qualified 3rd in 4:12.3, Albuquerque Academy ran 4:09, our PR this year.
With the exception of the 400 relay and the poor showing in the shot put we were still in pretty fair shape but it was going to be a dog fight now instead of a cake walk.
Next - Between Prelims and Finals!!!
BETWEEN PRELIMS AND FINALS!
You can't shake off the disappointment of the loss of a sure 10 points but it was up to Coach Fort and I to convince the girls that we were still the best team and if we just equaled our prelim performances and a few other people came through in events that had no prelims we could be and would be the state champs. We talked on the bus when we got back and tried to point that out to them. We also told them the teams we would have to watch were St. Pius, Aztec, LVR and Academy not in any particular order. We were certainly right, that's how the top 5 teams came out. We told them to go to their rooms, clean up and rest and we'd bring them their food when it came.
The food was a real screw up. The Ramada Inn was supposed to fix us a meal when we got back and they didn't do it so Coach Rodie went to get burgers etc. One McDonald's refused to take a school check and he had to go to another. It took almost 2 hours to get food. By then most of the kids had settled down and we had to get them all wound up again to eat lousy food. After we got it all divided up and everyone back in their rooms it took several walks around before they settled down but eventually they did with no problems. About 2:30 I went out to check and we had another catastrophe, RO had her eyes swollen so bad that they hurt so she couldn't close them and naturally she couldn't sleep which meant no one else in the room could either. I put a cold cloth on them and tried to help but they really didn't get better until the next A.M. when her mom came and washed them out. Needless to say, knowing a lot of them didn't have a real good nights rest, put us even more on edge.
I had sat down after getting the kids settled and went over prelim results plus entries for events that had no prelims and I convinced myself that if everything went right, we would win. That certainly meant no more false starts.
Scottie and I went to the stadium in the A.M. KB and AR had to throw the discus. KB placed 4th which was less than we had hoped for but it was our first points of the meet. She was disappointed but at least she placed. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing like mad. She wore my heavy blue coat warming up and got the discus caught in the pocket and ripped it off, at least that helped lighten the mood. When we took her back we told everyone to relax for a while before lunch. After we went to eat we came back and told everyone to get their gear together, change and get prepared. I gave them a little time to meet and then we had a meeting in Coach Fort's room. Before hand, Patti Ann told me, "They want you to tell them we can still win". Even though I had already told them several times the night before they wanted to hear it again. I certainly didn't blame them and I was glad they had enough trust in me to want to hear it from me.
At the meeting I went over everything we had done and everything we had to do in order to win. I told them that we not only could win but that we would win if everyone performed up to their potential. There were no questions other than, "Can we still win?" After the talk we had a team prayer and a good laugh after an incident (MA farted during the prayer and everyone cracked up) and both helped a great deal. We left the motel a little more confident but a long way from where we were before the prelims started.
Next - THE FINALS!!!!!
The food was a real screw up. The Ramada Inn was supposed to fix us a meal when we got back and they didn't do it so Coach Rodie went to get burgers etc. One McDonald's refused to take a school check and he had to go to another. It took almost 2 hours to get food. By then most of the kids had settled down and we had to get them all wound up again to eat lousy food. After we got it all divided up and everyone back in their rooms it took several walks around before they settled down but eventually they did with no problems. About 2:30 I went out to check and we had another catastrophe, RO had her eyes swollen so bad that they hurt so she couldn't close them and naturally she couldn't sleep which meant no one else in the room could either. I put a cold cloth on them and tried to help but they really didn't get better until the next A.M. when her mom came and washed them out. Needless to say, knowing a lot of them didn't have a real good nights rest, put us even more on edge.
I had sat down after getting the kids settled and went over prelim results plus entries for events that had no prelims and I convinced myself that if everything went right, we would win. That certainly meant no more false starts.
Scottie and I went to the stadium in the A.M. KB and AR had to throw the discus. KB placed 4th which was less than we had hoped for but it was our first points of the meet. She was disappointed but at least she placed. It was freezing cold and the wind was blowing like mad. She wore my heavy blue coat warming up and got the discus caught in the pocket and ripped it off, at least that helped lighten the mood. When we took her back we told everyone to relax for a while before lunch. After we went to eat we came back and told everyone to get their gear together, change and get prepared. I gave them a little time to meet and then we had a meeting in Coach Fort's room. Before hand, Patti Ann told me, "They want you to tell them we can still win". Even though I had already told them several times the night before they wanted to hear it again. I certainly didn't blame them and I was glad they had enough trust in me to want to hear it from me.
 |
| KB scored our first 2 points in the discus |
Next - THE FINALS!!!!!
THE FINALS
The 3000 was the first running event final and a fantastic PR effort by KY gave us a point we hadn't really counted on. She was the first LHS girl ever to place in a race above the 800. At the same time the high jump was being contested on the infield. Although we weren't real sure how IB was doing she looked good and less and less people were hanging around. She only ended up jumping 4'10" but she did place tied for 4th, another point we weren't putting much hope in. These proved to be 2 very valuable points. +2
It was a strange and empty feeling watching the 400 relay finals. It was even more discouraging hearing them announce that the winner, Aztec had tied Lovington's State record, a time that we would have surely beaten probably in both the prelims and finals.
The 100 hurdles were next and before TS re injured her ankle on the bus after lunch we had hoped she could get at least 5th. No such luck. (She tripped over an ice chest getting out of her seat on the bus).
The 100 was next and we were hoping for a 1,2,4 finish or at least a repeat of our prelim 1,3,4 effort for 12 points. Instead we got 2,3,4 as Wilson of Las Lunas surprised RO. We got 9 points. -3
Up to this point, not counting the high jump, the score was: Lovington 12, LVR 9, Los Lunas 11, Academy 14, St. Pius 15, Aztec 13, West LV 11 and Kirtland Central 11. West and Kirtland would score only 3 more points between them but you can see what a dogfight it was.
The 1500 was next and after KY's performance in the 3000 we were hoping for at least another 5th. It was obvious after the first lap that that couldn't happen. Oxygen debt to the max. The races were just to close together. For the 2nd year in a row we finished 9th and 10th.
The 800 relay was next and we dominated it like we should have dominated the 400 relay winning by over 2 seconds. The 400 was next and we hoped IB would finish at least 2nd. A surprise from Broomfield won it though and IB was a good 3rd. -1. The 75 hurdles were next and we watched. Point totals now: Lovington 26 1/2, LVR 19, Los Lunas 15, Academy 24, St. Pius 26, and Aztec 20. Obviously it was going to be a dogfight with Academy favored to win the medley and the 1600. Balance and performing to our potential was going to have to be the key to our winning it.
The 800 was next and we needed at least a 3rd from RN. With about 180 to go it didn't look possible; she was in 6th place. I don't know if she heard me scream "Now" or not where I always do but she took off like a world champion and got us our 3rd. It was efforts like that that won it for us. She moved at the same place that RP did in '82.
The medley was next. We had barely qualified 4th and with Academy favored we knew we had to do at least that well to keep our hopes up. SB ran the best lead off leg she's ever run and the middle legs were good. TP didn't look like a freshman at the finish thank goodness. With about 30 meters to go she was 6th, she reached down somewhere and split two runners beating them both to give us 4th by 2 hundreds of a second. Another very valuable 2 points. As expected Academy won it. The score with only 2 events left was Academy 34 and favored to win the 1600 relay, Lovington 32 1/2, LVR 27, St. Pius 26 and Aztec 25.
The 200 was next and we knew we needed some good points here. Academy didn't have anyone entered in the finals. We needed to at least repeat our 1,3 from the prelims and we did for 10 big points. Now it was pretty much between us and Academy going into the 1600 relay. We had 42 1/2 and they had 34. Even if they won the most they could finish with was 44 points, we needed 4th in the 1600 relay to win the meet by 1 1/2 points. Now you see why I said the point here and point there was so important.
Since we qualified 3rd we knew we could get our 4th if everything went right. We changed and put IB on the leadoff leg to get us out good and it paid off. The next two legs were TP a freshman and MA a sophomore fighting a cold; they did an outstanding job and handed off to RN in 5th place. I knew then that we should be home free because in a battle of guts no one can hold a candle to Rosie. Then I thought disaster had struck again. Not satisfied with waiting for the back stretch to pass, RN passed into 4th on the first curve and when she cut in the girl behind her appeared to stumble. No flag went up and we were home free, the official was standing right there. At the same place she made her move in the 800 she did again and brought us home 3rd giving us 2 extra points. Talk about relief. And yet we still refused to believe it until the official results were announced. Mr. W had kept a running total for us and it was the only thing that helped us know what we had to do every step of the way because official results were so slow in being announced.
Final Totals: LOVINGTON 47 1/2; Albuquerque Academy 44; Las Vegas Robertson 34; Aztec 25; St. Pius 25. Tucumcari was a surprising 6th with 22 points on the basis of 2 1sts by Montoya and one by Kent.
Why did we win after the opening crisis? My opinion is that there were several reasons but the three main are, 1. we put ourselves in the Lord's hands, 2. we had some early doubts but we never stopped believing in ourselves and 3. it was a TOTAL TEAM VICTORY, something we had preached and practiced all season long. Add to this the support of our families and fans and it's a pretty tough combination as long as you don't beat yourself. We should have the talent to make a run at it again in 1984; whether we have the character or not will have to be seen when the time comes, beginning the first day of practice.
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