Nate's Big Race

Last year I was spoiled. I was able to go to almost all of Nathan's cross country and track meets. Fall and spring just don't feel normal without going to them. I don't know what I'm going to do when he's done with college sports. :-(  This fall was so weird, since I couldn't be there to watch Nate run. I had to rely on Mom's play-by-play over the phone to keep me informed.

There's Mom talking to me on the phone at Conference.

Back to the real inspiration for this post... North Central College's 13th victory at the cross country championships!! It was a chilly, wet day to run and the boys were fantastic! Mom and I were nervous wrecks, as always, but Nate had been in a good mood when he visited us in the morning, so we were thinking positive thoughts.

Nervously waiting for his race

From the minute the race started, I knew it was going to be different than most of the others. It was such a fast pace and the front pack was really tight.

The first few times they passed me, I couldn't find all 7 of them!

 Nate's in the bottom left corner!

So I ran all over, going from spot to spot to try to see as much of the race as I could. I found Melanie again, after getting separated in the crazy crowd, and we got a great spot on the home stretch. We watched as all 7 of the guys finished. It was very exciting!! Everyone knew that North Central had won the meet, there was no competition. The boys were stronger and more determined than anyone else there.

How did we know they had won?? Well, it helps when you have throngs of red sweatshirts to follow. Its a very good indicator when everyone is sprinting and cheering their way to meet at the finish line.

There was only one man that we wanted to see... Nathan!!! He greeted us with some very sweaty (and muddy) hugs, but we didn't care! We were just excited to see our All-American!

That's right, my baby brother is an All-American. He placed 25th in his debut at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships!

Here are some more highlights from the day...

 My favorite shot from the day... Nate said that a lot of the course was this muddy!

Proud Sis and Mom!

It was an AWESOME day!

The team became National Champs for the 13th time,

 all seven of their runners were All-American (first time that has ever happened), 

they scored 50 points to win the meet, 

 and they won by the largest margin ever (131 points)!

So congrats NCC on an undefeated season, you have made us proud!

Most importantly, congrats to my awesome brother!! I am so proud of the man you've become and am so glad that I was able to be there with you as you celebrated this new milestone!