Have you noticed the successful formula champions share while winning?
Like Stephen Jones, Executive VP and CEO of the Dallas Cowboys, I was fortunate to watch my kid win a state championship for Highland Park High School.
Shortly after the Highland Park Lady Scots won in 2002, Kate penned precisely the habits every champion shares.
The Last Part with Your Heart . . .Kate Blaising
There’s no one else around me as I am standing on the line looking down and thinking about the course. The sun is rising quietly melting the dew on the rough grass below me. It’s just me, the course, and my breath steadily making small, puffy clouds of smoke in the nice, cool November morning as I try to relax and mentally prepare for my first state cross country meet. Seven girls race in the state meet. Three are alternates. We are the Lady Scots Varsity cross country team and the pressure is on to live up to the tradition of winning championships. This could be our tenth in school history.
I ran back to our camp to meet the other six girls. Our head coach, Jerry Sutterfield, does not yet offer words of encouragement. He wants us to be focused and serene, not haughty, arrogant or the least bit expecting that we will win. We are all getting ready, putting on our pin numbers, wrapping the hair bands around our hair as if it were about to break, tucking in our white and gold jerseys that say in defined royal blue letters “Scots.” I remember lacing my shoes up. No, I couldn’t lace them up. My hands were shaking like my dad’s old 1982 diesel Mercedes. I took one more deep breath. It was time.
All of us lined up on the starting line inside a small white gate as if we were caged animals.
Each team is separated. Seconds later, the gun fires sounding like a rifle crack across a canyon. The sun was directly over our heads and within seconds it feels twenty degrees hotter than it really is. All I could focus on was catching each girl in front of me one by one and finding my girls to run with them. The closer our team finishes together, the lower the points and the lowest score wins the race. I was battling the heat, my lungs and all the colors around me that were not blue and gold. I once read, “divide your race up into three parts. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality and the last part with your heart.” Within moments I could see the finish line and I knew my team was counting on me to finish with all my heart. I closed my eyes and I could feel no more pain. There was no one else around me. It was just me, the course and my breath steadily but roughly getting me closer to the finish line.
At last the race was over and the battle was already decided. I reunited with my teammates. At that moment, even though we were all beat from the race we were strong again together. Our coach found us and one by one made sure we were all healthy and recovered. He led us over to the award ceremony. Our fans, family and supporters surrounded us while the official began to call out the third, second and first place winners. Once again, I closed my eyes and held on tight to my teammates. Nothing can come between us. Before I knew it, the Highland Park Scots were announced as the first place winners and instantly I felt like a new person. I realized that the girls on the Highland Park Cross Country team are not just my teammates, or some girls that can run really fast.
They are my sisters and together, we can do anything.
The only difference between the championship Scots football team of 2016 and the championship Scots girls cross country team of 2002 was the event site.
Do you have a championship story to share?