These words are not only profound, they speak the truth of all humanity for it is true that our best test is not the one we can easily pass, it is the one in which we must struggle to pass. That is where we learn the most about ourselves, that is the one where we become stronger for the next test. The fact of the matter is we are tested daily in various things. Some of these tests go unnoticed, and some of these tests dominate our thoughts and actions on a daily basis.

To live your life unassumingly, thinking you will never be tested is foolish and unrealistic. So, the question isn’t “will I best tested?” The questions are when, how, to what extent, AND how will you respond?

What will you do when everything you’ve worked for is stripped away? What will you do when all you believe in challenged? What will you do when someone asks you to compromise your integrity? What will you do when someone else takes control of your dreams and desires without permission, stomps on them, and leaves them for dead? What will you do when you’re asked to believe in something you know is right, and great, like YOURSELF, but you doubt your own abilities? How will you respond? WHAT WILL YOU DO?

It is never too late to start living your life inspired. You see, track and field really isn’t about track and field. It’s about being together, working toward a common goal, believing in, and working because of, a cause that is beyond just you. It is about the test, and passing it. It is about finding out that you can do more than you ever possibly dreamed and realizing that you didn’t have to do it alone. All you had to do was start.

There is nothing more powerful than a made up mind…nothing.

Now one of Seattle University’s top distance runners Graham shows that hard work always pays off in the end. In his sophomore season at SU, Miller ran a 1:59.92a on Saturday, April 4, 2009. Congrats, Graham, and here’s to an excellent 2009 outdoor season!

Follow Graham’s progress at athletic.net.

The rain never let up, and turned to snow by the time we were leaving. These kind of conditions, for weak minded athletes, would keep them from coming even close to performing their best. However, Jordan Rothstrom found it within himself to not only perform well, but to perform better than he ever has in the shot put and discus. Check out the Mt. Tahoma Photo Album here:

PICTURES (copy/paste link in browser)
https://cid-3b84bb5a705079f4.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Mt.%20Tahoma%20Invite

VIDEO (click to play)

Many thanks go out to Emily Namie who was gracious enough drive our boys to the meet.  Today’s highlights include Ryan Spilker, who finished 4th among high school runners in the 60mh, Sean Swanson who finished 1st among high school runners in the 60m and 2nd among high school jumpers in the long jump, and Jordan Mackin who ran the fastest high school time in the 200m.  The greatest thing to come out of this is the sign of maturity in these boys to make the sacrifice to train during the winter to be ready once the outdoor season begins.  Thanks for your commitment to the program!  See the results of just our boys by clicking on the results link to the right, or see the full results here:

http://www.govandals.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=90757&SPID=10991&DB_OEM_ID=17100&ATCLID=3665190 

2008 Boys 4×100 Final

2008 Boys 4×100 Prelim

2008 Boys 4×400 Prelim

2008 Boys 100m Final

At the end of last years track season I noticed an incredible difference in my teammates. When I looked in their eyes… something just seemed different. Any attempt I make at explaining what I saw will belittle how powerful it appeared. Every single person going into the championship part of the season looked so… hungry. I realized later that it was because we weren’t racing for ourselves anymore. We finally understood the lessons our coach had been teaching us for years. Our races weren’t about us, it was about representing eachother and fighting to win together rather than alone. Track isn’t about who is faster than who. It’s about what group of guys can come together and push eachother to the point that no other team can fathom what we did to get to our level.

This year, there is a huge difference between the Lewis and Clark Tigers and every other school in the state. If you watch a lot of these teams compete you will see one or two guys on their team stand out and rake in the points. When I think of a lot of teams I just see the face of their best athlete. When it comes to LC, it is impossible to see one face. We are so deep in talent that all you can remember is that you didn’t see one event in the paper that didn’t have a Lewis and Clark Tiger near the top. That is why opponent coaches and athletes consistently refer to LC Track as “the most intimidating team in the GSL.” It is because we have a TEAM of over a hundred track athletes, rather than one hundred individuals with some track stars. These track stars on other teams operate mostly off of talent they were born with. The LC team has a lot of guys that can beat these track stars. But when you have as many guys as LC does who kill themselves in practice and earn their victory over ‘the face of the other team’ you call that group of men track ATHLETES. LC is a team of track athletes- When we get together, single stars don’t exist- all you see is our constellation.

This season, we have the strongest team I’ve seen come through LC. Every captain will sacrifice himself to get his teammates to the next level. Our seniors have seen opponents squeak by one too many wins at championships. You don’t need to tell our team to get hungry. You don’t need to tell our team to want it. We already want it more than anyone outside the program could imagine. We will win because we know we can. This is the season we need to put all our chips on the table and letting them fall where they may. No one wants to be sitting on their couch thinking… “What If- What If I put in the extra sprints- What If I drank water before that race- What If I went to that practice.” Whatever it takes- This is the team that will do it with ‘puke and a smirk.’ It might be a lot of work but I haven’t seen a team of athletes more willing and capable to fight through whatever obstacle arises. This is a group of guys a coach dreams about. This is the group of guys that cannot be stopped, slowed, or belittled. This is a team that I couldn’t be more proud to be on.

Ryan Perrizo

Sprints Captain 2009

Also, here is the scoop on relatively local meets:

January 17th – Dempsey Indoor – UW

January 24th – WSU Open – WSU

February 7th – Runners Soul Open – UI

February 15th – Dempsey Indoor – UW