We had a super fun day today. Eve ran in her first track meet, an AAU Junior Olympic qualifier! She did awesome!! We drove for over two hours to get there, but it was totally worth it. One of the best things about having kids is all the new areas they bring you in to. I remember watching the track team practicing, way back in my high school days, and being so amazed that anyone could run like that. It seemed like a world I would never know. Now I do! Anyway, back to Eve.

The meet was supposed to start at 11am, but we got a call from the coach at 10:30 saying Eve’s first field event, the long jump, was about to start! Luckily we were only five minutes away. I thought we were doing so good to get there early! We got there as fast as we could, Eve hopped out of the car, and ran over to do her first event! Whirl-wind! :)

Practicing the long jump before the actual, official jump.

I have some videos of this and Lex is working on an iMovie project, so I’ll try to get those posted soon too.

Long jump

Eve jumped 6'7" and earned the silver medal.

After the long jump she had a little break. We used that time to find the bathrooms and unpack the car, then it was time for the 400m. Mandy came to join us for the meet to so we helped her unload her car too. Mandy used to run track in high school so she had lots of good information to help us understand what the heck was going on. :)

The start of the 400m. Eve is in front, on the right.

Lex ran out to congratulate her at the end. He has the iPad because he made a video of the run and is working on an iMovie of the day.

Eve came in second, just three tenths of a second behind the first place finisher. She was ahead of the other girl for most of the race, but the girl pulled ahead right at the end. Eve’s coach was so impressed with her 400m that she suggested Eve try the 800m at the next meet. We’ll see what Eve thinks about that. :)

Another long break, then time for the 200m.

The finish line of the 200m.

This is the same as the picture above, just zoomed in more. Notice her feet aren't touching the ground?! I love this picture. She looks so happy.

Her final scores:
* Long jump – 6’7″
* 400m – 1:35.40
* 200m – 0:42.20
Official results are posted here on the AAU website.

After Eve had finished her three events we hung out for awhile longer, cheering on the rest of the team through their events.

Comparing medals. That fine social dance of being proud of your three and supportive of your friend's one.

What did the girls do during their down time? Run around, of course. Racing to the bathroom, playing tag, hopping and skipping. Oh, to have that energy!

Triple medal winner! Two silvers and a gold. Happy girl.

We were going to swing by the Atlantic Ocean and put our toes in the water on the way home, but everyone was so tired and they kids were falling apart, so instead we headed to Panera Bread for dinner at 4pm, and then headed home.

The cool Boston bridge!

After a long day in the sun ice cream seemed in order. :-)

This meet was the District Qualifiers. Eve qualified for advancement in all three of her events. Unfortunately the Regional Qualifers are being held in Conneticut, the same weekend we will be at Niagara Falls! Bummer. We will plan our vacations a little better next summer and see how far Eve can go. For this summer she’ll continue to run in the rec program and enjoy the two meets they do. Next year, if she wants, we can try AAU and Olympic Qualifiers again.

(Full disclosure, Eve is awesome, but participation in her age bracket was also pretty small. There were only two girls participating in the long jump, three in the 400m, and four in the 200m. She did win medals, and ran hard, but the competition wasn’t abundant.)