I’ve been meaning to write a bit about my trip to the NCAAs last November, and I’m finally going to take a minute to do this…at least in bullets!
- If you ever get a chance to watch the NCAA D3 championships, don’t think, just GO! It is so fun to be running back and forth across the course with everyone, cheering on the teams and runners, from first to last.
- For 2022, with the course covered in snow, watching the race was particularly surreal…and seeing all the fans running from spot to spot across the frozen white made me stop and laugh…it was like some post-apocalyptic movie with crowds of people running from fast zombies!
- If you find a small school that you are attracted to for the academics and fit, and you also love your running, see if that school has a running program that works for you. Watching this event was great, and being a part of a team here would be fantastic. Being there all weekend reminded me, again, how athletics can be such a fulfilling part of a college experience. None of these athletes will forget this race!
- Bobby Van Allen, the Hopkins coach, is the man. He is so good at getting his teams ready for a championship meet after a strong season. Watching him and hanging with Coach all weekend was really a treat.
- Being able to watch all the Hopkins athletes together all weekend was a treat, too. The team is so nice to each other and supportive of each other. Watching them talk and laugh around the hotel or at dinner or warming up together was so nice…being part of a supportive team that works hard together and likes being around each other is very meaningful to everyone involved.
- And finally, seeing Triya Roy (MV2020) on the victory stand with her Hopkins teammates was a moment I’ll treasure! Triya is the second athlete from Monta Vista to be a captain on a Central Coast Section championship team and follow that up as a member of a Johns Hopkins University NCAA championship team (Bridget Gottlieb MV2014 was the first). That’s a pretty impressive double. I missed Bridge on the podium for Hop in 2014, I’m so happy I was there for 2022!
Hopkins posted a race recap, and later an article on Coach Bobby winning national coach of the year honors. Triya also was selected for the conference academic honor roll.
Me and Coach Ben Raphelson (now the coach at Bates College, Coach Ben recruited two Monta Vista athletes to CalTech in prior years) and Coach Rob Bartlett of Occidental College (Coach Bartlett helped proof the research paper I wrote to get my USATF elite coaching certification).
Warm up as a team!
Styling the night before the race.
Vivian Lau (MV 2022) was also at the race. Vivian is part of the Tufts University team. Everyone from the Tufts XC team–almost 40 kids–road tripped from Boston to cheer for their teammates! How fun and memorable will that weekend be for all those athletes? Being part of a college team can create so many friendships and great experiences!
CHAMPIONS!