Aylen track team

Daniel had his first season of Junior High track and he LOVED IT!!!  He is such a gifted runner (so is David, but we’ll get to him) and he seems to get stronger as the races get longer.  The longest junior high races are 1600 meters (1 mile).  For the first couple track meets, seventh-graders are only allowed to run Junior Varsity; after that, it’s whatever they qualify for.  Varsity and J.V. run at the same time so sometimes it’s confusing to watch.  In the first race, Daniel finished first overall.  He explained that it was because one of his teammates – a fast 9th grader – was unable to compete that day.

For the second race, you need to watch the video.  With good competition from the 9th grader mentioned above, Daniel finished in under 5 minutes!  I won’t spoil the race results, but it comes down to the end.  I will say that both boys established new Personal Records in this race.  Take 5 minutes and watch.

Meanwhile, David competed in the Elementary Track Meet (there’s only one for the district).  Although there are some good runners, David’s size and Ethiopian heritage render the race one in which the rest of the competitors can only hope to come in second (in the 800).  He runs hard and only tries to beat the clock (which really means the others will finish far off in the distance).  Click on the picture at the top to see a select set of pictures.  You’ll find the boys running, watching/cheering teammates, talking with the Superintendent (who takes a very strong interest in the boys – he’s super supportive), and generally having a good time.  David’s 800 meter video is posted below.