NSS: A Wisconsin Weekend

Markel · 02-04-2008, 10:38 PM

Last Friday evening my wife and I were thinking about whether to drive up to Kenosha (Wisconsin) on Saturday to watch Nate's (nate_el_bueno) first track meet (he's on the team of the local community college where he attends) of the season (an indoor meet at Carthage College). Our other son Tim (a high school junior) was also up in Wisconsin for a 2 day volleyball tournament (Saturday and Sunday). We decided to to the track meet, then over to the volleyball area (west of Milwaukee) for the night and watch the Sunday matches.

This was Nate's first track meet in almost 3 years. He was scheduled to run the 400m, 200m, and 4x400m. As he was an "unknown", he was just thrown into one of the lower flights (4th heat). He absolutely smoked everyone in his heat (finished with a 51.87, 4.12 ahead of the second place). His time (6th best in the 400s) qualifies him to for the (junior college outdoor) nationals in May (at SUNY-Delhi). They decided to pull him out of the 200, and moved him from 2nd leg to anchor in the 4x400. In that race his team fell behind (partially the result of a finished runner from another team walking in front of the active runner in Nate's team and causing a collision) and when Nate took the baton he was in last place (about 2 seconds behind the 5th place runner). Things didn't change much in the first lap (a 200m track), but in the second lap he passed the 5th place runner on the back stretch, and the 4th place runner in the 3rd turn, and finished strong. The team had the 6th best overall time (of both 4x400 heats), but if the collision cost them 1.15 seconds they could have finished 3rd overall.

Now Nate's coaches are talking about getting him running the 55, 100, and 200 to see which of those events he might be able to qualify for nationals.

On Sunday we went on the the volleyball tournament. Tim's team had won all 3 of their Saturday matches, and their first Sunday match. The second Sunday match was against a pretty good team, but they took that match which put them into the top 8. This was pretty important, because his team was in the hunt for a nationals bid in the open division (there is also a club division, which is not as competitive). There were 4 bids to be awarded from this tournament, but 4 of the teams there already had national bids (meaning if they finished in the top 4, their bids would pass down to the next teams below). My son's team won their quarter-final match (meaning they got to the top 4 teams and therefore got their nationals bid). They lost in 2 close games in the semi-finals to the team that took 2nd in the nationals last year. The team that beat them lost in the final match to the team that took first in nationals this past year (Balboa Bay). It was interesting that Balboa Bay had a tough match in the semi-finals against a team my son's team had beaten without too much trouble earlier in the day. Overall, my son's team came away with a pretty good idea that they can go up against these guys when they get to nationals (in July in Salt Lake City).

I realize this has run on, but let a proud papa boast a bit, ok?

cheapie · 02-05-2008, 05:54 AM

woohoo! =)

ShawnLee · 02-05-2008, 07:23 AM

Sweetness! Congrats!

DarkFury · 02-05-2008, 08:48 AM

Gratz Nate and Tim.

johnnymk · 02-05-2008, 05:54 PM

Congrats, Markel

I had a work assignment about 13 years ago in Wisconsin for a few days. What an incredibly boring area. The people were very friendly, though.

Jenny · 02-05-2008, 06:06 PM

Wow! Congrats to both of your guys!

renovation · 02-05-2008, 10:18 PM

congrads

oblongmelon · 02-06-2008, 07:10 AM

Way to go Markel boys!...way to go Dad!

cheapie · 02-06-2008, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnymk

Congrats, Markel

I had a work assignment about 13 years ago in Wisconsin for a few days. What an incredibly boring area. The people were very friendly, though.

depends on which part of WI. madison is very cool, as are many parts along the lake.

02-04-2008, 10:38 PM	#1
Markel Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 11,733	NSS: A Wisconsin Weekend Last Friday evening my wife and I were thinking about whether to drive up to Kenosha (Wisconsin) on Saturday to watch Nate's (nate_el_bueno) first track meet (he's on the team of the local community college where he attends) of the season (an indoor meet at Carthage College). Our other son Tim (a high school junior) was also up in Wisconsin for a 2 day volleyball tournament (Saturday and Sunday). We decided to to the track meet, then over to the volleyball area (west of Milwaukee) for the night and watch the Sunday matches. This was Nate's first track meet in almost 3 years. He was scheduled to run the 400m, 200m, and 4x400m. As he was an "unknown", he was just thrown into one of the lower flights (4th heat). He absolutely smoked everyone in his heat (finished with a 51.87, 4.12 ahead of the second place). His time (6th best in the 400s) qualifies him to for the (junior college outdoor) nationals in May (at SUNY-Delhi). They decided to pull him out of the 200, and moved him from 2nd leg to anchor in the 4x400. In that race his team fell behind (partially the result of a finished runner from another team walking in front of the active runner in Nate's team and causing a collision) and when Nate took the baton he was in last place (about 2 seconds behind the 5th place runner). Things didn't change much in the first lap (a 200m track), but in the second lap he passed the 5th place runner on the back stretch, and the 4th place runner in the 3rd turn, and finished strong. The team had the 6th best overall time (of both 4x400 heats), but if the collision cost them 1.15 seconds they could have finished 3rd overall. Now Nate's coaches are talking about getting him running the 55, 100, and 200 to see which of those events he might be able to qualify for nationals. On Sunday we went on the the volleyball tournament. Tim's team had won all 3 of their Saturday matches, and their first Sunday match. The second Sunday match was against a pretty good team, but they took that match which put them into the top 8. This was pretty important, because his team was in the hunt for a nationals bid in the open division (there is also a club division, which is not as competitive). There were 4 bids to be awarded from this tournament, but 4 of the teams there already had national bids (meaning if they finished in the top 4, their bids would pass down to the next teams below). My son's team won their quarter-final match (meaning they got to the top 4 teams and therefore got their nationals bid). They lost in 2 close games in the semi-finals to the team that took 2nd in the nationals last year. The team that beat them lost in the final match to the team that took first in nationals this past year (Balboa Bay). It was interesting that Balboa Bay had a tough match in the semi-finals against a team my son's team had beaten without too much trouble earlier in the day. Overall, my son's team came away with a pretty good idea that they can go up against these guys when they get to nationals (in July in Salt Lake City). I realize this has run on, but let a proud papa boast a bit, ok? __________________ stay low... keep moving...

02-05-2008, 05:54 AM	#2
cheapie Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: raising my pimp hand strong Posts: 13,038	woohoo! =) __________________ 70% of the world is covered by water. The rest is covered by Bob Sanders

02-05-2008, 08:48 AM	#4
DarkFury Secretary of the Navy Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Chillin' N Da 'Hood Posts: 34,997	Gratz Nate and Tim. __________________ DarkFury's Pimptopia - Don't Hate the Playa, Hate the Game! Home of the Original OG Pimp (accept NO imitations)

02-05-2008, 06:06 PM	#6
Jenny Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Kansas City area Posts: 10,947	Wow! Congrats to both of your guys! __________________ Check out my spoilers for over 20 shows @ SpoilerFix.com Check out my TV blog, where I post weekly & daily TV schedules, TV news, interviews with TV stars & more! All new TV forums as well @ TV Is My Pacifier

02-05-2008, 10:18 PM	#7
renovation Admiral Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: You could pick up Lindsay Lohan for less than a intel 990x, and still have money left over to bail her outta jail Posts: 5,029	congrads __________________ You could pick up Lindsay Lohan for less than a intel 990x, and still have money left over to bail her outta jail

02-05-2008, 05:54 PM	#5
johnnymk Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: May 2000 Location: LEVITTOWN< PA> USA Posts: 13,621	Congrats, Markel I had a work assignment about 13 years ago in Wisconsin for a few days. What an incredibly boring area. The people were very friendly, though.

02-06-2008, 07:10 AM	#8
oblongmelon Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: In a nutshell Posts: 9,678	Way to go Markel boys!...way to go Dad!

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