It's over.
It came, it really, really came and we made it all of the way through to the UIL State Cross Country Championships, the last state meet of this season.
In March, COVID completely entered the country and changed life and the way we knew it. Just about everything as we once did was either amended, modified, or completely taken away. That included sports.
What remained of the 2020 track and field season was wiped away and Texas high school track and field athletes lost a part of something that meant so much to them.
With trepidation and uncertainty, cross country season approached and there was constant questions about whether we'd make it through the end of the season. There were new guidelines and safety precautions that initially made it seem impossible to have a real cross country season.
Well, it began. With eight team maximum meets, hours in between races/meets, masks and driving to the meet without your team and this seemed to become our new "normal".
Yesterday, we saw individual athletes, teams, and coaches from across this amazing state competing for state championships. But, we saw more than just that. We saw hundreds of UIL officials, timers, announcers, and judges with an newfound appreciation of making it this far.
In the video, you can also see the parents, families, and supporters of the athletes who thought they had lost a part of something they love - running. Witness some of the sights from over the last couple of days of the State meet we thought we might not see, but hoped we would and finally did.