Top 10 finish at Regionals

Joshua ran on the biggest stage of his young track career Friday and Saturday at the UIL 4A Region II Track and Field meet held at Fouts Field on the campus of North Texas State in Denton and came away with a top ten finish.

Josh came in 9th place in the 3200m Friday evening with a time of 10:14.73. The winning time was an amazing 9:31.78. The 1600m Saturday afternoon was a little different story as he ran a 4:55.02 which was good for 19th. He started out strong and tried to stay with the leaders, but by the 1/2 mile mark, had started to run out of steam. The winning time was 4:21.57 which was ran by the same guy that took first in the 3200m.

To put the regional meet in perspective, there are 58 schools who run track in Region II and if each school ran the maximum three runners in the 3200m and 1600m, that would be 174 runners for each event. To finish 9th in one event and 19th in another is quite an accomplishment and that is for a sophomore. The next two years should really be exciting for Josh.

One a side note...Our "little kids" have a 5th grade track meet coming up in a couple of weeks at their school. Zachary has said that he wants to run the 400 and 800 and that he is going to start running to get in shape. After supper he told us he was going to go run. He asked Josh what he needed to do to get ready and Josh's reply was, "run some miles." Zach hit the street running and was back at the house in a couple of minutes out of breath. He looked at us and said, I don't know if I can do that or not.

Even though the high school track season is over for Josh, his running season is not. A few weeks ago, he was invited to run with a Junior Olympic team out of Rockwall. This organization is the ground floor for the big time Olympics. After taking this week off, he will start working out with the team next week. His coach only takes 15 runners and she focuses on long distance runners so it should be a good training situation for him. They will have four or five meets in May and early June before two qualifying meets for the National Junior Olympics which will be held in July in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Junior Olympics run the international races which are 1500m and 3000m, not the 1600m and 3200m he has been running so his times should be faster. Josh is already talking about going to Omaha so we will see what happens. This will be a great opportunity for Josh to work with a true track coach and give him a reason to keep running and improving his running strength and ability. This will also be a great bridge between the high school track season and the cross country season this fall.

We'll keep you updated.

Regional Qualifier Times 2

Hey All;

Can you say regional qualifier in TWO events???

Well, that is what we are learning to say around the Taylor household after Joshua pulled off the most amazing finish of his life. When all was said and done, Josh had secured third place in the 1600m with yet another personal record. This time a 4:35, eight seconds faster than his old PR. The winning time was 4:33.

With 200 meters left in the race, it was a five person race. By the time they hit the straight away for the final 100 meters, it had become a four person race with Josh in fourth place. With about 25 meters left, Josh was still in fourth but was closing in on third. As they crossed the finish line, we could literally not tell if Josh had gotten third and his second ticket to the regional meet. Deshonna and I looked at each other and we had no idea. We kept looking to where the timers were and at the same time watching Josh for any sign of emotion that would give us a definite answer. Josh started walking away from us and we still had no answers. It wasn't long until we saw Josh's coach give him a "high five" and then a big bear hug. By now we were starting to think that maybe he had nosed out the runner in front of him. We continued to watch Josh and some of the other coaches and his teammates kept giving him "high fives". It was probably another five or ten minutes before Josh made his way to the stands where we got the answer. To say the least, he was a little excited and had finally caught his breath enough to start showing some emotion.

The weather was another issue. In the girl's race right before the boy's, the rain was coming down pretty hard. By the time the gun sounded for the boys' race, it had stopped.

Josh got a little extra inspiration from some friends of ours who live in Corpus Christi, Larry & Phyllis Cash. Larry was our minister and fellow EMT when we lived in Littlefield. The Cashes sent us an e-mail Sunday night with a scripture for Josh to read. It was Isaish 40:28-31. The verse says, ISA 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ISA 40:29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ISA 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ISA 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Josh told us on the way home that the verse has become his favorite and he even quoted vs. 30 from memory. "I have read it so much the last couple of days that I have memorized it." Deshonna asked him if he was thinking about the verse the last 100 meters? He replied, "No. I was just asking God to give me the the strength to keep on running."

OK Larry and Phyllis, what can you come up with for the Regional meet?

Josh will run the weekend of April 18 & 19 in a regional qualifiers' meet, but we do not know where that will be yet. The Regional meet will be April 25 & 26 in Denton. More on that later.

Quite a week...Deshonna turned ??, and Josh qualified in the 3200m and 1600m and it's only Wednesday.

Until next time...

Regional Qualifier

He's headed to regionals...

Joshua qualified to run in the 4A Region II Track Meet Tuesday night by finishing in third place, but more importantly for him, setting a personal record in the 3200m. Josh crossed the finish line with a time of 10:06... six seconds faster than his previous best. The guy he has been trying to meet since 8th grade won the race for Mesquite Poteet with a time of 9:55. Second place went to a runner from Richardson J.J. Pierce who no one was expecting to run the 3200m.

The 1600m will be Wednesday night sometime after 7:30 or 8. Josh will have to have another personal best to have a chance to move on in the 1600m. Don't be surprised if the finish in the 1600m is identical to the 3200m. The top two in the 3200m have the fastest times in the 1600m in our district. If Josh can hang with them, he has a good chance of representing Forney in two events at the Regional Meet which will be held in Denton on April 25 & 26.

Will let you know Wednesday night.

Another PR...District Meet Next

For the third week in a row, Joshua set another personal record at the Rockwall-Health Hawk Relays last Friday afternoon. This PR came in the 1600m with a time of 4:43.8. It looked like Josh was going to cross the finish line in first place, but out of no where, he got passed at the line. He literally lost by a half second as the winning time was a 4:43.5.

In the 3200m, Josh took second with a time of 10:28. The winning time was 10:13. The wind was blowing pretty hard when the gun sounded around 3:45 and a combination of that and Josh not really being mentally ready to run took a toll on his time. Josh had mentioned before the race that his coach was not sure why they scheduled a meet five days before the district meet and Josh didn't push himself like he has because he wanted to save himself for district. However, between the 3200 and the 1600 which started around 8:30, Josh had a change in attitude and decided he was not going to let the guy who beat him in the 3200 beat him in the mile...and he didn't. The guy took third.

Next up for Josh is the district meet which will be held at Hanby Stadium in Mesquite. They have spread the district meet out over two days, Tuesday and Wednesday. From what we have been able to figure out, Josh will run the 3200m at 7:00 Tuesday night. The 1600m will be sometime Wednesday night. They will run it with the running finals which begin at 6:30. I am guessing that Josh will run sometime after 7:30 or 8.

What are Joshua's chances at moving on to the regional meet you ask? Well, pretty good. From all the times I have been able to get my hands on so far from school in our district, Josh has the second fasted time in the 3200m at 10:12. The fastest time is around a 9:50 in the district. For Josh to be one of the top three finishers, he is going to have to leave it all on the track and run a very smart race. He can do it, but he is going to have to stay focused. The top three times advance.

In the 1600m, it's a little different story. There are two guys who have faster times...around 4:30. Then there is a pack of three or four runners who are right around the 4:40 to 4:45 time including Joshua. It should be a very competitive race for the third spot. At least with the 1600m being run on day two, Josh should have time for his legs to recuperate from the 3200m.

Deshonna has already said that Tuesday will be a very special day...the day Josh qualifies for the regional meet in the 3200m and also her ??st birthday.

If you are not doing anything Tuesday night and live in the area, come out and support Josh. If you need directions to Hanby Stadium, let me know and I will get you there.

Until next time...