BYU once again did an amazing job hosting all of the 3A and 4A schools in Utah in our 2 day state meet. The swimmers left Thursday morning at 9am to make it up in time to have a private practice in the BYU pool (One of our coaches used to swim there and pulled some strings). Before they got on the bus Shayne and I handed them each a new pillpw with a pillow case that said Pine View State Swim Team on it with our logo and their name. It was sooo cute. That way they could use it up and back on the bus. Joel and I left around 1pm and were planning on meeting up with the team at Brickoven that night for dinner. We had Ben and David and Emily and Evan with us because Sophie had her Region Math tournament and play practice and Josh didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record. Whose kids do they belong to? So, JoEllen brought them up Friday night after they were all done. We took the 4 little kids to my parents house and dumped them off. Literally. Thank goodness my parents are awesome and so willing to help us out or Joel and I would never get any time to ourselves. Then we met up with the team. After dinner there was a big team meeting with Pine View, Desert Hills and Hurricane to boost everyone up for the next 2 days. Then, since we weren't official chaperons this year we didn't have to stay up to make sure they all got in bed and where quite so we went to bed. It was go good to not have to set an alarm or make lunches, curl hair, find shoes, etc... I didn't even have to make breakfast because our hotel had an awesome one. At breakfast we gave each of our kids a lanyard with an ID holder attached that we had made that had paw prints and said Pine View State Swim Team on them. These were important because in order for you to get into the pool you have to show your deck pass and photo I.D. So, the kids were able to put them both on their lanyards and not have to worry about them getting lost or wet.
Since both 3A and 4A are the same weekend they do 3A in the afternoon and then 4A in the evening. So, we were all able to relax in the morning and some kids watched the movie "Miracle" about the USA Olympic Hockey Team to get motivated. Then we had a team lunch at the Wingers in the Provo Town Mall and the 3A kids left from there to go to the meet while we stayed and played around. Our little Pine View team consisted of 10 amazing kids - Shayne, Alex Meyer, Mikell Braken, Ashton Turek, Jordan Vane, Nick Rabbit, Kyson Sullivan, Kyle Buck, Mitchell Hutchings and Zack Paddock. So we were able to have a boys 400 yard freestyle relay team and a girls 200 yard medley relay. They were both ranked 16th out of 16 but we were determined to place 15th! One thing you should know about this group of kids is that I tear up every time I think of how they love and support each other. I would have killed to be in a group like this in High School. It's so important these days to surround you with good people and they do. I love them all like my own which is why they call me and Joel Mom and Dad.
So after the mall we still had 2 hours to do nothing so I had bought UNO cards for everyone and put a note on them that said "You're #1! Get it?" They loved them and played for an hour and a half while Joel and I took a nap!!! YEAH!!! I Loved it. We got to BYU around 5:30 for them to warm up and the meet started at 7:30. The girls relay team was the very first thing. I mean very first. The slowest teams are in the first heat and they get faster the further back you are. So Shayne was giving them a pep talk on how they could go nowhere but up from last place and they were happy and excited. But after they were done they found out that they were disqualified. Shayne was the reason. She was our anchor leg and left early. She said to the girls after, "Well, I was wrong, you can go lower than last place." It was funny and the girls had a good laugh. They were having the time of there lives. Where other teams where crying and disappointed our girls gave each other high fives and ran back to talk to the team.
Meanwhile, Jan and Andy and JoEllen, Kyle and the kids were trying to make the trip up before Shayne swam. Joel's parents and Kellie and Garrett came about 15 minutes before it started and 5 minutes later Jan and Andy showed up. They left the dogs in the car and ran in. 2 minutes before the national anthem my Dad, Bradie, Katie Sloan and Nick all showed up. Steve dropped them off and went to find a parking spot which was almost impossible. He missed the relay but went in and watched her next race. JoEllen missed it too but they were still driving. They came running in right before her 200 Freestyle and watched it from right inside the doorway. Shayne was ranked 4th in the state. She swam an incredible race and came in 3rd place and knocked off 2 seconds from her best time! It was so fun to watch. Shayne was so happy that so many people came to support her and cheer her on. We watched her get her medal from the medal stand and were so proud of her. That was all our team had that day. Everyone else was swimming the next day. So we all left and the team went back to the hotel and Joel and I went to Cafe Rio. We didn't have to rush to get back to anything and took our sweet time. It was a great day.
The next morning the 3A kids had to check out of there rooms and go over to the meet around 9am. By the time we got up they were already gone. So, all of the pine view kids played more UNO and watched "Get Smart". We were all so relaxed and having a great time. I thought that the Desert Hills team was going to implode on each other. I LOVE our kids! Did I mention that before? I do. They are AWESOME! So around noon we started getting everyone packed up and clean up the rooms. Needless to say that the boys room was disgusting! Then at 1pm they loaded the bus. The meet was exciting but Shayne didn't do as well in her 100 Butterfly. A girl named Leah Heger who goes to Snow Canyon was in the heat before her and she dropped 3 seconds to knock Shayne off of the medal stand. Shayne was ranked 7th in state. Shayne also qualified for about 4 other events but in High School sports you can only do two personal events. If she had done the 500 Freestyle, which she did her freshman year she would have taken 2nd place. But you never can tell who will do better in what race. I wish they could do 4 events and choose if they want them to be relay or individual. But there is a quote from Grumpier Old Men that says, "You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first." So we do the best we can with what we've got and be happy and move on. Mitchell Hutchings is our Freshman and he took 6th in both his 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke. He will be outstanding when he's a senior. I can't wait to see it. Zack swam the 100 back and 500 free and Alex swam the 200 free the day before and they both did a great job. Alex's shoulder was really hurting her before he 100 Breaststroke the last day but Shayne talked to her and they taped her up and she ended up taking 2 seconds off her time! So our boys relay was the very last event of the entire meet. They were swimming there hearts out and we were screaming louder than any other team there. They came in 15th!!! We were so excited! It was a great way to end a great State trip and season. I am so proud of all of these kids but especially Shayne and her hard work as their captain and all of the time and love she gave them. After the meet we went to Bajio to eat and before they loaded the bus to go home we gave them a Pine View water bottle filled with yummy chocolate candy like snickers and twix and m&m's. Stuff they have gone without for 4 months. They loved it and got back to home at 2am. It was a meet to remember. One of the funnest yet. I can't wait to see what next year, Shayne's Senior year, brings.
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