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Warning : The beginning of this write up is devoted to the concept of selfless dedication. If this is not a concept that you wish to embrace you may fast forward to the dark green text. At that point I will only discuss the results of the meet.

Vacation week is meant to be a break from the rigors of the classroom and for fun.

What better fun can there be than to take part in a track meet?

This is a strictly rhetorical question.  For over 25 years I’ve found that most athletes answer “none.” Track over vacation is fun. I saw over 60 faces today that conveyed that message to me loud and clear. There is no better case in point than Amanda Walkins.

Amanda had a day that some people would call a career. She started off by winning the 300M hurdles and placing second in the triple jump. From there she walked over to the javelin where she threw a huge PR at 94’9 to win the event, qualify for state competition and grab the NA event leader status. She capped her day by running third leg of the winning 4X400M team. Phew!

Had she been sitting on a beach in Cancun she might have thought she was having a good day, but here she was having a great day. Anyone can buy a ticket to the beach, but far fewer can sense the exhilaration (and most definitely the sense of accomplishment) she felt today. If you were to ask Amanda whether she would rather have a great tan or a state qualifier, I think you know the answer. Being a National Merit Scholar she’s smart enough to know that she’ll have plenty of time later to do the former – and being a time management wizard she knows she can have both if she wants to.

Most parents that I talk to accept my explanation of why it is important to embrace the “team concept” and not go away on April vacation. The values taught by dedicating personal efforts for the good of the team – those are life-defining moments. And as far as needing time together with the family - what better way to spend it than watching a meet and showing the athlete how important there activities are.

In an age when people decry the self-centered nature of our youth – I need only look at the values of my team to know that the problem does not lie with our children. The axiom “We reap what we sow”, is appropriate to this situation. Commitment and dedication are values that are taught, not through words, but through deeds.

It is a relatively new phenomenon to have so many families go away. Maybe it’s the affluence of our times. Growing up, my family couldn’t afford anything but a one-week vacation in New Hampshire during the summer. Competing in sports over vacation was a blessing for us. The family looked forward to meet days.

I feel sorry for teams that have to work within a culture where parents place undue emphasis on travelling vacations. It isn’t necessary. Within two hours of our region we have some of the most incredible historical and cultural areas of the country. A two-day vacation can get us to the White Mountains, Cape Cod, New York City and even Washington, D.C.

Despite popular belief, North Attleboro is not immune to the vacation bug. Most years we manage fine. But I can remember a few years ago when my top distance runner was a freshman. She went to Disney World over the vacation week. As a team we didn’t complain. We ended up losing our only meet of the season - by two points – and her presence would have surely made the difference. A league championship season was lost. But lessons were gained. If we weren’t able to be a complete team “we should have lost!”

I never had to voice disappointment or disapproval to the athlete. It was not a decision of her choosing. She understood what happened and that was enough.

My contention is that a dual meet championship belongs to the team that shows the best team effort. To this day the athlete offers to talk to the team about commitment. I don’t doubt hers. She learned the hard way – not because anyone pointed it out to her, but because she wishes she had the opportunity to help us win.

Back to the meet. Canton has a great coaching staff. They are young, enthusiastic and knowledgable. They also have some very good athletes. Unfortunately some of them were missing and the score does not reward the hard work the coaches and athletes have put into the season.

For NA, congratulations go out to Nicole Meagher, Crystal Davis and Liz Malone for scoring their first points of the year.

Andrea McKim refound her stride by winning the 400M and showed she’s ready to become a formidable runner in the 800M.

The 4X100 sent a message that despite the graduation of Caitlin Hurley they intend to run times that will keep everyone else honest. Their league leading 51.9 included one very bad handoff.

The distance crew continues to improve and only a great performance by Canton’s super-frosh Mueller stopped NA from winning all three distance events. Jess Rutter capped the mile and Ashley Willox the deuce.

Tiffany Badger continued to rack up major points for the team by winning the shot and disc. Jess Farren also placed in two throwing events with her javelin 2nd place and shot put 3rd.