2nd Leg 3/27/2021 (9hrs)

Track Meet Day at Northland High School. This was one of the longer days of the internship because this was a more active day compared to the other winter sports. I was mentally prepared for this day once I saw that date on the calendar. Outside of that, this was the earliest that I needed to be there. I arrived at 7am to the stadium where I met up with Mario and his other staff members to finish preparations for this event. The field events started at 10, and the rest of the meet started at 11. By the time I got there, there were already 6 team buses waiting for us to open the gates. I was shocked that teams were already there waiting for us to arrive. Once we arrived, we got straight to work. We lead the teams into their respective places around the stadium. It’s a decent size stadium so spacing wasn’t a big problem for all teams. Also, we had to set up the tent towards the finish line, which had all the technology features in order to successfully run a track meet. Also, during this time we had to get the caution tape in order to stop spectators from being around the track or attempting to walk on the track. After we prepared the inside of the stadium, we had to prepare outside of the stadium where they did some field events such as discus and the shotput. Communication was key today because we had to make sure all stations were prepared and ready to go. Columbus City gets a bad rap for organization in any sports, so we wanted to make sure we put on a great show for spectators and participants as well. One of the best feelings was to ride around in the gator. It might be corny, but this made me feel important during the whole process. I had to make sure that all hurdles were in the proper areas so we can properly set the hurdles up for their specific events. In addition, we had more fans than I thought we would have or be allowed to have. Fan’s social distanced the best they possibly could be due to the amount of people and personnel being there. We put on a successful event, experienced some great competition, and saw satisfied customers. Also, it was a different but good experience being a part of the hurdle crew. I just never thought I would be this involved in any events outside of coaching. I like the feeling of it, and I can see myself doing this for a long time. After the event, we had to stay back a little longer just to make sure the stadium was cleared properly, and all schools and athletes had all their personal belongings. What a long day with Columbus City Schools.