The winner is...- Jenny's Life - Part 35

 For Jenny, Tara, Cindy and Susan it all distills down to four and a half minutes of drama. The final race to determine this year's female track champion is about to begin. The challenge now is to stay focused amid a myriad of superficial distractions mixed with doubts and other factors.

Jenny felt the familiar tingling in her stomach as she prepared for the biggest race of her track career. Up until one year earlier she had always considered this to be butterflies, but at this point it was more like an old friend that arrived to remind her it was her time to shine. She pulled in some deep breaths as she sought to calm herself down a little more as the energy from the fast approaching start time was increasing her heart rate.

She looked at Cindy who seemed to be pretty loose, an easy smile showing she was not uptight about the impending chance to make history. Jenny nodded, but remained silent, intent on being focused on beating her friends.

Tara still had not made a sound. She continued to stretch although Jenny knew she was as loose by now as she was going to be. Jenny knew Susan’s episode added another concern to Tara’s mind and she wondered if it would get Tara off task. She recognized the intense focus that was in her the first time she ran in this race, as a sophomore, finishing fourth as Susan Blake claimed her second title. According to the newspaper this was the first time in twenty eight years that two previous champions were going to be in the same race.

She could feel the energy in the crowd as they also anticipated the best race of the day. Usually the boy’s race garnered the most attention, but over the last four years the girls’ event had been much more interesting with Susan’s career generating so much media attention.

Jenny looked across the way at Susan’s coach who was looking at Susan, still stretching out her legs as she readied for the race. Jenny wondered if it was due to necessity or nervous energy that Susan was still trying to limber her muscles.

Jenny scanned the stands to look for her family, then Martika and Tara’s parents. Everyone was in place, eagerly waiting for the girls to thrill them. Jenny caught her father’s eye, who gave her to thumbs up, another Drake family tradition. Jenny blinked the tears out of her eyes when she looked Martika’s way to see a sign with the words Run Jenny Run in black block letters on a white poster board.

She saw Tara’s parents, who were pacing on the bottom walkway of the bleachers. It seemed they shared their daughter’s overwhelming feeling of opportunity. Tara always had the support of her family, as they attended all of her meets just Like Jenny’s parents had, but this was the first time they came to a meet with the possibility their daughter could be the girl who finished first.

Jenny wished she could bottle the feeling she experienced in these last moments. She expected this would be the last time there would be a time like this. If she somehow got a chance to run in college it might never be for such a high stakes reward. Surely there would never be this type of drama. Her experiences with Susan Blake would certainly be a once in her life occasion. The friendship she enjoyed with Cindy Craven had come way too late in her high school career and the friendship with Tara could easily suffer if they went to different schools in the fall.

She shook her head to give herself a chance to refocus on the most immediate thing, winning this race. She felt ready to run, with her mind at ease on so many of the issues that had been constant distractions over her last three weeks of life. Seeing the broad smile plastered on Martika’s face was some great motivation to her. She had made a difference in the girl’s life. Simply by following her gut instincts she had made a great friend and found herself helping an F.B.I. agent. Who would ever have believed that was possible?

The tingles in her stomach grew stronger as she heard the announcer call for the twelve girls that would compete in the mile to assemble at the starting line. She saw Tara moving ahead of everyone else toward the starting line, eager to get this going. Cindy was chewing on her lip; a sign of her nerves a she watched everyone settle into place. Jenny looked for Susan on the other side of Tara and noticed the girl’s eyes were full of water. This was quite uncharacteristic for “the Terminator” as she was called by the media. Susan never showed any emotion, which seemed curious to Jenny. Was it the emotion of her last prep race?

She slipped behind the others as everyone watched the clock tick off to one minute remaining until the race began. Susan’s eyes met hers while she was still twelve feet away and Blake simply nodded no. Jenny tapped her leg as she stopped walking and Susan barely nodded yes. Apparently the cramp was more persistent than expected. Jenny knew Susan would not be a factor. She debated only for a brief moment about sharing her knowledge with Cindy and Tara, then decided it would not matter, neither would run any different knowing Blake was not going to be in contention. The truth would present itself soon enough.

She moved back to Tara’s side and playfully bumped her friend as part of their normal pre-race routine. Tara finally relaxed an ounce and fist pumped Jenny as expected, then smiled briefly before turning her attention back to the matter at hand.

Every girl in the group tensed as the official starter made her way to the line with the starter pistol in her right hand. In sprints the start was critical and usually made all the difference in your success. For distance races the most important thing was to get out of the start and get your own space on the track. This was the intent of every girl as they waited for the sound of the gun.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the final race of the evening, the Ladies final in the mile,” the announcer said to thunderous applause.  The woman charged with starting the race patiently waited for the crowd to quiet before she raised her arm and delivered her commands.

“Runners on your mark, get set…”

The next sound was the pistol firing and the girls took off on their four and a half minute assault on the state record book. By the 200 meter mark Jenny, Tara and Cindy were together, behind two girls who decided to give their all from the beginning. Susan Blake tried hard to keep pace, but her calf was already tightening and she knew if she kept up this pace she would never be able to finish.

Jenny could feel the other girls off her shoulder, an odd sensation as she knew full well either had the ability to pick up the pace at their discretion. She did not want to expend any extra energy this early, so she made sure to maintain the same pace as she rounded the back turns to complete the first lap. As tempting as it was, she would not even hazard a momentary glace at the timer to see what the pace was. It did not matter; the race was against the other girls not a clock.

The fans cheered loudly, their voices blending such that no particular favorite’s name surmounted the others to be clear. The gap between the three remaining favorites and the pack gradually increased, just as everyone expected.

Cindy was the first to challenge Jenny’s pace, lengthening her stride, but not really increasing her speed. This tactic allowed her to pull even with Jenny as they began the first set of turns on the second lap. Jenny wondered if this would cause Tara to doubt and push herself too, but even as they crossed the line to complete the second lap Kimbler was still just off her shoulder.

It had been awhile since Jenny had been in a race with two comparable opponents. Usually she would build a lead by the third lap and cruise to the finish line by herself. It was a good feeling, knowing she was going to have to give a complete effort to carry home the hardware this year.

Even though she did not look toward the bleachers, Jenny still missed her mother’s familiar voice screaming her encouragement from the stands. She was able to pick out Tara’s parents as they urged on their daughter. When they passed the front bleachers for the third time Jenny sensed a change in Tara’s running and could feel her friend beginning to close the five meter gap.

Soon the three girls were side by side, a beautiful sight for track fans as all three were in perfect stride, looking like a wonderfully synchronized machine. This only lasted a few seconds however, as Tara stretched out her legs and began to pull ahead of the others. Four hundred meters remained in this storybook race and Tara was going for the win now.

Cindy increased her pace as well, determined to keep Tara within reach. Jenny really did not want to push her pace at this point, but wondered if she could make up the difference if Tara continued with this new strategy. She finally chose to compromise and increased her speed slightly, making the gap between Tara and Cindy the same as her and Craven.

Jenny could not deny the surreal feeling of watching Tara from behind. She always believed Tara had the ability to be this good, but had never had the pleasure to see it play out. She knew Kimbler was thrilled beyond words to be leading this race. How she wished she could hear her friend’s thoughts at this moment.

As Jenny pulled even with Cindy she wondered if she unconsciously continued to push harder, or if Craven was backing off slightly. Tara was farther ahead, so she decided Cindy was trying to conserve a bit of energy for her race ending kick. Within a few more strides Jenny noticed the interval between Tara and she and Cindy was widening at a steady rate. Tara was not going to slow down until she had nothing left to give. Jenny began to calculate how much track was left and decided this was going to have to be when she began her kick. Before she could complete the thought she saw Cindy doing the same, pulling away from her and closing the distance to Tara. Jenny pushed hard on the track to begin closing on Tara too.

She wondered just how much Cindy and Tara had left as she drew even with Cindy once again and they began to near Tara’s position. Kimbler never turned, an interesting fact to Jenny, but instead just continued to run at the same pace.

Again the roar of the crowd in the front stretch bleachers began to build as the three made the midway point of the last turn of the last 100 meter stretch. Cindy pushed ahead of Jenny and moved in on Tara’s right, her legs making it into Tara’s peripheral vision, letting Kimbler know she had company again.

Jenny dug deep, determined she would have absolutely nothing left when she crossed the line now only eighty five meters away. To her the same feeling was powering Cindy and Tara, because they increased their speed about the same time.  Cindy briefly pulled even with Tara, making the already frenzied crowd go absolutely bonkers. Jenny wanted a three way photo finish, but she could see the finish line fast approaching and her time growing very short. The dilemma quickly became a moot point as Tara surged ahead to cross the finish line with a ten meter lead.

The crowd erupted again as the results flashed on the screen with startling news. Tara had eclipsed Susan Blake’s three year old state record by four and one thirds of a second.

Jenny was surprised to see Tara still on her feet, but not that she was crying uncontrollably with joy.

“I did it! I made it! I won the race!” she shrieked between sobs of joy. Jenny smiled as she watched Tara bounce around like she was possessed by some type of demon. In essence she had exorcised the demon of doubt that she could never be good enough to compete with the best female track athletes in this state.

The Reynolds girls track team mobbed Tara a few moments later, creating a pile of bodies as they celebrated their co-captains surprising win. Jenny and Cindy embraced as they watched the scene. Jenny wanted to congratulate Tara, but refrained from adding to the mass of femininity on the ground. There was laughing and giggling as the girls finally began to extricate themselves from the pile to allow Tara to stand.

“I did it!”She said again as she saw Cindy and Jenny standing together waiting for her.

“Yes you did!” Jenny smiled.

“This is the most amazing feeling ever!” Tara said.

“It is pretty special,” Jenny agreed.”Tara squealed again when her mom and dad ran to her and wrapped her in their arms. A nearby photographer squeezed off several shots that would wind up in the newspapers here and in editions across the state of the new state champion of the girls mile.

Jenny walked with Cindy toward the teams area as a reporter pulled the Kimblers over for an interview. She could see Susan Blake sitting on a chair, rubbing her calf, which Jenny knew had to be hurting for the girl not to be a factor. She and Cindy walked over to her, drawing a strange look from their on track rival.

“If you tell anyone I said this I will deny it, but I am glad I was not out there,” Susan said to both girls surprise. “I don’t think anyone could have beat Kimbler today.”

“No,” Jenny agreed turning to look at Tara again.

“Who is talking to her,” Cindy asked.

“I don’t know,” Jenny replied.

“Actually, that is my assistant, Coach Bloom,” a man who had just approached from behind Susan said to them.

The girls turned to see a fifty something man facing them wearing a grey polo shirt with Villanova track team insignia on the left side of his shirt. “I am Frank Perkins, track coach at Villanova University.”

“Villanova?” Cindy said.

“Yes. I have four seniors that have graduated and left holes on my team. I need four new girls to keep my program strong. You ladies have been on my radar all season, but I did not expect this kind of race. I am glad I made the trip down instead of having it taped. You girls were awesome.”

“HAVE YOU HEARD?” Tara shouted as she ran to the others. “We are going to get full scholarships!”

Perkins laughed as he listened to Tara steal his thunder.

“What!” the other girls said.

“I want you four to be what I build my team around for the next four years,” Perkins said.

“I AM NOT BELIEVING THIS DAY!” Tara said loudly.

“That’s incredible,” Cindy said. “I’ve got to find my dad.”

Jenny watched the others turn away to talk with their family members and she nodded to the coach that she wished to ask him a question.

“Yes Miss Drake.”

“Is this a package deal? Do all four of us have to agree to make this happen?”

“You don’t want to run on the Villanova team?”

“No sir, that is not the situation at all. I have a family matter that has an unknown resolution at this time which may preclude my acceptance.”

“Well, I really want all four of you, but I will not withdraw the offers to the others if you are unable to accept.”

“I hope you understand I am very appreciative of the offer and hope I can take you up on it.”

The man pulled a business card out and handed it to Jenny before he spoke again.

“I plan to announce Miss Kimbler’s acceptance at your graduation. If you are able to make the decision by then, contact me and we will make arrangements.”

“I will sir, thanks.”

Tom and Daphne Drake found their way to Jenny as Perkins walked away. All they saw was the Villanova Track Team insignia on his shirt.

“Who is that?” Daphne asked.

“The head track coach at Villanova University,” Jenny replied. “He wants me to come run track for him.”

“OUTSTANDING!” Tom said.

“Dad, how can I? With mom in the shape she is I cannot move hours away, she needs me!”

“Jenny you cannot put your life on hold, waiting to see what happens with your mother. I know she would not want that.”

“I promised her I would be there for her no matter how long it took,” Jenny said.

“I know you have a deeply rooted drive to fix things when you see a wrong,” Tom said. “You have done some marvelous things in the last year, but this is something you cannot make right. There will have to be a long term treatment plan to make your mother better. This is an opportunity to get a great college education while you continue to run. You could get another crack at Tara and Susan.”

Jenny was only half-listening because her eyes found Chris Carroway and he was looking for her in the still joyous throng of Reynolds High school supporters and team members. She excused herself from her father and sister’s company to approach the young man, feeling rather sheepish from their last encounter.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny said, “For not believing you.”

“Hey, I could be some psycho guy that is out to harm you.”

“I think I know the difference,” Jenny said as she thought about Pete Pertovsky. “You want to try again? We can trade phone numbers.”

“I am writing it down this time also. You never know what can happen.”

“How are you?”

“Sometimes it is really hard. I am lucky, though I got to live with my aunt who has kids in school here. When I come home on breaks it is nice to be able to reconnect with my old high school friends.”

“I am glad things are better for you.”

“So, you didn’t win,” Chris said.

“I was not the fastest today,” Jenny said, watching Tara as she continued to celebrate. “It’s okay, I had a chance to celebrate and I can celebrate with my best friend this time around.”

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