After Season 1 SAISA finished I felt like my weeks were a little bit empty. I had production on Mondays and Wednesdays but nothing on Tuesdays and Fridays. I decided to sign up for football. Football is not a sport I enjoy nor is it one I am good at so I thought it would be an interesting experience. 

After attending one practice, I realised that this sport was not for me. The following day I received an email from Ms Kelly informing me to come to talk to her. I was a bit anxious; there was no context behind this email. I went to her office, and she and Ms Sue suggested I try out for track and come to their morning practice on Saturday. 

Initially, I had dismissed track as even being an option since it clashed with production on Mondays and Wednesdays but after going to Saturday training I realized my ability in field events, namely discus and shot put. 

Due to the timing issues with production, I could not attend Monday and Wednesday training sessions so I was not the most prepared however after production ended I managed to properly and consistently work out and exercise my body in preparation for SAISA. 

I had the opportunity to go to Chennai for SAISA, which was an experience like no other. After months of preparation and dedication to my training, I was ready to take on the challenge and push myself to the limit. Participating in this event involved a lot of hard work and dedication, but I was rewarded with the experience of competing. 

 

 

I had been selected for 7 events. 

• 100m 
• 200m 
• 400m 
• Shot Put 
• Discus Throw
• 4x100m Relay 
• 4x400m Relay 

The senior girls age group which I was a part of, only had 4 people, the senior boys, on the other hand, had 6 people which meant that all of the girls had to do 7 events. 

I was mainly stressed for 400m since I initially found it difficult to endure while running since it is meant to be a full-on sprint. 

I had achieved new personal bests in both shot-put and discus, which were close to and exceeded the previously set SAISA records. However, as we neared the competition, I found it difficult to get close to my PB in discus, in shot put, however, I managed to get a new PB before the competition. 

I was looking forward to the competition; my events were distributed very evenly, making for a balanced schedule. 

 

Day 1: 

• 100m 
• Discus 
• 4x400m Relay 

Day 2: 

• 200m 
• Shot-put 

Day 3: 

• 400m 
• 4x100m Relay 

For all of my individual running events I achieved new PBs, all of which were much faster than my previous ones. My 400m time improved by 7 seconds which is very impressive. In SAISA the Top 6 are placed in the finals, unfortunately, for all of my events I was placed 7th, for 100m and 200m I was only milliseconds off from being placed which was very disheartening however, I am proud to know that I have improved. 

Discus is my favorite field event, I was looking forward to it, however, was very disappointed with my final performance. I ended up placing 4th overall, which got me a ribbon and points but still was very disappointing. Having made the finals, I had two no-throws which meant I missed two opportunities to beat my PB. My furthest distance which is what they count, was around 18m which is 4m off my PB. Had I gotten my PB, I would have gotten gold. After doing discus I realised that concentration was very important when doing my field events. I was going to channel this mentality when I did shot-put the next day.

Shot-put is particularly challenging for me as I often throw within a set range and not beyond it. One girl, in particular, threw much further than me, so my goal was to get 2nd place. I ended up placing 3rd, being a mere 5cm away from getting 2nd. This was once again disappointing. However, I managed to throw near my PB, assuring me that it was not a fluke. 

The relays were the events I dreaded because my changeovers and natural speed were not particularly impressive. However, because of my relay team’s mentality and vigour, we won both relays by a long shot. In the 400m relay, we won by 50-70m and in the 4x100m relay, we won by around 20m. I am very happy to have done and won the relays with such a great relay team. 

Overall, this competition was a wonderful opportunity that I was lucky to have been a part of. I was able to surpass expectations and take home achievements to be proud of. 

Currently, the track team looks forward to ISAC, which we have next weekend. 

 

Learning Outcomes: 

• LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
• LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
• LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
• LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.