Westerns and stuff

I suppose that it is about time that I finally wrote up my thoughts and feelings about Westerns. I know that there is a lot going on in my mind right now as to what happened and didn't happen and I know what will come out in this spill, well, not exactly what will come out. In a cruel sort of way, Westerns snuck up on us. I don't mean that all of the sudden it was that we were blindfolded and sent on a plane to Colorado, I mean that suddenly half of our girls, including myself, were either sick or injured. As we set out last Friday, I was missing my dark jersey, and was coming down with the worst sickness I have had all year. Lisa pulled her hip flexer, Aurbi's knees looked like someone sent them through a meat grinding machine. Emily had been missing practice for a variety of reasons and CJ was just healing from a sprained ankle and being sick. It seemed like what we had been preparing for had left us unprepared and under manned (or womanned.) As we finally made it to Colorado, we noticed the dryness but also the beauty. It was the perfect mix of Eugene and Southern California. Great weather, awful memories. As we finally made it to our hotel, our stomachs made their largest complaint about their emptiness. Trudging back out to vehicles was to begin the worst part of my night. As all the juniors crammed into one van and the freshman in another, I didn't know where to go. Standing in the middle of the parking lot, Mindy Force was kind enough to invite me to come with her, Daniel and Collin. Relieved that I not only had a place to sit but was with friends my mood slowly started to improve, until Luke told us he needed one of us to leave. As his gaze fell directly on me I knew tha tI would be alone with the fresheman. As dinner that night I was allergic to half my food and had to sit next to Nina. There is no need to say more.
The next morning we were all up and ready to play. We came out hard and took our first game solidly, 13-3. The next round was a bye, and we took too much time relaxing and not enough time watching. Coming out in our second game, we were out of it to begin with, but then decided to make a run at it. The run might have gotten us back into it, but the constant verbal harrassment from the other team got us too down. At that point we shut down. Playing our butts off earlier that day, we gave NW a sad excuse of a game. Luckily for us they are a team with great spirit and fun. We wished them luck and they took it to second place. After our third game we went to watch the guys. After a disgusting pick call, they ended up losing to Lakeside, setting them against South. South came out ready to go, while CHS was the biggest mess I have ever seen. Sad to say the boys were beaten fairly badly, but the night would get worse. Watching the showcase games gave many of us and idea of who we might be playing with in the next two years. A crazy thought. After that it was back to the hotel and mostly, swimming. Hanging out calmed my nerves, but what ended up shaking me was being sick. After discovering that you could open the trunk through the window, and fit two people back there, we were off to the store. I bought cough drops, went back to the hotel, wrote some personal stuff in my journal and then quickly conked out.
Waking up the next morning sucked. I was tired, sore and sicker than ever. Making sure that everyone was taped and ready to go filled my morning as we had to be out of there at 7:30 am. Once ready to go we hit the fields. Playing our first game, Aubri and I got to match up against some of our friends from tryout camp. It was a fun game, and we took it quickly 13-3. South on the other hand lost their game, sending us agianst South in the quarter finals. Playing them sucked. The game was no fun until the second half when we started playing like a team and family. I would like to think that my pep talk did infact pump up my team but I do not know for sure. We played well the second half but still lost. Our final game would be against Lakewood, a Colorado team that we took to give us the tie for 5th place. The guys cheered us on our last two points and it was nice to hear that what we were doing wasn't second place to the real competion in the opens division as many people tried to lay claim. But I suppose that all that is not waht is truely important...
The CHS womens team, also lacking an adult coach this weekend, played together. We won and lost as a team. Lisa, who was injured and in pain, kindly called lines, and while in the game came up with some throws I never thought she had. Emily Neyman had some sick deep cuts that us into our endzone much faster than we imagined. CJ broke the South cup all weekend long, and didn't drop a single disc. Christine and Kimber were our dynamic cutting duo, responsible for much of the flow of our game. Yeon and Claire, as much as they despise being lumped together, played harder than either one thought possible. Both got amazing D's and shocked high schoolers with their amazing skill. Rosie, who had only been playing for a little over a month really stepped it up. And I have to say that Aubri was the back bone of out team. She had so many skys and bids that most people stopped to watch and the UPA is even bragging. Overall it was a great weekend that we will only improve upon next year.
I however feel as if I was the least helpful person on the team. I know that handling can be a somewhat thankless job, but I didn't realize how much. Props to Collin, Andrew, Daniel and Peter Q-B for dealing with it.