The five-day Nike Outdoor Nationals Track Meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon was the grand finale of the season. The meet has a high standard of qualifying and it was exciting to both Edison and Charlotte were accepted into the meet. All athletes also get a pretty rad Nike custom backpack as part of their entry - this backpack might be the highlight of NON. The meet has three divisions of competition: Emerging Elite (EE), Championships, and U20. U20 is a qualifier for the Olympic Team - so we got to see some incredible athletes while we were here. Edison competed in the Emerging Elite category for discus, hammer, and shot put. Charlotte competed in EE for discus. The kids had a good showing in each of their events other than Edison fouling out in the shot put. Charlotte had a solid discus series and moved up from 53 to 26th place with her throws at 119'4". Edison's discus and hammer were solid but not the stand-outs he was hoping to throw. I think it is hard to extend the season by three weeks and continue to focus on track after state once summer swim had started up and Edison was also doing football and lifting every day. All in all, we learned a lot, spent a lot of time in Eugene and on the University of Oregon Campus, saw how everything worked, enjoyed competing at a high level meet with high caliber competitors in an incredible venue, and got to see friends who also made it to this meet. I think we're hoping to go back next year if that is in the cards.
We had one event per day and some nice downtime the rest of the day. Charlotte and I loved the Amazon Pool run by the city - it is a 8-lane 50 meter outdoor pool (or 16 lanes in the 25 yard direction). It was phenomenal to swim at. I went on a nine-mile walk Saturday morning along the Willamette River - there is a really well done path on both sides of the river with bridges, etc. and it was easy to walk across the street from the hotel and hop right on. Edison's girlfriend Mady qualified for the meet in the javelin. We met up with her and her parents at their beautiful RV camp spot at the Bennett Vineyard outside Eugene for our final night. They were having live music which was very festive. Charlotte tried Dutch Bros, an Oregon institution, for the first time and liked the strawberry colada. Finally, on our way home, Charlotte and I stopped in Kalama to have a really nice lunch on the patio overlooking the Columbia River and also to check out the market next door that has an incredible totem pole in it. It was a fabulous way to start our summer!
