This is the best story I have heard in awhile. Someone should grab it up and make it into a movie for all the life lessons it teaches.

The most difficult championship to win as it turns out, is not the World Series, nor the Superbowl. It is the high school state championship. A hundred or more teams vying for one winner. Our girls were striving against the odds on Saturday, running a hilly course over in Carrollton, Georgia. The championships are run there every year. Maybe you don't know how cross country works. First you run across fields and through the woods. You run out of sight of the audience. Minutes tick by with coaches and parents pacing back and forth anxiously, staring at a spot off in the distance where the first runner will appear in their own time, bouncing out of the woods. The spectators are watching for the color of the jersey first and then the color of the hair. Is it their runner, and which of their runners is it? A cry will go up when they appear, still a long way off, perhaps a half mile, or three quarters of a mile away. You want it to be your best runner coming first, because if your number 2 runner shows up first then something bad has happened out on the three mile course and your best person is down or walking somewhere and your team is in trouble.

Here's how the scoring works. As each runner finishes, they are given a number: 1,2,3,4,5, in the order of their finish. When all your team finishes, you add up your lowest five numbers and that is your score. Lowest team score wins. Sometimes it is impossible to know who won the meet until everyone turns in their scores and the officials compare. Your time really doesn't matter on a cross country course. Each course is different and the times fluctuate depending on the steepness of the trails, weather conditions, how the grass is cut, etc. It's the order of finish that matters. Who crosses first?

Our team this year has been solid. They have not won any big invitational meets but have placed near the top. They were ranked 6th in the state by the newspapers. They didn't win every dual meet. They have one "talented" runner, Emily. Not that she doesn't work hard, because the whole team works hard and Emily especially does. But whereas most of the top girls are solid runners, they don't win races. Emily however, is fast. If she had a good day on Saturday, other coaches around the state knew that Emily would win the state individual title. I have 7 girls on the 28 member team who are in chorus. Only the top seven runners from each qualifying school may participate in the state meets, bringing about 212 runners from 32 different teams together for the mass start in an open field. Only one of my girls was among our seven, Kaelyn. She told me that she usually ran about 6th of the 7 girls. Only five of their scores would count. I asked Coach B how he thought the girls would do when I saw him in the office on Friday afternoon. He said that if every girl ran her personal best on Saturday that they would win. If not and we still had a good day, then 3rd or 4th was possible. It sounded very exciting.

With the starter's gun, a field of girls began sprinting, racing for the woods, trying to get into position before the trail narrows making it harder to pass slower runners. Each of these girls is one of the top girls on a top team. They are all fast. They all know how to race. They disappeared into the woods. Coaches all look at their watches. This particular course if just over a mile and the athletes will make three circuits of it on the way to the finish. Our girls have trained all year together, working as a team. The coach stresses teamwork. They have fun activities to get to know each other. They do team building activities and learn to appreciate one another regardless of their standing on the squad. Each girl can push the girl in front of her. Each girl can encourage the girl behind her. They run most of the way in clumps, bunched up according to skill level. In the championship race, our girls would be running in a knot of green jerseys most of the time, encouraging each other all the way. Emily does not run with the pack. Emily doesn't run with anyone. She runs alone, way, way, way out in front and out of sight of the others. She has her own private war going on with her body, with no one to help her.

The first two laps are difficult to judge. Everyone looked okay. Emily was running in the front, Erica not too far behind her, maybe 15th overall, then there were a number of different jerseys and gaggles of girls going by separated by a second or less. Spectators shout encouragement to their favorites, but the girls can't really hear. They are focused on how they feel. Can they push harder? Are they running too fast? For a third time, everyone disappeared into the trees. At least all of our girls were still running in the first half of the pack.

The time got close, coaches got edgy. Any moment someone would come into sight 800 meters from the finish. One coach, and one group of supporters would give a cry. Girls would begin to scream the name of the front runner, who would still be too far away to hear. Finally a small thin blonde burst from out of the trees, running fast. Her jersey was green. It was Emily. And then, no one. She was running alone, seconds went by. 10 yards, 20,30, 50 yards. 100 yards. 150 yards and Emily still ran alone racing uphill. Running as if possessed. Teammates were leaping up and down, screaming and crying at the drama. Finally 200 yards back a blue and gold jersey came into view. Last year's champion, still only a sophomore this year, came into sight. Both girls are blonde. Both are named Emily. They are friends. Another minute would pass before the third runner appeared. There was great joy with our fans and parents. They began to think what was possible. Another fine team has won this event year after year after year. Could we unseat them? It now all depended on the invisible 6 who were still out on the course. Were they running their hearts out? How badly did they want to win? How badly were they hurting? Of course, they had no idea that Emily was running first. Emily came over the rise and began to pick up speed toward the finish line. In a race where only six girls in the state would finish under twenty minutes, Emily was on pace to be under 18 minutes. 100 meters from the finish, leading by nearly a minute, Emily fell. Her legs gave out from under her and she crumpled to the ground. She tried to rise but could not continue. She was still. Emily had run faster than was possible for her on last Saturday. Despite the cheering fans, despite the fact that she could have crawled to the finish and still won the meet, Emily did not rise again. It was evident that she was in a crisis and Emergency Medical Personnel had to intervene for Emily. She was taken to the medical tent, and it would be an hour before she got up again on her own. All year the girls had talked of state championship, they had worked with it in mind. Now the coaches and fans were in tears, both crushed that Emily would not win the individual state title, concerned for her health, hurting for how the loss would affect the team. It's not a good thing to see a young athlete fall and lie still. The Emily in Blue and Gold ran by and crossed the line to win the state title. The next runner was still a minute behind.

Three minutes behind Emily, Erica, Rebecca, Kaelyn, Kristy, Kaia, and Olivia were still running their hardest and running close together, a knot of green uniforms in a sea of colors, red, blue, gold, and purple. Erica was strongest among them and had drawn away. Rebecca went with her. She couldn't keep pace with Erica, but she kept her in sight, nine runners ran between the two. Then among the host of girls making up the pack of runners that made up the first 1/4 of the finishers, there were four more green jerseys, close together, Kristy, Kaia, Kaelyn, and Olivia, the first two within a few seconds of each other and then Kaelyn and finally Olivia who was beginning to fall back. They came into the clear and heard the cheering fans. To the fans watching, the jersies were all the wrong color, only two of our girls were in the top 40 to clear the trees. Then suddenly, there they were. Green, green, green, green. "I see them all!" someone shouted. Erica was now the first runner for our team. It's not clear to me if she knew that or not. She ran hard maintaining her position in the elite girls who were running ten and fifteen seconds apart. She came across 14th in 20:38. Some well meaning fans scooted out toward our girls shouting out "Emily fell. She's out of the race." Someone said that Rebecca felt her heart fall in her chest and she wanted to stop and step off the course. "All for nothing" was all she could think. She ran on, finishing 24th overall.

Kaelyn said that she and Kristy and Kaia in front of her all heard the shout clearly. "Emily fell. Emily's out!" Kaelyn doesn't know why, but without any communication among them, the three of them bolted forward. Olivia held on in place, but could not go with them. Kaelyn is long and lean--six feet tall and with a long stride. She's not your typical girls cross country runner. She felt okay though and pressed herself. It suddenly became clear to her that as the sixth place runner on her team, she was no longer an extra. With Emily down, Kaelyn's score would count. They were running uphill and Kaelyn tried to catch Kristy and Kaia. Their newfound speed pushed them past tiring runners from other schools. Kaelyn got closer and closer to the other girls. They crested the hill, three hundred yards downhill to the finish line. Kaelyn still felt good and she started another surge. It occured to her that she didn't have to follow Kristy and Kaia in and she began to stretch her long strides. Closing on Kaia, she moved past her. One hundred yards to go she began to push again and passed Kristy. Kaelyn was running 3rd on the team and came across the line to take the number 30. Kristy was two seconds behind and took 32. Kaia held 35. Olivia chased them with all she had and a few seconds later took number 49. The girls huddled, gasping for breath. "Is Emily really out of the race?" They learned yes, it was true. "Do we still have a chance?" asked Kaelyn. The others shook their heads. "No. We're out of it." 14,24,30,32,35,49

The coaches had come out of the emergency tent to greet the girls. Emily had been unconscious but had been given oxygen and was now awake, but being monitored. She was dizzy still and could not get up. Numbers were written on forms. Forms were passed in to officials. All the runners soon finished. In awhile the girls began to forget about their initial hurt. Emily was doing okay. We'll all run again on another day. They wondered which teams would win. The awards ceremony began to get organized and a loud speaker announced in alphabetical order the four teams that should proceed to the awards area: Chapel Hill, Lakeside, Marist, and McIntosh. It was now an hour after Emily fell and she was back on her feet with the other girls. Fourth place went to Lakeside with 159 points. Our girls smiled. They were excited about third place. Third place went to Chapel Hill with 151 points. "Oh well, Marist is going to win again, keeping their streak intact," thought the fans. Second place with 149 is Marist, and the champions with 130 points--McIntosh. Our field runners, 2 through 6, without their star, had won the state championship.

Later after the celebrating. There were these interesting thoughts. Though Emily did not score, she was the motivation for the outstanding races of the others. Olivia's points also did not count, since she was the sixth runner for the team. However, Olivia had been racing with all that she had and if our number 4 or 5 runner had faltered in front of her, Olivia's finish would have saved the day. Even with Olivia's 49, the girls would have still won the state championship. They did it together and in an improbable way. They carried Emily to the awards platform on their shoulders. She was named to the first team of the All-State runners. Had Emily finished first, the team would have won the championship by 53 points.