Coach's Award

Before I forget, I think it's vital that I document a recent event of my life. On Thursday, November 10, 2011, my cross country team had our banquet at the Easter building. I was honestly dreading it, because there are 200 people on the team (calling names takes a long time...we were there for 4 hours. FOUR HOURS.)
It ended up being really awesome though. The coaches called up every person and handed them their particpation awards and shook each kid's hand. When it got to the seniors though, the coaches stood at the podium and shared a little bit about each runner. It was so sweet. Stevens was actually really genuine and had a lot of nice things to say about each girl. When he got to me, he of course mentioned the Susan incident (when I told him that I actually went by Susan, not Michelle...and he believed me), how Emma and I were always cheerful, the fact that I didn't wear shoes, and some other things. It was really sweet, because he is honestly the best coach I've ever had and it's hard to feel noticed sometimes when he has to coach so many people. It meant a lot to know that he actually noticed though -- not just me, but every other runner as well.
The coaches also gave out their own awards. Each coach - Hatak, Krause, Bradley, Lombardi, Lutz, and Stevens (in that oder) presented one student with an award that they wanted to personally give to that one student, for different reasons. Emma and I were sort of freaking out because we had so much homework to do, and we really wanted to leave. She actually did end up leaving right before Stevens gave his award. I had just put my head in my hands and was thinking "How much longer could this possibly go?" when Stevens said "Can I get Michelle Scott up on the stage?" He then proceeded to tell everyone that he was giving me his coach's award. I have to tell you, that was a really great moment. It showed me that my hard work didn't go unnoticed during the season, even though I wasn't super fast. It showed me that he valued me as a member of his team.
It was such a simple thing, but it meant the world to me. Of the other awards I've gotten from my high school sports, this one means the most to me. It will help me remember my favorite coach, and all the reasons why I love running. It sounds so cheesey, but I'm being serious. What a great coach; what a great season. I guess I'm just really glad I didn't leave in the middle ;)