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May 15-20th, 2019
Dublin, Ohio
Facts:
Total Miles Traveled: 1300
Hours driving: 20
Days of Shooting Archery: 4
# Of MSU Athletes: 21
Times getting pulled over: 1
Over all Trip: PRICELESS
Day 1 - May 15th, 2019
Leaving at 5 am, Bright and early in the morning I embarked on a journey that little did I know would turn into being one of the most memorable trips that I would ever be able to go on. 6 Hours is what it normally takes me to get from my little home town of Menominee all the way to campus in East Lansing. As always, my trip is never dull. A few miles away U.P. side. Yep, that’s right I got pulled for going a bit to fast and needed a reality check. Ha! God sure was looking out for me as I was able to drive away without a ticket.
A few miles down the road I was able to finally cross the Mighty Mac and enjoy the views of the Straights full of warmth and sunshine. Once I was across the bridge, I knew I was on my way to pick up one of my very best friends and my co-pilot for the week, Miss Annaleise Tripp. We planned to meet in grayling, as it was the best spot for both of us! Being only about two hours from East Lansing, we had lots of time to catch up and of course talk about archery.
Once we arrived in East Lansing, our first stop was at the Demmer Center. We could not wait to back and see our teammates and of course coach. After spending sometime at the range, it was time for us to run errands around East Lansing. A few stops on campus, a few on Grand River, a stop at the mall (what is a trip with our a little shopping) and it would not be an archery trip with out an adventure to Meijer. After we finished up at Meijer it was back to Demmer for some relaxation and then off to Apple Bee’s for a team dinner.
Staying overnight at our teammate Madi’s house was the perfect way for us to get a good night rest before our big weekend. We are so grateful for Madi and her family for letting us stay overnight.
Day 2 - May 16th, 2019
6 am came early for all of us, but we were up and ready to get on the road as we had a bit of a drive ahead of us. The plan for day two was to meet at the Demmer center at 7am so that we could be on the road at 7:30 and head directly for the field in Dublin, shoot official practice, and enjoy a fun evening of activities and a wonderful BB-Q dinner. Well… We did all that and more.
The ride down was pretty low key. My co- pilot just happened to be coach, the masters of the snacks was Annaleise and Carolyn. About an hour or so into the trip, the snack master fell asleep in the back seat leaving coach an I a good opportunity to catch up and enjoy a good conversation.
When we arrived in Dublin, we were out of the car, grabbed our bows, sunscreen and we were off to shoot. After practice we lined up for the athlete parade followed by a B-B-Q and some archery tag.
Official practice for me was interesting. When we first arrived at the field the weather was calm and sunny. Perfect right? Well let me tell ya! In a matter of about 15 min. it was windy and the sun was scorching and boy did the wind pick up. After a long first day of traveling and archery it was time to check coach into the hotel and head to the house (Airbnb) for team dinner followed by some relaxation.
Day 3 - May 17th, 2019
Once again we had an early morning, getting ready for our first day of qualifications. We shoot 72 arrows for a total pf 360 points / game for 2 games / two days for our qualifications. After leaving the house and arriving at the field we all learned a valuable lesson. ALWAYS PACK YOUR RAIN BOOTS FOR OUTDOOR TOURNAMENTS. Everything was wet and in true outdoor season fashion it rained and rained some more. So everything had a nice layers of mud on it. But to keep the team spirit high coach decided we need a little song and dance from him! Modifying a movie quote from the movie Cool Running, we now have a team slogan.
“Feel the rhythm , Feel the rhyme, Lets go shoot , it’s archery time”
~ Coach Glen
Yes! we are having t-shirts made:)
It was super windy for qualification, which made shooting super hard. I had to look for several of my arrows, but I was fortunate enough to find each one that I lost. Once qualifications were finished for the day we enjoyed a nice lunch break followed with the mix team event and MSU killed it. The MSU mixed bow - hunter team consisted of Nick and Megan. Although we did not become champions a few of our friends from Wisconsin did. Our open mixed team killed it too! It was a long hot sweaty day and were sunburn. So we headed back to the house for dinner with the UW- Lacrosse Team and enjoy playing games and spending time with friends.
Day 4 - May 18th, 2019
Another day of soaking wet feet and mud we were glad to see some sun shine in the afternoon after the second day of qualifications. Round 2 of qualifying rounds was miserable. 27 mph winds made for a very long morning for the whole team. The afternoon activities brought many new experiences for me. Team rounds! The MSU Female Bow hunter team was comprised of myself, Megan, and Colleen. We are all very strong shooter, but we all struggled with the wind. It was an awesome competition and I hope I can participate in team rounds again soon. Upon being eliminated we were off to cheer on and encourage our other teammates. Another day in the books and it was back to the house for cool air and pizza.
Day 5 - May 19th, 2019
The last full day of our trip! It was a bitter sweet day knowing it was our last day to be with our friends until the fall. Even though it was little sad our work was not done yet … we were ready to take on the eliminations no matter what was coming out way. It was the windiest weather that I have ever shot in. I was eliminated right a way which was not really a huge surprise to me. On the last day I was shooting I was beat. Several of us were eliminated right away but over all is was Awesome. Sunday night entailed a lot of fun. We started the evening by attending the awards banquet. It was a great event with delicious food and many amazing athletes were celebrated. It was our last night all together so it was time for one last hurrah!
Each night we enjoyed playing cards and board games together. As college kids you learn to be creative with just about anything, so we played spoons and with tooth picks. Okay so a little dangerous but super fun. Over all the trip was fantastic and I miss every one of my teammates. I can not wait until the next time we are all together again.
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