The were qualifying heats. All scores from all three races were going to be recorded. The top 6 would go for the medal round. It was obviously in your best interest to win your race. However, that still might not be enough of the other heats blew yours out of the water. My heat was the third. The first one saw Aaron destroy the competition. I totally expected that. The next round was where Jackson and Noah won. Their times were also much better than the Freshmen. It was then time for our heat to begin. I was ready to get this over with. The triplets, Lucas, Andrew and I went to the starting line quietly. I could see the determination in their eyes. We got into our positions and waited for the starting pistol to fire. When it did, I shot from the block like a rocket. I was running as fast as I had to. I came in second behind Lucas. That was a bit of an upset. I was going to the medal round. I only held back 5% of what I had. There was no point in tiring myself out and losing everything for the qualifiers. That said, I needed to be running at 95% just to qualify. At my level, I was not good enough to slack off.
We had 5 minutes before the medal round began. The triplets and my relay buddies were cheering me on. I smiled and waved at them as I made my way to my place. It was nice to know people were there for me. When the shot rang out, I gave it my all. All I needed was 1 event to move on. It did not matter which one it was. However, if it really did not matter, why not let it be the 1st one? I ran and got 3rd place. Aaron and Lucas got the gold and silver medals respectively. While on the podium, Lucas turned to Aaron. "Want to fuck after this lets out?" Aaron shrugged. "Sure. I earned it." he said nonchalantly. The bronze medal was placed on my neck first. After Aaron got his medal, the anthem played again. We were then hurried along for the next race. That was the 200 meter dash. Unlike the 100 meters, this races was not popular at all. The others had their eyes on all the other races. The toll of multiple races back to back would take them out of competition by the time the mid and long distance races came around. There were 6 entrants for this race so it was an automatic medal round.
It was James, Micheal, the triplets and I. The triplets were trying to go for a sweep here. That was not going to happen. When the race started, I was running at 100% out the gate again. That was more than enough to take the gold. Oliver and Paul got the silver and bronze. I was truly happy for them. Noel looked a bit frustrated to see his brothers up on the podium without him. I got the gold medal around my neck and the anthem played again. It was then time for the 400 meter dash. This race had a total of 9 people sign up for it. That meant there would be 3 qualifying heats. We would race in 3's to qualify to keep it fair. I no longer needed to try so hard. I did not know who was up for the event. Ethan, Micheal, James were going for it. So were Lucas, Jackson and Noah. Benjamin and Robert were joining me in the second heat. I was not too keen on giving my all for this race. I had already placed in the first 2. Micheal won his heat with ease. Lucas won his narrowly. I let Robert take the win. I was cut along with James and Ethan. Lucas came in 1st. Jackson and Noah took 2nd and 3rd place.
