Because of the need for qualifiers, just this much had taken half the day. We still had to do all 3 of the long distance races before the relays. Micheal had not been able to get on the podium yet. It was to be expected as a small freshman. He was not done yet though. We were all waiting for the results. None of us were able to medal in the long distance events. That was fine. It was now time for the relay races. First were the qualifiers for the 4x100. It was easy to sprint over to Anthony. I gave him so much time, he was able to make it to the next leg nearly unopposed. 100 meters was not a long distance. They began to catch up by the time Robert passed the baton over to the excited Micheal. He was quick enough to keep the lead. Our team had the best time in the qualifiers, so we were in the best position. It was the medal round, so I went even faster than I did during the qualifiers. That gave our Anthony even more time for a lead. I told him to run as fast as he could for the 100 because it was such a short distance. He took it to heart and went as fast as he could. That served us really well.
He only slowed down to pass the baton off to Robert. He had the lead for a bit. One of the seniors at First High shot of like a rocket and caught up to them. They were neck and neck as they passed their batons off. It was our own Micheal up against another senior. Everyone from our school was cheering them on. The senior beat him by a couple of seconds. We still took second place. We were getting off of this island as a team. We were so happy standing on the podium. Even the skittish Robert was smiling as we wrapped him up in a group hug. Next was time for the 4x400. This was the big deal. After qualifying, we took home another bronze medal. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. Anthony and Robert just were not fast enough to compete with the seniors of the other schools. The meet had gone long into the night before finishing up. It was time to go home again. It was now Sunday. That meant we were doing the field events all in one go. My 2 events were up first again. I had only medaled in the javelin throw, so that was the only one that I had to do. I was in it to win it. Just like Friday.
For my first throw, I focused on the footwork and launched it as hard as I could. It went to 173 feet. That was pretty good. The next throw was going full boar. Throwing all caution to the wind, I threw it even harder. It went a staggering 179 feet. People were totally amazed at what they saw. Everyone tried to beat my score, but they simply could not. I won the gold medal easily. Nothing could compare to winning the gold. Micheal got bronze in the high jump. Sebastian honed his craft and took the silver medal for his hammer throw. Noel tied with his brothers to get the bronze medal in the discus throw. That was pretty cool. James was a prodigy at the pole vault. He won the gold medal. That was it for our school. Most of us qualified to move on the Raida Duchy tournament in 3 months. As far as the schools were concerned, when they added all the medals, First High was the champion. We got 3rd place. Everyone on the team got a new bronze medal. I could take another medal. I had 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Robert had 2 silvers and 2 bronze. Anthony had 1 silver and 3 bronze.
It was the same for Micheal. The school medals were going to be kept by the school. Having it there was fine with me. Now everyone would know my contribution to the school. The next day was a massive assembly. It was not only us but the soccer team that had a good year. The managed to place second in the round robin. All the other sports teams failed to medal. We were celebrated as heroes. We were then ushered into the auditorium after school had ended. It was everyone who medaled at the meet and all 41 members of the soccer team. The principal and vice principal told us to sign a resignation form. All of us that were there for the first time were all very upset. They had been through this before many times though. "It is simply not safe off the island for you. If you go into heat, what will you boys do? Besides we don't need to participate on the mainland. There is another track meet to replace the one you'll miss." the vice-principal said. "This is something that you will do for the good of the island." the principal added. One of the sophomore boys on the soccer team ripped his.
