After a full two weeks on the road, I'm finally returning back home. It's been a great time, and very productive, but I'm excited to be returning to Grinnell just in time for our spring season to get under way.
I started my trip with a few days of family vacation in Daytona Beach, FL. We had a nice time at the pool, the beach, and at De Leon Springs State Park. The highlight of the trip was the up close views of alligators on the river.
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| It's a little hard to see, but that's a big old gator staring us down. |
The track team soon joined us in Daytona for a week of quality training at Embry Riddle University. This was the fourth year in a row we've trained there, and it is one of the highlights of the track and field season. Besides the quality training and recruiting for the football team, the trips to the beach, and the outstanding shopping at the Volusia Mall (!), the most anticipated events of the trip are Coach Will Freeman's regular trips to Krispy Kreme for fresh donuts.
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| "Here he comes! The Donut King!" |
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| Warm donuts for all |
From Daytona, the team headed north to Atlanta, for the two-day meet at Emory University. We don't traditionally have great performances at this meet, as most athletes are coming off an intense week of training, but it is nice to get in a quality meet to start the outdoor season. The trip to Atlanta also serves as a great opportunity for me to continue my recruiting. Besides the two student-athletes that have been admitted to Grinnell for the recruiting class of 2015, I was able to visit many area coaches to increase our prospect pool for 2016. I put plenty of miles on the car, but I'm pleased with the results of the trip.
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| 937 miles and 24 total hours in the car later and I'm happy to be headed home! |
For now though, I'm happy to be headed back to Grinnell. We've got a great group of Juniors visiting campus for our Junior Day next Friday, in addition to the Admitted Student's Programs the 12th -13th and 19th-20th. Throw in our spring practices, plus the outdoor season for track and field, and April will be a busy month! Can't wait!
