My heart was pounding, my hands were sweaty, and my eyes were locked onto my teammate as she rounded the last corner on the track and headed toward me with the 4 x 400 meter baton in her hand, waving through the air in fluid motions. She drew closer and closer, with a Seneca girl trailing behind her. I was the last leg of the race, and the one with the most pressure. It was my seventh-grade year and our season was coming to an end, so I knew I had to give it everything I had.

I started to shuffle and stuck my hand out to take the baton from Gwen as she sprinted toward me. I felt the cold, rounded baton strike my hand, so I clenched it tight and took off. The Seneca girl I was up against wasn’t handed the baton until a while later. I was going strong, breathing in and out in a good rhythm, pumping my arms, and letting my legs fly. But out of nowhere, I heard heavy breathing coming up behind me. I pushed a little faster, but still, the breathing got closer. I could hear my whole team screaming my name as I rounded the corner of the 200, and edged closer to the 300 mark. My breathing wasn’t so rhythmic anymore; it was short, quick breaths trying to suck in as much oxygen as my lungs could handle. Now I could hear her feet stomping on the track and the swish of her hair as it flung to and fro.

“Come on, just 100 meters left,” I told myself over and over, chanting the short phrase as if it was going to save me.

Before I knew it, she was right beside me, and there we were running in perfect synchronization down the track. I watched her slowly pull ahead, her strides longer than mine. In retaliation, I jumped up beside her. Back and forth we went, bee-lining down the last 100 meters to the finish where my team and her team stood screaming. Time seemed to slow down as I realized I had to beat her. So with a last mighty surge of speed I pulled ahead of her by a fraction of an inch, flung myself across the finish line, and heard the official scream to an up-roaring crowd:

“Corry! Then Seneca!”

My coach leaped into the air and ran to congratulate me on my hard-earned win.

My girls team gave me a shower of high-fives, hugs, and ‘good jobs.’ I was instantly surrounded by people, though I was hunched over trying to hold my balance and keep breathing.

I felt a light tap on the back of my shoulder and turned to see the Seneca girl towering over me, panting just as hard as I was.

“You…did…absolutely…amazing!” She mustered out, through gulps of air.

“You did too!” Together, we shared a laugh at how out of breath we were.

We talked for a short while longer, getting to know each other and hoping to be able to race against each other again during the season. After parting ways, my 4 x 400 team went up to the table to claim our medals, which gave a sweet reward to all of the hard work that was put into it.

“Smile,” said a fellow teammate who took a picture of us girls with all of our medals.

Though the moment of happiness was captured on camera, it will always be most memorable in my heart.