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DETROIT (4/23/2013) -- The University of Detroit Mercy men's and women's outdoor track and field teams competed in the Mondo Mid-Major Challenge hosted by Sacramento State on April 11-13. Senior Taylor Hennrick of the men's team was able to blog about the trip-of-a-lifetime on a daily basis to keep track of the course of events in and around the competition.

The first group of Titans left early in the morning on April 10 including multi-athletes Hana Hunt and Amanda Campbell from the women's team and Hennrick from the men's team in preparation for the multi events starting on Thursday. The next group of Titans left on Thursday to be ready for events Friday and Saturday.

For more information on the meet and for results on the meet, you can find the full recaps here: Men |  Women

By Taylor Hennrick

Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The day began at roughly 5:45 a.m. for the other multi-event athletes and myself, our trainer, and our coaches who were preparing to travel to California.  We all met at Calihan Hall where we would be taken by van to the Detroit Metro airport and begin making our way West to Sacramento, California.  We arrived at the airport right on time, encountered no problems, and were soon seated on our first of two flights.  This was quite an accomplishment for me personally because I had never before been on a plane.  I was both nervous and excited for this experience.  This was my first flight, at the age of 22, and we were heading to Denver. 
          
We arrived in Denver with about a half hour to spare before our connecting flight was scheduled to take us right into Sacramento.  We all found food and settled down before we were to take-off again.  The second flight went off without a hitch and before we knew it we were landing in a sunny paradise around 12:30 p.m.  The temperature was almost double that of which we left in Detroit and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  It was a pretty amazing feeling claiming our bags and hurrying to shed clothes before running outside into the hot sun.  As was the plan, a van came and picked us up and we took a short drive to a rental agency, and were on our way to the hotel.

Little did we know what our coaches had in store for us.  One of the biggest highlights of my trip was making the well-worth-it 90 mile drive up to Lake Tahoe.  Coach Fairchild told us it might be a bit cold so we packed warm clothes but when we got there, we found it was serene, peaceful, and perfect temperatures for some prep-day hiking.  I must admit I have never been much of an advocate for getting out into nature but this single experience completely changed my mind about the beauty associated with everything natural around us.  We went into the mountains, dipped our feet in Lake Tahoe, saw snow-covered mountaintops, and stood in a waterfall that ran down into a vast inland lake.  It was exhilarating and unlike anything you could do in Michigan.  I could not imagine a better way to put things in perspective and prepare the body and mind for a multi-event competition than to connect with nature and enjoy the warm California weather.

With plenty of time to get ourselves ready for the next few days of competition, we drove back down the mountain to our hotel and turned in for the night.

Thursday, April 11, 2013
I quickly found out this morning that the time change would work to our advantage.  I was wide awake at 7:15 a.m. ready to start my day off with a hotel parking lot shakeout run.  Normally I cannot wake up that early without feeling groggy or tired but this was different.  After a short stretch, we met our coach at breakfast, ate, and would soon go over to Sacramento State University's track and field complex.

The name of the meet we competed in was the Mondo Mid-Major Challenge.  The field was mostly comprised of West Coast and Mountain West schools such as BYU, Montana State, UC Davis, Cal Poly, Utah State, etc...  I could tell from the start it was going to take some of our very best performances to keep up with the level of talent we were up against.  I took this challenge in stride and prepared for the first of the two day's events.

Day 1 of the decathlon included: the 100 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, and the 400 meter dash in that order.  It was so warm out by 12:30p.m. when my event was scheduled to start that I hardly needed any kind of sweatpants or jacket to help keep the warmth in while getting my legs loose.  The conditions were absolutely perfect for us to succeed and bring home some new personal records.  Day 1 was long but proved to be a fantastic start to our competition.  I recorded a new personal record in the high jump of 5'11 ½” and was in fifth place out of 8 athletes as the day's events came to a close about 5:30 p.m. 

I was sort of the outsider amongst all the competitors because of how far we had come to the meet.  The guys I was doing the multi-events with were all very nice and even supportive of each other, and me, when we were competing.  It was refreshing and definitely helped me feel like I fit right in out there.

To fully immerse ourselves in some California culture, we went to In-N-Out Burger for our post-meet meal.  The food was exceptional and was exactly what we needed after a full day of burning off energy in the sun.

That night we had plenty of time to lay low, relax, and prepare for the next day.  My personal decathlon ritual involves eating a healthy amount of protein, taking an ice bath followed by a hot shower and lots of stretching.  And then of course to follow all of that with a good night's sleep.

Friday, April 12, 2013
Waking up on Day 2 of the decathlon, or any multi-event competition can be a bit unnerving.  You never know how your legs have recovered until the next day when you get up and move around.  Luckily for the multis at UDM, our coach knows the best way to help our legs recover overnight and has us feeling fresh as can be.

We again went for a short shakeout run, headed to breakfast and before you could even blink an eye, we were back out on the track.  Day 2 of the decathlon was as follows: 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and the 1,500m run.  I felt great going into competition but knew the sun would wear on me a bit after two full days of being in it.  I sought shade more often and drank as much liquids as my body could handle.  I edged my way into 4^th place with one of my fellow competitors struggling to get a mark in both the discus and pole vault.  I posted a new personal record in the javelin with a throw of 39.76 meters or roughly 130'.  This was a big boost going into the hardest event of the competition. 

Then came the capstone event, the one that more often than not trips up an inexperienced or underprepared decathlete, but, not me.  My coach knows what it takes to be successful in these events and it was on display as I ran as hard as possible for 3 ¾ laps around the track, giving every ounce of energy I had left to break my old best time.  I ran a 4:48.91 which is about 4 seconds off of my career best time and I ran in the dead heat of the day.  It was humid and there was no getting around it.  I gutted it out and felt amazing when I was done.  I had just posted my second best decathlon score of my career with 5,861 points and later found out that this put me just outside of the Top 100 Division I Decathlon scores nationally for the season and 46^th in the East Region of Division 1 Collegiate Track and Field.

My competition had ended and it was now time for my teammates to take advantage of the perfect conditions presented to them.

Saturday, April 13, 2013
Now that I had completed a grueling decathlon competition, I thought all my body would want to do was sleep.  I was 100% wrong.  I woke up without without any real reason at 7:00 a.m.  I guess my body's alarm clock was still on Michigan time.  I decided it would be beneficial to do a 15-minute run and reward myself by jumping in the pool and jacuzzi.  It was exactly what I needed to start my day.  I sat there in the jacuzzi, listening to music, wishing this was my daily routine.  I had already fallen in love with the warm California weather and knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Competitors shuttled over to the track all morning at various times for the main day of competition.  At this point, full teams and rosters had arrived and the stadium was buzzing with anticipation.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching my teammates put it all out on the track against some unfamiliar opposition.

Everyone gave it their all and it was evident in the tired walking and body language of my teammates.  We, as a team, and myself definitely included, did not have the perfect results or days of competition we may have envisioned, but we certainly got more out of this meet than we would have going anywhere else.  The conditions alone were the best possible to prepare us for the heat we will likely see at the Horizon League Championship meet we are hosting at Eastern Michigan University on May 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  We also saw how dynamic some of our distance runners could be as many of them ran the night before in the cool, evening air, and then doubled back to run races in the 80 degree daytime weather.  Improvements were what we were looking for and many improvements were made.

The meet ended in the middle of the afternoon and we were given two choices for what we could do.  We could either jump in a van heading up to San Francisco to do some sightseeing and grab dinner there or head back to the hotel and enjoy the free time we had left in California.  My body and mind were extremely worn down from the long days of competition so I chose to go to the hotel and relax poolside with my teammates.  I definitely believe I made the right decision.  It was great fun to go in the pool and jacuzzi and play frisbee with my teammates.  We are a close-knit group who, for the most part, are like a big family and we had a blast.

The day ended with people going every which way for food, keeping in mind that we had to be up and in the lobby of the hotel by 4:00 a.m. 

Sunday, April 14, 2013
The flights coming back were not quite as enjoyable as the ones going there.  First off, we knew that the weather awaiting us at home would not be anywhere near as nice as the weather we were leaving.  And, we were tired as a group from a busy week.  Our first flight took us to Dallas, where we then connected and flew to Detroit.  We got home around 6:00 p.m. and I can honestly say it's never felt so good to be on solid ground.  I thanked my coaches for taking us, wishing it didn't go by so fast.

This is a trip I will never in my life forget.  It was by far the most fun time I have ever had competing in a track meet.  I met some very nice people, contended with great competition, had a lot of success, and got to share in it all with my best friends, teammates, and coaches.  I hope to one day make it out to California again but either way I am very, very thankful to have had this opportunity.  I wouldn't trade the memories I already have for anything.