Washing Feet

Finding God in all things.

I’m taking a risk by putting myself out there on this post, but here it goes. I noticed a picture as I was going through my camera when I got home. It’s of Neil Winter’s feet. Weird picture, I know, but he had just run most of the race with just one shoe on. I came back to the tent right after the varsity had finished, and I started to tell Neil that we needed to clean up his foot. The rest of the coaches and I were worried about any cuts or bruises even though he said they felt fine.

Anyway, I tried to get a picture of the carnage, and I wanted to clean his feet.

I was scrolling through the pictures, and it dawned on me that this was remarkably similar to when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

Now, before I go any further, I am in no way comparing myself to Christ. For one, I never went near Neil’s feet. I also know that it is know where even close to the part of the year when this gospel is read.

But I digress.

The point is that I never looked at the washing of the disciples’ feet with a sense of urgency and empathy until today. Yeah, Christ was acting as a servant, and there is a lot of value in that. However, He also felt our pain through his own temptations, and knew that it was urgent to clean us up. It’s like when you help someone after they had a rough day at school or work. You know they could probably do whatever it is that they are doing by themselves, but you help anyway because you can empathize with their exhaustion.

Homily over.

Blog post on the actual race is coming soon.

“Unity is strength…when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”                           -Maddie J.T. Stepanek

I would definitely have to say that this quote describes the bonding of our team and strengthening of relationships this past weekend. Last Friday, the Varsity guys left right after school ended to head down to Jefferson City to practice the course for the race the next day and spend the night in a hotel. The JV and Freshman groups on the other hand ran through our normal pre-meet routine and got out of practice early.

The next day (Saturday) the JV and Freshman woke up at the crack of dawn to meet at De Smet at 6:45 AM to begin the journey. The journey took approximately 2 hours and the way down was mostly quiet for the first hour as everyone took the advantage to rest and fuel up before the race. As we got closer and saw the state capital, enthusiasm rose up. The race was at Oak Hills golf course which was pretty neat as we were racing on the greens and fairway. The course itself was full of hills in the first and third mile while the second mile was flat. This was a unique and enjoying course in which our team competed very well. As far as places he had the Varsity guys place 6^th out of 27 teams and the JV guys placing 3^rd out of 16 teams. Varsity placers were: Joe Reed (16:35), Tyler O’Connor (16:56), Michael Ruiz del Arbol (Smith Cotton, Wilson, Stein, Malone, Jackson) (17:03), Neil Winter (17:45), and Matthew “Justice” Woodford (17:47). Congrats to you guys with your fierce competition. As far as JV guys, we had an awesome race. Placers were Patrick Sanchez (18:36), Nolan Shannon (18:45), Thomas Linhares (18:52), Kole Wetzler (19:00), and Tim(bo) Abbenhaus (19:12). Almost all of the JV runners PR’d (Got a personal record, for those who don’t know). After the race, I went around asking people how they did and the answers were awesome. Juniors, Dominic Kinsella and Caleb Hackman responded with “Are you talking about before this race because THIS IS IT”.  Freshman Alex Voelker responded with “I PR’D BY 1 minute and a half!” I, myself PR’d as well and it was awesome to finish the race with the feeling that I just broke my own record on a course that I have never run before. The results of this race were extraordinarily remarkable and I congratulate everyone that ran and thank all those who supported us and the Varsity guys in the race.

After the race, we headed back to De Smet where the journey back is one to remember. We all (JV and Varsity) stopped by a sketchy McDonalds at a rest stop along the highway for lunch and thus continued the journey home where the varsity guys went their separate ways. Along the journey there were multiple activities going on. In my row, we had Happy Wheels tournament going on where we all struggled to beat some levels. (Happy Wheels is a game on the smartphone).  Car Sickness claimed a victim in which we luckily found a grocery bag to use to improvise a barf-bag. I feel like there is one more thing that I am forgetting…Oh wait we got stranded at a gas station. We stopped for a bathroom break and a 5 min break turned into a 1 hour break. As we stopped, the bus driver thought it might be a good idea to fill up the bus tank while we were stopped. So he paid for the gas and had it running while he went to go use the restroom. Well…..it turns out he forgot to start the filling and filling up a bus tank takes a lot longer than a car tank. So 20 min later, the driver comes back to find out he didn’t start it and starts it. While we were stopped, some of the athletes decided to go into the gas station to use the bathroom and buy snacks. By the time, the tank was filled up, we were about 45 min late on schedule which was a problem for some sophomores who had homecoming and we all joked around about fake flat tires and more stops needed. Anyway we all got back to De Smet around 5 o’clock and enjoyed what was left of a Saturday off. The bus ride was a truly memorable experience as the JV guys (and Varsity the day before) were able to spend an entire day together, talking about strategies, joking around, and competing together on that same day. This trip definitely proves true that the journey is just as important and exciting as the end goal, getting to the race, or end of the trip. 

                -Salvatore Alu

                Class of 2017