Last week at Tulane

The conference meet went well but definitely could have done better. I started strong and finished strong. Placed third in the 100m then finished fourth in the Javelin with my best toss ever and broke 5 minutes in the 1500 for the first time. Ended up 8th overall and it was the third year in a row I was able to score at Conference. As a team we scored more points than we did last year. I went to Nashville yesterday to visit the Tennessee Titans offices and practice facility. I had blast visiting with all the Front Office and seeing Nashville. Got to meet with multiple people thanks to Mr. Reinfeldt. I received a lot of great information from all of them and hope to be able to take that to help in my career search. Family gets in on Friday for graduation on Saturday so looking forward to a nice weekend.

Me and Mike

Lake

Last day of classes

I had my last day of classes and I am now only four finals away from getting my undergraduate degree. Its a good feeling but a strange feeling too. We had our end of year athletic banquet last Sunday and it went pretty well. I was fortunate enough to receive Field Athlete of the Year for 2011 as well as the Wilson Award. It was a nice honor to receive the Wilson Award since it is only given to one male and one female student-athlete based on athletic performance, academic achievement, and commitment to community service. Practice has been going well and my hip continues to stay healthy. I have also been in contact with career opportunities back in Texas that I am really excited about. God is great and there is now way I would be able to accomplish the things I have and the things I plan to do with out Him and the all of the other support I continually receive. My last final is on the 10th and I start competition on the 11th. Can't wait...

Dat Dog

If you are in New Orleans or ever plan on coming to New Orleans you have to go to Dat Dog. Personally I am not a big hot dog fan but this place makes a pretty good one. The bun is the part plus if you like trying new things they also have different types of sausages. It is on Freret street and originally started in a small hole in the wall but they recently moved into a bigger building across the street (still on Freret). Great atmosphere and fun place to go. Highly recommend it. Here's a picture:

Dat Dog

End of April

After a minor set back with my hip injury it is healing quickly. It was definitely an odd feeling not competing this weekend but I also got some needed rest that will also help. We had quite a bit of rain this weekend in NOLA, but it still turned out to be pretty nice around here. Rangers continued their winning ways by winning their 5^th straight series of the season now 14 – 3. They play the Yankees tonight on ESPN, which I am excited to watch. Love the Rangers and not a fan of the Yankees. I have three more weeks of track left, which is a funny feeling so hopefully I can make the most out of each practice and finish strong. School is also wrapping up but I feel pretty good about where things stand going into finals week. May and June will and hopefully be a fun and exciting two months with all that is going on.  

Rangers - ALL DAY!!

Well this week did not start off too great. During high jump practice I aggravated a previous injury and strained the muscles in my hip area. I had to get x-rays and an MRI to see what all was wrong. Turns out I have had a bone calcification in my right hip, which basically means there are bones in a certain part of my hip muscles and tendons that shouldn't be there. I have been aggressively rehabbing to that I can be ready for conference on May 11th. It is definitely a set back but the time off my feet may be a good thing and I'll be ready to compete in my last competition at Tulane. As for some more positive news, it has been awesome to watch the Texas Rangers get of to a great start in 2012 (10-2) and going undefeated on the road. School has also been coming along and cool to think that I will finish in a month. I am enjoying the rest of my time and also look forward to starting the next chapter in my life. Maybe working for the Rangers, now that would be a pretty cool job...

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend went really well. I ended up going home back to Texas for the weekend. It was last minute so I drove to College Station on Thursday evening and stayed at my brother’s place. We drove back home on Friday and it felt great to be back in Texas. Spent most of Saturday relaxing and watching the Masters then I went to the Ranger game that night with two family friends and my brother. It was a close game and the Rangers lost in the 9^th inning but it was great to be back in the ballpark and see some of the new additions. They also handed out their ACLS championship rings that night, too. Easter Sunday was nice and I spent it with the family. We didn’t have our whole crew but it was great to see family who could be there. Watched the rest of the Masters, which was unbelievable. Drove back to College Station afterwards and stayed with my brother and his roommates. Now back in New Orleans and have a little over a month left of school. Hard to believe, but feels good to finish what I started. Looking to finish strong.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." – Joshua 1:9

Here are some Final Four pictures from the championship game:

My seat for the game 

Kentucky Student Section

CBS Sports

Player of the Game - Anthony Davis

Kansas Jayhawks

Kentucky National Champs 

On the Court after the game

Post Game Press Conference 

Final Four - New Orleans

The Final Four is here in New Orleans and I get to be apart of it. After a week full of tests, the Final Four weekend is now here. I am assisting with Media Relations at the Superdome so I have floor access. It’s been a lot of fun though the best part as yet to come. I did not work the games on Saturday because I had a track meet in Mobile, AL but I did get to watch the second half of the Ohio State – Kansas game. You cannot ask for a more exciting game and now the matchup of Kentucky vs. Kansas. Both are one and two respectively in number of wins in history. I hope the game will be close and it’s going to be sea of blue in the Superdome. Looking forward to a great game and atmosphere in Nola. Who knows maybe I’ll get to visit with Charles Barkley for a little bit, too. 

Final Four Scoreboard

Rick Pitino 

UK Practice

Ohio State Locker Room

Steve Kerr (The guy in grey)

Beginning of the Season

I had my first meet of the season in San Diego. Overall I did perform at the level I wanted but I haven’t competed since May. I did do better in the 1500 than I have in the past. I completed the decathlon, which was much better than spending time in the hospital getting stitches like last season. My buddy Jon ran the 800m for the first time and ran 1:54. We ended up enduring some pretty bad weather on Saturday with rain and high winds. Sunday was a long day of travel but we made it work. Stopped at Diddy Riese, which had some great ice cream sandwiches. I also had TOGO’s for the first time and wish they had one in Texas; great sandwich especially the fresh bread. School is going well and have about 2 more months left of school before I hit the real world. Excited to see what opportunities lay ahead. Its also been a crazy time if you’re a sports fan with Manning choosing the Broncos and then Tebow going to the Jets. Neither one really seems like a natural fit and personally I wanted Tebow to go the Jaguars. We are competing at LSU this weekend on Friday and Saturday. I have the 100m and Long Jump on Friday and Javelin and 4x4 relay on Saturday. Should be a great meet and looking forward to competing. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in Baton Rouge.

One of my teammates who is at Kent College of Law was also in New Orleans last week and it was great to catch up with him. Got a poboy and heard some funny stories about his time there so far. 

Spring Break - Nola / Pensacola / San Diego

I’m officially on spring break. I have a competition in San Diego March 15^th and 16^th where I will be competing in my first decathlon this season. However, this weekend I am headed off to Pensacola for my granddad’s 80^th birthday. Looking forward to seeing family I haven’t seen in awhile as well as some nice weather. Definitely excited to compete and see where I am at right now. Finished with classes today and did well on my Risk Management midterm this morning. Test was on futures contracts, interest rates, and swap rates. I know…I know pretty exciting stuff but it does help in understanding how and why the market moves. I had an interview with the University of Washington last week for a possible grad school destination and I am still waiting to hear back from UT-Austin. I’m excited about the upcoming season and just enjoying my time in New Orleans. 

Mardi Gras

Well its Mardi Gras weekend here in New Orleans, which is always a huge deal here. I do love how the city likes to celebrate as a community but I never get too excited for Mardi Gras other than the extra time off. Once you’ve been to a couple of parades you’ve seen them all in my opinion. It also rained pretty hard here yesterday postponing a lot of the parades. I went to grab lunch from Crabby Jacks (a local poboy shop) yesterday and the place was packed then when I left it was pouring down rain. With the down time I have been using a lot of it organizing a lot of things. With graduation coming up I am drafting some cover letters for different opportunities. I know I’d like to work in athletics and right now I am looking for openings where I can learn and gain experience for a career in the field. As far as the semester goes things are going pretty well. I am making some progress in my training and classes are going well. Our first outdoor meet will be in San Diego, which will be here soon. Looking forward to perfecting my technique and then competing over Spring Break in San Diego. 

Cold Front in Nola

This weekend has been the coldest yet this year but still managed to have a pretty active weekend doing some things I do not normally get to do. Saturday morning I went on 2 hour bike ride then played softball for about 2 hours then played tennis for another 2 hours. Pretty productive day. On my bike ride I had never seen so many ducks in one pond over in Audubon Park. We had a group play softball on the quad behind Bruff and played two games. First game was first to 15 and the second one was first to 11. I was fortunate enough to be on the winning side both times and the Jon Frano was the unfortunate one to be on the losing side both times. I still had a lot of energy so got some people to play tennis. I hadn't played in awhile so it was fun playing again. On top of that I got a couple more recommendations for my UT-Austin application. Practice went really well this week and I'm in good health. Showing a lot of progress in the long jump and got some decent hurdle work in as well. Practicing my footwork for the javelin was challenging but got some good reps in this week. Excited to keep working at it and accomplishing the goals I have set for this season.

The Fly

Pond at Audubon

More Ducks

My future dog one day...

This week in Nola

I went to the Mat Kearney concert Tuesday at the House of Blues with one of my roommates. We got there a little late but we had a blast. Fun times and definitely would like to see another one of his shows. Schools gone well have my first quiz and test of the semester this week. I am really enjoying my real estate class this semester. Professor Aguilar is very entertaining and I feel like I am learning a lot in that class. I watched the Super Bowl earlier and was really pulling for the Patriots to win it, I'm a big fan of Robert Kraft and it was crushing to see the clip of him watching the very last play of the game. Still a great season and pretty cool how they dedicated their season to his wife. Getting ready for another week of training and hoping to make improvements to get ready for the outdoor season. 

Mat Kearney at House of Blues in Nola

First week back

With a week of school under way I am officially in the process of finishing my last semester of school at Tulane. First week went well and happy with my classes. One of my teammates turned 21 this past week and he some people over to the Columns Hotel on Saturday. Sunday I finished some reading for school then went right to watching the AFC and NFC championship games. Glad the patriots won but was hoping the 49ers could pull out a win too.  In other news glad the Texas Rangers signed Darvish and excited to see how that develops. Looking also to apply for summer internships with Nike and Under Armour. Good start to the semester and anxious to get back to training this week. 

Fun break and New semester

A lot has been going since I last wrote. The Christmas break went really well. Finished well in my classes and finished strong in my workouts. My break consisted of a lot of football, ping-pong, applications, workouts, and some modern family episodes. At the beginning of the break I went to some friends Deb ball, which was really fun and I got to visit with some people I hadn’t seen in awhile. Then all my mom’s side of the family was together on Christmas Eve like we always do. White Elephant exchange was fun and it was good be around everyone. My grandmother cooked a great dinner too. Also went to Billy Bobs to see one of my buddies play.

I also went to a conference in downtown Fort Worth. Saw and met some great people. A group went to South Dallas to help reach out to kids by just playing sports with them. We started with a football game as soon as we got there and after a little bit I definitely started getting competitive, but we had a great time. Every one has a platform to make and impact, its how you use it that matters. Came back to Nola to help out with the Saint Bernard Project that helps victims of the hurricane get back into homes. Fun to be back in New Orleans and Boston College has come down the past three years to help out specifically with the project. We had dinner as a group and then got to hang a little bit afterwards. After that I came back to Fort Worth for my friends wedding. I had a good time and got meet some neat people who knew some of my other friends. Always fun to make those connections.

I also finished my application to UT Austin for my masters. Very excited about that and some of the other options I am working on.  Now I am back in Nola and I start classes and practice tomorrow. Can’t wait to get rolling and looking forward to a great semester and seeing what God has planned.  

My buddy Lance

Certified through TEMS

St. Bernard Project Home Site

Adding my name to the house

Family receiving their home

Packaging Food to send to Ethiopia

Lines to prepare the food