Tom在準備油漆工作
電話當然都是我接的份
電話響我接起來
話筒那邊響起洪亮又開心的聲音
一聽就知是我公公
他竟問我是誰?
我回他
我是Julia
他說他以為我是女兒Crystal
所以特別問一下
怕說錯名字
他問我看了今天和報紙來的雜誌嗎?
我答沒有
他要我去看
我將電話交給Tom後
我去拿那本雜誌
Tom和我一起翻閱
在公公的告之下
找到了兩頁專為Michael做的報導
雜誌名稱是
JV Kids: Youth in the Juniata Valley 2012
Will目前在讀文學院
文筆不錯
以下是這篇文章:
" Runner finds a place on college team" By Will Mort(Sentinel correspondent)
Heading off to college can lead to many opportunities for teenagers,
some of which maybe unexpected. For 18-year old Michael Lock,
of Spruce Hill, Juniata County, going to college led him to a spot
on the Penn State Altoona cross country team. What made this
unique was the fact that prior to September 2011, Michael had
never participated in a cross country running competition in his life.
As a soccer player and distance runner on the track team
at Juniata High School, Michael had been exposed to running
for years. However, he had never routinely faced distances even
close to the eight kilometers that most college cross country events
require participants to run. Michael's ability to tackle the long
distances cross country requires can be credited to keeping himself
in great physical shape and playing sports throughout his childhood,
as well as in high school. Playing soccer for 13 years played a big
role in helping Michael maintain his endurance. "Playing soccer since
I was 5 helped me get used to strenuous running," he says. "I played
wing basically my whole life and to play wing you have to be in good
shape if you want to be good at it." Michael was first introduced to
competitive running in ninth grade when he decided to join the track
and field team at Juniata. He did not compete in any long distance
events freshman year, but was placed in both the mile and two-mile
events his sophomore season. While he also competed in the 800
meter run and the 4x800 relay, Michael enjoyed the two long distance
events the most. His enjoyment of these races motivated him to start
training for them year-round. "I would try to stay in shape from when
soccer ended in the fall until the spring. I would work out in the winter
so that I was prepared for track season," he says. The extra work
paid off during Michael's junior season when he posted a 4:59 mile at a
meet, shattering his old personal record. This success made Michael
realize he might have a future in distance running. However, instead
of being consumed by aspirations of running in college, Michael decided
to focus all of his energy on having a successful senior season.
"I trained really hard so that I could have an explosive senior year
and try to advance far into districts," Michael says. "That winter
I went out and ran by myself a lot to get ready." Michael ended
his high school track career with a mile time of 4:51, his personal
best, in the District 6 tournament. With high school track in the
rearview mirror, Michael explored his options of running
competitively in college. "I wanted to put my education first,
so I decided which college I wanted to go to before I
even thought about athletics," he says. The college
decision ended up being quite easy. As a lifelong
Penn State supporter, Lock had always wanted to attend
the university. He also aspires to be an engineer and found
Penn State's engineering program appealing. He was
accepted and would start in August 2011 at the Altoona
campus. Lock's father, Tom, and sister, Crystal, are both
Penn State graduates, so he was entering familiar territory.
" Transition to cross country successful "
Matt Manfred, the coach of Penn State Altoona's cross
country team, watched Michael compete at districts, which
were held at Altoona's Mansion Park in May, and felt the
athlete had a future withthe program. Michael contacted
Manfred and expressed interest in becoming a member
of the cross country program and was offered a spot on
the team, which he accepted. Because Penn State
Altoona does not have a conventional track
program, cross country was Michael's only option,
albeit one that excited him. But, since Juniata did not have
a cross country program, Michael says he felt
apprehensive about getting involved in a new sport
at the collegiate level. "In the summer before the season
started, I really didn't know if I was going to stick with
cross country because I had no idea what to expect and
I just didn't know if I was going to be any good at it or
not," he says. "My goal was to not be last on the team."
Michael began to feel like he belonged in the program when
he placed fourth out of nine on his team in a preseason
two-mile time trial. He gained more confidence in the
season-opening 5 kilometer event in Winchester, Va.,
where Michael placed third on his team and 15th overall.
As his freshman year progressed, Michael had to overcome
some obstacles that could have put a damper on his success.
Balancing 8:15 a.m. practices with a tough course load
and his involvement in the university's work-study program
was not easy, but Michael perservered and he says
was able to enjoy his first semester of college anyway.
Michael soon learned the intricacies of tackling cross
country courses, which were roughly 5 miles in length and
a much bigger challenge than anything he had faced in high
school. He quickly realized that he enjoyed cross country
more than he enjoyed track in high school, which surprised him,
considering his skepticism before the season began. "In high school,
at practice I would basically just do what everyone else did,
" Michael says. " In cross country, practice is focused just on
distance running, and we would have stuff like tempo runs
and harder workouts to improve our 8K times." Michael
says the differences in practice styles between cross country
and track appeals to him. Penn State Altoona's season
consisted of seven events from the beginning of September
to early November. Races were held in Maryland, New York
and Virginia, as well as in Pennsylvania. Michael's personal
record came at the William Smith College Championship in
Geneva, N.Y., where he posted a time of 30:44
in the 8-kilometer race. positive note for Michael when he
finished 23rd out of 84 participants in the Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference championship meet in Grand Island, N.Y.
He was then named to the AMCC all-conference team, an honor
that made a great season even better. "I was ecstatic when I got
the results," Michael says. "It's a huge honor because it was my
first cross country season ever." Michael will be on the team next
season too, and he plans to train throughout the year to
better his times. He intends to transfer to Penn State's University
Park campus after his sophomore year, so plans for his running
career beyond next season are uncertain. Michael says being part
of the cross country team is one of his favorite things about college,
and he is excited for the future. "I really think joining the cross country
team was one of the best choices I've made," he says. "I've made strong
friendships and also proved to myself that I could overcome the challenge."
在此要說Will寫的很好
不是因為他寫Michael
而是他也才18歲
他打在高中時就在報社寫專欄
相信他將來不管在報社或新聞報導方面發展
都將會很不錯的
Will 加油!
他有放了幾張照片
可惜我無法copy上來
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