Track & Field ACSC

Aidan Frusher

This year was a fantastic year for the Dalat track team at ACSC in Taiwan, which was held Friday, March 23-Saturday, March 24.  Many athletes medaled, including one gold by Joy Kiehl (11) in the triple jump. Overall, the girls' team placed 3rd and the boys' team tied for 4th. 

Everyone worked hard, giving it their all and managing to go through the whole trip without any major injuries. Besides working hard, the athletes also had the opportunity to host a track meet for kids with disabilities, explore the downtown area of Taichung, visit the local night market, go to dinner at a nice restaurant for some Taiwanese cuisine and bubble tea, and hang out in the dorm game room.

All around, it was truly an awesome trip, but the best part was our beloved Coach Grad finding true love. It all started on Friday as the team was leaving the track; a coach from a Taiwanese school smiled and stepped aside to say “goodbye” and a “see you tomorrow” to Coach Grad. This may not have been much, but the team made sure to make a big deal of it and vowed to make some moves the next day at the meet. The following day, the meet went well with the athletes performing phenomenally, but, more importantly, Coach Grad met him again.

It was near the end of the day; all that was left of the track meet were the 150m boys’ hurdles and the boys’ & girls’ 4x400m relay. The team had all rallied on their section of the bleachers to cheer for the final runners. Then, lo and behold, across the track in the field was the man, standing with some of his athletes giving instructions. “Oooohhhhh Miss Grraaddddd.... Look who it is!” called some of the Dalat athletes. “Oh no, Miss Grad! He’s looking at you!” exclaimed Philip Yeoh (10). Everyone began to chant for Coach Grad, despite her embarrassment, as he got increasingly and increasingly closer. Students began to try to encourage Coach Grad, telling her she needed to seize the day, carpe diem! Then Coach Grad did the unbelievable, she got up, ran across the track (just as a race was about to start) and sat right next to him. At once, everyone broke out of their stupor, erupting into chanting and cheering.

The entire team was excited because of Coach Grad’s bold move, so much so, that later they huddled on the field and did a gorgeous rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” The best was saved for last, however; after the awards ceremony, the entire team did a huddle around Coach Grad (with the other coach standing somewhere behind us outside the huddle), and began to sing “Love Is an Open Door.” At the chorus, the side of the huddle swung open like a “c”, much like the opening of a door, and there he was standing at the entrance. He ran in and swept his arms around Coach Grad in the most dramatic hug of all time.

Thank you, Coach Grad, for an amazing ACSC trip