Kayla had her first meet in an Elon uniform, competing in the long jump at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem (preview, coverage, results, photo gallery).
The holiday break along with the Polar Vortex played havoc with the Elon practice schedule last week (no indoor track), so her steps were off and she took off reaching well behind the board (video), so she wasn’t happy with her marks, but its was an exciting milestone in Kayla’s journey. We are so proud of her getting herself to a school and a team she loves.
Dad was 60 seconds too late to get a long jump shot, but we got this one…
Here is a video of her jumps:
Here is Elon’s student cable coverage of the meet. Serious D1 production values. Jenn Esposito and Jenn Pash are Kayla’s roommates. Watch for Kayla at :27 and Dad at :47.
Here is Coach Ellison’s assessment of the 1st meet:
Kayla competes next at the Liberty Open in Lynchberg,VA on Saturday where she will do the triple jump, long jump, and the 200m. Dad is headed down to watch for the day. The season’s meet schedule is posted on the side-bar of sports.priorfamily.
Jared hit 3 indoor personal bests, winning the long jump (20′ 0.25″) and 300m (37.34) over Framingham on Friday (results). He also split a PR 23.17r anchoring 4x200m relay (video). He added 10 of Newton’s 71 points in 71-25 win. Overall in the 12-school Bay State Conference for the evening he placed 1st in long jump(photos), with his 20′ 0.25″ being a 7.25″ indoor PR. He took 2nd overall in the 300m, in his first attempt at the event.
Newton North fell to Brookline 0-2 in their last home game of the season (photo gallery, tab article). The loss drops their record to 4-8-4. Jared played forward for about 60 of the 80 minutes.
Six months after the idea popped into her head, Karen achieved her goal of running the Columbus Marathon on Sunday (photo gallery).
Brianna and Karen picked Jack up at the airport on Saturday and we immediately headed to the Columbus Marathon Kid’s run. Along the drive, Brianna read Jack her short story “Miller”. It was pouring rain, but Brianna headed right out and ran her race.
After the run, we headed to Brianna’s house and Jack got to meet Buddy.
Buddy likes Brianna:
Jack presented Brianna with the finisher medal for our Boston Marathon effort.
Nanny and Papa and Aunt Pat arrived after driving crazy distances to be there for the big weekend. Brianna read “Miller” for the group, a true story about a visit to see Miller the barn cat, and Luvit the horse, that Brianna wrote:
Karen Prior-Bernard When physical motivation lags, Karen Prior-Bernard considers her smart, spunky daughter.
“Whenever you sit there on the couch going, ‘I don’t want to get up; I don’t want to go run,’ I think of her,†said the 36-year-old Gahanna resident, who will run her first marathon in support of her only child, Brianna.
“We take it for granted, the ability to move.â€
Brianna, 5, has hereditary spastic paraplegia, a condition that weakens her legs and shares some characteristics with multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Her diagnosis is untreatable but not expected to worsen.
Although Brianna can walk short distances unassisted, her knees and toes turn inward. She relies at times on a walker known as “the green machine†and continues with physical therapy.
When she falls, she gets back up quickly. A few weeks ago, the kindergartner decided to give a short speech to her peers so they could better understand her ailment.
Still, “we make sure this doesn’t define her,†said Brianna’s dad, Allen Bernard, 49. “We don’t say, ‘I can’t.’ â€
Besides her daughter, Prior-Bernard was also inspired to train by her brother, Jack Prior — a runner and Newton, Mass., resident who in April was just minutes from the Boston Marathon finish line when two bombs exploded.
Prior was running in Brianna’s honor as part of a rare-diseases fundraising team supported by his employer, a biotech company. He’ll participate in the half-marathon in Columbus.
Prior-Bernard, meanwhile, has been working to raise $100 for each mile of the full marathon to benefit the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (via www.razoo.com/story/running-for-brianna).
Come Sunday, Brianna will lead the family cheering squad.
“I’m making a sign; it’s going to say ‘Go, Mama,’ †she said. “I’m going to say: ‘I love you, Mama! Go! Go! Go!’ â€
Jack and Karen got up early and jogged a mile to the marathon start for good measure to add to the day’s planned 26.2 (for Karen). As Brianna would say “Uncle Jack is only doing the ‘Half’, Mama is doing the ‘Full’.”
Jack finished early:
24 miles later, Karen still looked great:
Some very excited sisters were there to greet her at the final bend:
Karen had a great race, running a steady 10:45/mile pace for a 4:46:37 finish. There is still more work to do, as one lesson Karen apparently missed was on finishing (video). Clearly there was a bit of energy left in the tank.
Somebody was very proud of her mama.
Karen raised $3157 on razoo.com for Herditary Spastic Paraplegia as part of her marathon effort!
Newton North faced #8 ranked Wellesley (8-1-1) at the Newton North field and held them to a 1-1 tie (news article). Wellesley has only lost to MA #4 Needham. North was winning with 20 seconds left. Jared played right and left wing.
North is now 4-5-3 and has 6 games remaining and need 3 wins and a tie to make the state playoffs.
Jared got his first varsity start today, playing right wing in Newton North’s 3-2 win over Dedham to bring North’s record to 4-5-2 (photos, slideshow).
Coming back from an 4-game layoff due to an ankle sprain, Jared got in over 40min of playing time at striker and right wing in Newton North’s “upset” tie of undefeated Needham at Newton North this afternoon.
Needham is the defending state open champions, came into the game ranked #2 in the state in the Boston globe poll with a 6-0-2 record. Newton’s record is now 3-5-2.
