Rain on my Parade

The first official day of summer 2011 was capped by a good old-fashioned thunderstorm, which gave at least temporary relief from the drought here in South Texas.  I honestly cannot remember the last time it rained.  Aside from the obvious fact that we needed the rain, there is a secondary effect that is just as relieving.  The temperature the last couple of weeks has been consistently pushing 100, eclipsing that mark quite a few times already.  This afternoon, we haven’t even reached 90 yet.  No, I’m not excited that it’s only about 90 degrees outside, but I can promise you this: it’s better than 105.  I have a feeling that when our teams return in August, they are going to wish for some 90-degree days.

Since I’m new at this, I decided to bounce some blog ideas off my wife yesterday, hoping to find some inspiration.  Despite the fact that I can’t even get her to read what I post, she still found a way to offer some advice.  She told me not to repeat the stories posted on the Web site, but to write about stuff in Trinity Athletics that people can’t get anywhere else.  She also advised against me trying to be funny, mainly because “you’re not as funny as you think you are.”  (Whatever.)

So, here’s the result.  I’ll stop recycling the news stories on the blog – most of them, anyway.  If you want to keep up with everything, go to the Web site (www.trinitytigers.com), follow Trinity Sports on Twitter, or even like Trinity Athletics on Facebook.  I’ll try and give you all something you don’t know about already – or at least give you a new twist.  I might still try to be funny now and then, because I can’t let my wife win everything – it just wouldn’t be right.

The one story I will make reference to is also the most recent.  Hayley Emerick was named the SCAC Woman of the Year.  Given all the expectations heaped on her for 2010-11, her performance this season is even more impressive.  She won the NCAA 3-Meter Diving Championship last spring – nearly winning the 1-Meter as well – and came back with everyone assuming she would do it again.  Hayley had won both diving events at the SCAC Championships for three straight years, but teammate Ruth Hahn nearly swept both titles away from Hayley in 2011.  Ruth won the 1-meter, then Hayley edged her sophomore teammate by less than a point to split the title between two Tigers.  At nationals this year, Hayley was second on both boards, losing only to a Division I transfer from The College of New Jersey.  She is the most accomplished diver ever at Trinity, earning All-America honors for four straight years, and she is arguably the best diver in SCAC history as well. 

Oh, and if anyone is actually reading this, I can also say that she is a top student as well.  She earned the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship this spring, and she was also named a Capital One Academic All-American.  I hate when people over-use the phrase that “this is the true student-athlete,” but Hayley really is the true student-athlete.  I know she just “took it one day at a time,” and told herself to “just try to help out the team, and the good Lord willing, things will work out.” (Thanks Crash.)