5,4,3,2,1… The second the buzzer sounded, my heart started racing as tears ran down my cheeks. I was a state champion. Embracing each one of my teammates, the only thing I could think about was, “We did it, we really did it!”

Many teams in the state of Kentucky all start out with the same dream, but only one of them is able to experience that dream come true. I am very proud to say that I am a part of the one team that achieved the goal. Having cameras and fans all around us after the game just gave me an indescribable feeling. I felt admired and loved. As we got on the bus after the game and rode through Bowling Green, people were waving at us and honking their horns at us, basically just giving us praise. That made me feel like a celebrity. When all the craziness settled down a little, and we were back at the hotel, I decided to lay on the bed and get on Twitter. My whole TL was full of people tweeting about how proud they were of us and how we really deserved that win. That made me realize how much confidence people had in us and how much they really supported us, all I could do was smile.

That night I didn’t get any sleep at all because of all the excitement that I had built up. The team and I were all spaced out in different hotel rooms, just recapping the season. We talked about all the inside jokes we developed over the season, the embarrassing moments we experienced, and all the victorious moments that we shared. Then, we began to talk about how things would be next year without the seniors. That’s when we all began to shed tears together. The tears were both happy and sad. The happy tears were because we were so proud of what we had accomplished together. The sad tears were at the thought of having to try to have a repeat of this year without the seniors next year. Losing the seniors is like losing family members. They all played a big role in the success and love that we shared and experienced over the season. They all made a promise to come back and visit us next year, and we made a promise to try our best to win state again next year.

It was time to leave Bowling Green the next morning. The ride back to Louisville was silent. Part of the reason for that was that we were all tired from staying up all night, but also because all of our hearts were heavy, knowing that our season had come to an end. I was a little down because I didn’t want the excitement to end so soon. But sure enough, it didn’t. The moment I stepped into Manual, my peers were congratulating me and telling me how excited they were for me. I kept being asked questions like, “how does it feel to be a state champ?” and “when will y’all get your rings?”. Not only that, but a lot of them were wearing Lady Crimson shirts and representing our team. People that I had never spoken to a day in my life came up to me and said, “you played great in the state tournament!” That made me feel like I was on top of the world. Even though we won state weeks ago, to this day, every time I step out of my house with Lady Crimson gear on, at least one person congratulates me.

At the end of the week I went home, sat on my bed, and thought about all that my team had accomplished, reminiscing on the tears we shed and pain we went through to get to be state champions. At that point, I knew that this would be a season I would never forget. Being a state champion brings me joy and attention. But on the flip side of that, it gives our team a title to live up to next year. I am determined to do whatever it takes to help my team accomplish the same goal that we achieved this year. Not only to carry on the winning tradition of the Lady Crimsons, but also to make my school and city proud.