The Long Road Back - University of Nebraska - huskers.com

The Snack Room Bombshell

Just the thought of returning brings back so many memories—some filled with pure happiness and others with grief and utter disappointment.

I was just a little girl watching a rifle match with my dad at the University of Kentucky when I decided to chase this dream of mine. 

I joined the Huskers, and last year, we qualified for the National Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. It was supposed to be my homecoming.

The place where it all started was the venue for everything I'd worked for since I was nine years old. Not everyone believes in destiny, but for the ones that do, this was as close to it as anything I'd ever experienced. It was my entire journey literally coming full-circle.

I was so excited to have a chance to compete in front of my family and friends, while showing my teammates the city that was only a few minutes from where I grew up. Confidence was running at an all-time high, with us shooting out of our minds and qualifying in fourth place.

Everything was falling into place, and the timing just felt right.

But sadly, that ended up not being the case at all. After I finished a practice session at the venue, I was in the snack room watching ESPN when the news came across that the NCAA canceled the National Championships due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

What?

Surely, they couldn't have been talking about our National Championships. I mean, we were already here. The matches were already set. They couldn't have been talking about us—could they?

It was literally like the scene out of a movie as our team drove back to the hotel. You know the part when that sense of dread is building before the really terrible news drops?

That was us.

It was pouring down rain, and we were stuck in traffic, panicking and asking our coach about the situation. Of course, she didn't know what was going on, either. She was just as confused as the rest of us. And that only made us panic even more.

But the moment we reached the hotel lobby and I saw the faces of some of my friends on the other teams—I knew. Everybody was just so visibly upset that nothing else needed to be said. 

I'll never forget going back to the venue to retrieve our equipment for the trip home. Some of the other teams were there as well, and all of their athletes were utterly devastated and nearly inconsolable as well. We worked so hard to get this far—all of us.

To be there and have it all taken away with the start of the competition literally hours away was absolutely devastating.

And don't get me wrong. I'm fully aware that there are more important things in life than not participating in a National Championship event, I get that. But man, we worked so hard for this, you know? This was a huge opportunity and dream. It cut deep.

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March 10, 2021 at 11:01PM
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The Long Road Back - University of Nebraska - huskers.com
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