Team Manager SPRINT!
Chapter 26
EVERYONE WAS EXCITED Thursday morning and started arriving at seven o’clock. Dennis was dragged into the locker room by the girls to start taping. Judith, Tori, Laura, Janice, and Diane all wanted support for their ankles and Dennis set straight to work. Brenda decided against tape for her one and only event. Natalie and Debbie sat and talked, but neither was running on the first day of the competition.
Dennis was surprised that the girls ignored him as they changed into their track uniforms and pulled on their sweats. Most of the girls were wearing their sports bras and running shorts when they sat in front of him—even Laura and Janice. He occasionally caught a glimpse of panties being tugged over round butts. When Tori sat in front of him, though, she was still wearing her normal bra—a very thin nearly transparent thing.
“Tori?”
“You kissed me, so there’s no reason for you not to see. I could even take it off,” she said, wiggling slightly.
“Um… I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as he taped her ankles. Just having her in front of him aroused Dennis, but he also spent a couple of minutes just rubbing her silky legs.
“What is it about you that makes every girl want to put out for you?” Tori asked.
“They don’t. Really. I’m just lucky to have incredible girlfriends. Don’t think that means they’re all putting out,” he hissed.
“You could have had any high school girl from Bartley this weekend if you wanted.”
“That’s just a kind of an adrenaline response. We were all keyed up and there was a sudden release of emotions. Fear response. Probably every girl who had a boyfriend or girlfriend got a little loving.”
“I didn’t,” she pouted. “Well, I got some cuddle time with you on the bus, Saturday. That was just to calm you down. And just so you know, I’d do it again any time.”
“I can’t resist you, Tori. Will you be my girlfriend… um… Number Eleven?”
She sprang off the bench and kissed him, much to the surprise of everyone in the locker room. It was short but intense.
“That means yes, in case you were wondering.” She turned and walked toward her locker, removing her bra as she went. Just before she pulled on her sports bra, she looked back at him and winked.
Dennis led warmups for his little cadre and then sat to watch the races. Since Natalie was not running on Thursday, she sat with him, holding his hand.
“What have I done?” he moaned.
“You got us our eleventh girlfriend,” Natalie said happily.
“I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t even talk to you all about it. And what is she going to expect? She’s just so hard to resist.”
“Don’t I know it?” Natalie sighed. He glanced to the side and saw her dreamy-eyed look as she stared into space.
“Um… You know?”
“Yeah. I mean, we didn’t go all the way yet. But I went out to her farm after I dropped you off at the Browns’ Monday morning. She invited me out, just to show me around the farm a little. I helped with her chores a little and we were sort of up in the hayloft when we just sort of kissed. A little, I mean. And then, a lot. Let’s just say, I got a really good look at those perky tits of hers. You’ll love them,” Natalie said.
“You mean, you girls won’t be upset about having Tori join us?” Dennis asked.
“Tori, Lana, and Debbie are all on our ‘anytime you want’ list. I understand you already reserved Number Ten for Lana.”
“Yeah. Even if we never progress beyond the friendship we have right now, I consider her a girlfriend.”
“You should ask her like you did Tori. I mean… well, maybe not today, but before basketball season next year.”
“She’s not ready for a boyfriend. Remember, she’s had a rotten experience.”
“Yeah, but it’s pretty easy to see she loves you. And all of us. She’s already on the honorary roll.”
“Hey! Look, Judith is in the next heat. Go, Judith! Angelines!” he shouted.
Judith took her place in the starting blocks for the third heat. The leader board showed times in the twenty-six and twenty-seven second range. She’d been consistently under that for her past three races. But so had the other seven runners in the last heat. The gun fired and they were off. It was a staggered start with a single curve. Runners had to stay in their own lane all the way to the finish line. As a result, it was difficult to tell who was in the lead until they were just about through the curve. Then they could see Judith as she appeared to lead the pack, but three other runners were bunched closely with her as they came down to the finish line, almost at the same moment.
Dennis and Natalie had yelled themselves hoarse in thirty seconds. The top four finishers were all within three-tenths of a second of each other. The leader board suddenly changed to show Judith in the fourth position. She advanced to the finals on Saturday. She was done for the day and joined Dennis, Natalie, and Debbie in the bleachers as soon as she had her warmups on. It was a bright day, but a cool breeze wafted over the stands.
“Nice job, baby!” Dennis said, giving her a hug. Judith kissed him, then kissed Natalie. She raised an eyebrow and launched herself at Debbie, giving her a good kiss as well.
“Oh, boy!” Debbie said. She kept hold of Judith’s hand as they sat next to each other. Judith leaned in toward Dennis.
“Saturday,” she whispered in his ear, giving it a little lick, which sent shivers down Dennis’s spine.
“You’ll do great!” he responded.
“Yeah. But later, you’ll do me.”
“I’ll what?”
“I managed to make it till summer. I can’t wait any longer. I want you, lover.”
“I… oh… I mean…”
“Just say how happy you are about it,” Natalie whispered on his other side. He glanced at her and then back to Judith. Instead of saying anything, he just kissed her again.
The next race the team was involved in was the 4x800 relay. This race was led by Tori. Janice had the second leg, Laura had the third leg, and Diane brought it home. Each runner had to make two laps around the track and started on a one-curve stagger. That meant they had to stay in their own lane around the first curve, but then it was a rush for position to hand off the baton in the exchange zone. Tori came around the last curve in second and moved to the second lane where Janice quickly moved to accept the baton. Janice normally ran the 800 in about 2:30. As a result, the team had dropped a position and Laura took the baton in the third lane as she took off after the handoff. Laura normally ran longer races in her individual events but did her best to keep up to the pack. Still, after her second lap, she handed the baton to Diane in the fifth lane. The team in the fourth lane had a bad handoff and stumbled getting out of the exchange zone, allowing Diane to pick up one position at that point. She focused on the three runners in front of her who completed the first lap in exactly the same order as they had started. Diane made a move on the backstretch, but the runner in third made her move at the same time, forcing Diane farther out on the curve. They both managed to get past the second runner, but Diane couldn’t quite pull ahead of the other girl before they finished. The girl in first had stretched out her lead significantly. Diane crossed the finish line in third.
The runners were greeted jubilantly by their teammates and were given towels and helped into their warmups. An hour later, Brenda lined up in the third heat of the 100-meter. She was off like a flash, that fantastic start getting her half a step on the next lane. These were the top seeds of the meet, though, and she pulled up in third place in a fraction under thirteen seconds. She made the finals, which would be run on Saturday.
The only race they still had a competitor in was the 400. Everyone else had a sandwich and a bottle of water, but Tori was too keyed up to do more than take a few sips as she paced back and forth and bounced on her toes. The 400 was a timed final with a two-curve stagger, meaning the runners had to stay in their lane the entire way around the track.
Tori stood in front of Dennis just before she headed to the starting line. She kissed him ‘for luck,’ then turned and went down the line kissing each of the other teammates—including Derek, who had finished 19th in the shot put.
It looked good for Tori as she led her heat around the track in a personal best 58:08. Sadly, three runners from the other heats edged her out into fourth place. It was still a great run.
“If the four of us had been side-by-side, I’d have beaten them,” Tori moaned. “I just needed to see them.”
“You did great, girlfriend,” Natalie said as she helped dry Tori with a towel. She slipped her jacket on, but just stuffed her tracksuit pants in her bag. The only event left after the 400 was the shuttle hurdle relay. Since they had no runners in that event, the team made its way to their bus and headed home. Tori jumped into the seat next to Dennis and turned to put her feet in his lap.
“Can you strip me?” she asked. “You know. I mean the tape?”
“Oh, girl,” Dennis sighed. “You have to know the answer to that, no matter how you meant it.” He got the scissors out of his waist kit and began slowly and carefully cutting the tape off her ankles. He said he was taking his time and being especially careful because the bus was bouncing. Tori didn’t seem to mind that he had one hand stroking her leg while he worked.
Friday, the Angelines competed in only three events. Only six girls were competing in the one individual race and two relay events. All wanted Dennis to spend time taping their ankles. Dennis had figured out that it wasn’t about supporting their ankles, but about having him quietly talk to them, encourage them, and even love them a little. Each girl leaned over to kiss him softly when her legs were ready. Even Debbie and Laura.
Warmups at Drake Stadium were brief. Judith, Debbie, Tori, and Laura were on at nine o’clock sharp for the distance medley. It was a timed final event with three heats for the twenty-four schools who qualified teams. In the first heat, the best time at the finish was by Prairie and it was a solid six seconds slower than the Bartley team best. But in the Qualifiers, Bartley had won with a four second slower time than their best and was still second seed for the race. That put them in lane five with rival Ridgeland next to them. Judith was out of the blocks like lightning and finished her 200 meters in just twenty-four seconds, leading the rest on the handoff. Debbie turned in her personal best at 26:10 when she handed off to Tori for the 400-meter leg. Tori was like lightning and Diane took the handoff a good five seconds ahead of their nearest rival. For the first two laps of the race—the first three runners—the race was run strictly in lanes, but as soon as Diane took the baton, she could cut to the inside for the last 800 meters. All the other teams could do was wave goodbye as she added three more seconds to Bartley’s lead for the best time of the day and the gold medal.
By the time they were cooled down, Natalie was lining up for her heat in the 100-meter hurdles. She was in the first heat and did well in fourth place, but she didn’t qualify to move on. Her position said she finished in 19th overall.
It was another long break before the last event of the day. A tradition in high school track is to run the 4x400 as the last event of the meet. With 2A and 3A events, each with three heats to determine the ones who would move forward, and with the boys’ relays following the girls, that made a total of twelve heats in the preliminaries. Bartley ran in the third heat. The relay was run with a three curve stagger. Debbie was a few steps ahead of her nearest competitor as she handed off to Natalie after the first lap. Natalie led as she came out of the first curve on her leg, but was blocked from moving all the way to the inside by a runner half a step behind her. As a result, the second curve saw Natalie fall back a step and then another as they hit the stretch. She had a flawless handoff to Laura who closed the distance with the first place team, but was still held to the outside in the close race. They were still in lanes one and two when she handed the baton to Tori.
Tori didn’t like having to stay in a lane, not knowing for sure how close her competitors were. A one-on-one footrace with a competitor next to her, however, brought out the best in her running. She was two steps ahead out of the first curve and cut to the inside. Her opponent moved to the outside coming out of the second curve, trying to catch and pass before the finish line, but was still two steps behind when Tori crossed the line. Bartley had qualified for the final on Saturday.
Dennis was not the only one giving massages to the six runners of the day. Janice and Brenda took their turns with their teammates as well. Dennis took his time cutting the tape off and was only halfway through the team when they arrived at the school a little after three-thirty. He went straight into the locker room with the girls and grabbed his stool. Laura plopped down in front of him in her shorts and sports bra, unusually daring for her. But she all but dared Dennis to try not to look. As he worked, she kept working her fingers under the edge of her bra to massage the creases it made below her boobs. When he was finished, she grinned at him and gave him a quick kiss before heading to the showers.
Debbie was next. She had gone a step further and had removed her shorts, arriving in just her sports bra and panties. She felt she was being really daring and her heart was beating double time. She’d become more determined than ever not to be left out of the fun Dennis’s girlfriends had. He looked up and grinned at her.
“You know, a lot of the girls don’t bother with underwear under their track shorts,” Dennis said slyly. “I think it’s something about not wanting panty lines under the spandex.”
“You mean… Oh, God!” Debbie said. Dennis just let her think and blush. The one-time goth girl had let out the fact that she didn’t have anywhere near the experience her classmates credited her with. Dennis finished cutting off the tape and massaged her legs gently before letting her up. She came face-to-face with Tori and gasped.
“You’re topless!” Debbie said.
“Geez, Debbie. Everybody else is naked.” They looked up in time to see Natalie, the last of the girls to enter the shower. Debbie started mumbling as she marched toward the shower pulling off her bra and then dropping her panties just before she entered the shower room. Tori sat down.
“You had some great runs today, Tori,” Dennis said as he started on the tape.
“You can look,” she said, rubbing the bra crease under her breasts. They were just the most perfect mounds Dennis could imagine. He sighed and returned to cutting the tape. “I see you managed to get Debbie down to her bra and panties. She’ll be running around naked in front of you by basketball season.”
“I see you decided to keep your shorts on,” Dennis laughed, trying to get a dig in and not feeling completely successful.
“Yeah. I’m not wearing underwear and we need more kissing before we reach that stage of our relationship.” Dennis blushed and removed the tape from her other foot. When he finished, he stood up to toss the pile of tape into the wastebasket. Tori didn’t delay moving in for another kiss. It was deep and sweet. She pulled one hand up to her bare breast. They heard the noise of a couple of the girls as they came out of the shower and parted. “Maybe it won’t take until basketball season,” she said. She turned and headed toward the shower, dropping her shorts just before she turned the corner so he could see her butt.
“Didn’t I tell you she had the best boobs?” Natalie whispered in his ear. He turned slightly to embrace his naked girlfriend.
“I still want to wake up each morning to these,” he said giving her a gentle caress.
“Not tomorrow. We have too many races to win tomorrow.” She kissed him again and went to get dressed. By that time all the girls except Tori had emerged from the shower and were pulling their clothes on. He turned and left the locker room.
The events Saturday seemed to be one right after another in the morning. All the Saturday events were finals, including the two long races Diane and Janice ran. Neither girl had much experience with the waterfall or double-waterfall start. This is a variant of the staggered start. All twenty-four runners in the race lined up behind a curved line on the track with the top seeds given the first row. All twelve of them, ignoring the lane markings. At the start, a runner can move to the inside as soon as she has clearance. Diane was in the second row at the start and in two laps, couldn’t get free to move around. She finished in eighth place, though, at 2:20.32. It wasn’t quite her personal best, but it was close.
The team had a break before the running of the sprint finals. Judith would run at 11:30 in the 200-meter and Brenda at 11:45 in the 100-meter. Both girls had great times in the preliminaries and were in the middle lanes. Judith had become pretty comfortable with the single curve stagger. She had great peripheral vision and could see across the track without turning her head. It’s only ten seconds to the top of the first curve where the lanes begin to draw even. When she came out of the curve, her opponent in lane four had a couple of steps on her. She gave it everything she had, but was not quite even with the girl when they crossed the line. She settled for the silver medal.
The 100-meter dash is what is used to measure the world’s fastest man or woman. It’s a straightaway sprint with the starting blocks actually positioned on a short straight section of the track beside the turn. Usain Bolt from Jamaica holds the men’s world record at 9.58 seconds. Florence Griffith Joyner’s women’s record of 10.49 seconds has held since 1988. Of course, the high school records are a good couple of seconds behind that. In Iowa, the meet record for girls is 12.09 seconds. There was no one in the 100-meter finals who hadn’t run at least thirteen-flat. It’s pretty unbelievable that the top high school women only touch the ground about fifty-five times in the 100 meters. Brenda’s height is a disadvantage, but she sure moves those short legs fast. Ultimately, her 12.68 seconds garnered second place for her.
It was only ten minutes later that Janice lined up for the 3000-meter run. Like Diane, she was lined up in the second row of runners for the waterfall start. She never broke free of them. Her 12:08.03 finish was only good for 15th place.
It was only another half an hour before teams started moving onto the track for the final event. The class 2A 4x400 relay was the first of the four final relays. Laura didn’t have it in her after her long run. She asked the coach for permission not to run her leg. As a result, Judith was moved up as first alternate for the second leg. It was opposite the position she held with Debbie in the 4x200. In this race, Debbie would lead out and pass the baton to Judith. The 4x400 uses a three-curve stagger, meaning that after Judith came out of her first curve, she could edge to the inside. Natalie was waiting for the handoff in lane three. The team in lane two dropped the baton and came out of the exchange zone in last place instead of second. Natalie took advantage of the drop and moved next to the runner from Meridian. They came around the last curve in lockstep and handed the baton to their final runners at the same time. This was Tori’s kind of race. She poured it on and the entire race became a competition between the two leaders. Coming out of the second turn, they were still in step, but Tori proved to have a kick left and pulled away before the finish line to capture another gold medal.
Even with as few events as the team ran, it still ranked fourth in the state 2A competition. They were stoked. The buzz on the bus was overwhelming as the girls celebrated and compared their medals. None of the tape got removed on the bus and Dennis was very busy in the locker room getting them off to the showers. The last in front of him this time was a very naked Judith. He looked up at her and she smiled.
“Tonight, lover,” she whispered.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
