Column: End of spring sports season leaves a void

There are few things I enjoy more than sports. I love watching all the major professional sports, college sports, tennis, soccer, Olympic events winter and summer, I have even forgiven Tiger and if he is playing well you might even find me watching golf. It is safe to say that I am a fanatic sports fan.

Now this might give you the impression that I just really like sitting on my couch. However, back in the day I was an athlete myself. I played baseball, soccer and was on the high school swim team.

The glory days of competing are now far behind me so now I live vicariously through watching other athletes compete. When I took this job I knew that covering local sports would be part of the gig. Needless to say, I was intrigued at the notion that now someone was going to pay me to watch sports live.

My first season was spring sports so I was able to watch the young Plains Golf team learn the ropes. The experience they gained should prove vital to a strong season next year.

I was able to watch the Trotters take the field. Watching these tough as nails girls kick up the dirt and slide fearlessly into home plate made for some amazing pictures.

While I found every aspect of spring sports to be a fascinating learning experience, the real treat for me was covering the track and field team. I had heard that these guys were legit. They did not disappoint.

What these athletes can do astounds me. For some reason I could always swim for hours everyday and we did. Our first workout began at 6 a.m. before school. We swam for about two hours every morning and then for about another three hours after school. We logged some miles.

I could always swim forever but when we would cross train I was miserable. For some reason that still escapes me - I could swim the English Channel but I could not run more than a few hundred yards before collapsing in a pathetic heap of wheezing and coughing embarrassment.

So I will say it again, what these guys do boggles my mind. Whether it is watching a tiny little thing like Carly VonHeeder uncork a javelin throw over 125 feet or whether it is watching Ben Gorham heave a shot put that looks like it probably weighs 500 pounds, these guys are fun to watch.

I made sure to loosen up my neck before Shannon Dimond or Nicole Rehbein took off down the track lest I get whiplash trying to follow them with the camera. Watching distance runners like Kimberly Earhart just makes me want to throw up. I do not know how they do it.

As for Hailey Phillips…enough said.

To all the coaches: thanks for letting me be part of an exceptional season.

To the rest of the crew: Ashley Holmes, Demi Horton, Wyatt Winebrenner, Russell Kujala, Abbie Ehret, Leah Thompson, Felicia Earhart, Kayla Holmes and the rest of the team, it was a pleasure doing business with you and I will see you in 2014.

As for me, while you will never see me running around the track, I still think I would swim laps around all you guys in the pool.