Pond Skimming at Canyons!

For years Brooke has been wanting to enter the Pond Skimming at the Canyons contest.

But every year we have just missed it with our spring break either just before

 or just after the day of the contest, 

or Brooke has a track meet that day so she hasn't ever been able to participate.

This year, it appeared that once again, Brooke wasn't going to get to do pond skimming

 since she was scheduled to race at Stanford next week

 and didn't want to risk an injury with just a week to go.

But as many of you know, Brooke has been sick off and on for the past couple of months 

with a terrible cold, cough, then she got a terrible rash* (remember this post) 

and still after many appointments with the team doctors, 

lots of different kinds of drugs and even a shot,

 she was still so tired and couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Finally, this week after more tests, she was diagnosed with mono.

Kind of bitter/sweet news.  At least now she knows why she is so tired.

She was sad to think that even though she has done all this training and is in such great shape, 

she will have to red shirt this outdoor track season and try to recover.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that during all this she has been running 65 miles every week.

What a bummer!

But the silver lining in all of this is that since she can't competing at Stanford next week,

she can compete in the pond skimming contest at Canyons!  Yay!

Dad immediately signed her up!
*We thought that the rash that she got was just an allergic reaction to the amoxiciallian that she was taking,
but apparently, it was a mono rash, which apparently 80-90% patients develop in the early stages of mono.  Good to know!

 Dad, walking Brooke up the hill to the starting line.

Brooke has always said that if she could participate in this event,

that she would dress up in her favorite pig costume 

that I made her for Halloween in the 5th grade.

Yes, she still fits into it!  Ha! Ha!

That pig costume has been worn in recent years at many a student government activity.

Unfortunately, with such short notice, the pig costume wasn't an option since it's in California,

so Brooke dressed up as herself, a BYU XC runner/skier! Cute!

Although, the announcer said that it was the "boringest costume!" 

 Rude!! I'm sure he was a Ute fan!

Up at the starting line, posing with some of the other contestants.

Here she is with Hello Kitty!

 And sorry, this is a little risque, but very creative, the meateaters.
And yes, that is real meat!  Brooke said that they stunk really bad!

 And Brooke's personal favorite, a mormon missionary!

And Tyler and Dad's favorite, the Honey Badger, eating a cobra.

 A look at the Red Bull starting line.

 And a look at the pond that Brooke was going to skim across!

 This was the youngest contestant.  

He was 11 years old and made it about 1/2 way through the pond.

 Sponge Bob jumped right into the pond.

 Hello Kitty was seriously crazy and fun and barely made it to the pond.

Brooke, looking focused and determined, came flying down the slope!

Watch one of the videos below and you can see Brooke skim right across the pond, 

and landed safely back on land, like no big deal!

Tyler filmed from the bottom of the hill.

And Dad filmed from the top.

 The thrill of victory!

 Being congratulated by the other contestants!

 BYU-TV was there to interview her after her successful pond skim!

Brooke can say that she had an article written in the Daily Universe about her great race at the Autumn Classic

 and she was interviewed by BYU-TV after show off her pond skimming skills!  

Not bad for a freshman!

 Walking over to meet up with Dad and the boys, we were greeted by other BYU fans.

 Dad and the boys are pretty stoked to see The Bear!

 Brooke posing with her fan club!

Thanks Mark Crandall, Eric Smith and Tyler for cheering her on!

 Taking a victory chairlift ride back up the hill to recover her poles that she threw aside on the way down the hill.

 A view of the champion pond skimmer with the pond in the background.

And a proud Momma Bear with her cub.

Look at all the spectators!  It was quite the scene out there today!

What a fun day for our Bear!

Brooke said that it was the perfect competition for her.

"It combined three of my favorite sports, wakeboarding, skiing and running! Pond skimming is the best!"

Brooke took two common motivational quotes, "The best things in life are worth waiting for!" 

and "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

and made them her mantras today and best of all, made a great memory!

Plus, she was awarded a *Free Lift Ticket* for next ski season!

Not bad for her first pond skimming appearance!