Shane's 400

So sorry ladies and gentlemen to forget this precious nugget earlier in my posting. At the UC Davis Aggie Open this past weekend, the beloved Shane "Redneck" Brookshire (and his neck really was red from a long day in the sun) led the way for the Stanislaus mens 4x400 relay B Team. There was almost a crisis on our hands when 5 minutes before the race someone realized that the B Team didn't have enough people to run for some reason or another. Coach Taylor was quickly approached by Coach Bradshaw to see if anyone from the distance squad was able to suffer through a quick quarter. I believe, but I can't be sure, that Shane was specifically requested; but if not, you know he had to volunteer right off the bat because, well, he's Shane, and he's awesome.

After several hours of rest following the 5k earlier in the day, Shane laced up his distance spikes once again. After approximately two strides of a length of 50 meters, Shane was ready for action. Of course, he was the anchor, because he's Shane, and he's awesome.

To start the race, Solomon Granillo ran a great leg of around 51 seconds after just finishing pole vaulting, and brought us in about 6th place out of 8. From there 'Renzo took over, and his massive torso ate up 4 opponents in a matter of 150 meters. He brought the baton into Luther Bell in 2nd place overall. Luther maintained his position and handed off to Shane about 15 meters behind the leader. We all knew Shane was in for a great race, because he's Shane, and he's awesome.

As Shane left the exchange zone, something terrible happened. It seems as though a school to remain unnamed (Hogwarts) had put reverse steroid cream all over our baton. Our first three runners were unaffected because the cream only kicked in after 3 minutes of use. As Shane rounded the first curve onto the backstretch, his legs were vehemently bewitched by the cream, and he actually started running backwards. He couldn't help it, and no one blamed him. How could he beat magic anyway? As this happened, all the other runners passed Shane, simply because they were going in the correct direction. Shane fell behind quickly, but kept fighting, and finally overcame the power of the magic Hogwarts cream with about 50 meters to go. Shane finished strong and brought in the baton proudly in 8th place, but showing that Hogwarts ain't got nothin on us.

After the race, leaning against his red Ford F-150 with his shirt off, Shane had this to say: "Them boys from Hogwarts got some funny magic up them sleeves o' theirs, I tell you what. But betcha sure I ain't gonna let that slow me down, no sirree, cuz I'm Shane, and I'm awesome."