Senior Emily Ciesynski will be sharing her experience at the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships throughout the week on MorrisCougars.com. The championships will be held May 23-25 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Ciesynski, a senior, will run in the women's 400-meter dash and women's 400-meter hurdles.

The prelims of the women's 400-meter hurdles are set for Thursday, May 23, at 4:25 p.m. (EDT) and the prelims of the women's 400-meter dash are scheduled for Friday, May 24, at 3 p.m. (EDT).

The finals of the women's 400-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles are scheduled for Saturday, May 25, at 1:10 p.m. (EDT) and 2:15 p.m. (EDT), respectively.

Friday, May 24

Tried writing my blog [today] but still did not quite want to believe its over. I came into the open 400 a little shaken up with my knee and ankle not feeling too good but in my mind there was no other option besides running. Some runners love the feeling during the race and say they can space out everything but I'm the opposite. I hear everything when I race, I heard my dad cheering me on in the first 100 then my brother and finally my mom on the home stretch.

My favorite part of running is after the race. After finishing a 400 there's always this spacey feeling where you can't really feel your legs and you know you just pushed your body to its limits. That's the feeling I'm going to miss most. Sad it's over but so glad of everything I learned throughout this journey.

Thursday, May 23

Today was a difficult day. Went into the race more centered than I ever have been, confident in my training and my abilities, ready to crush it. Practice hurdles were speedy and snappy. I walk out to the race and was in the first heat, happy to be able to be the first ones to race. I come out of the blocks and off the first hurdle fast, setting me up for a good second and come up too close and bam.

I scrambled and got up and finished the race still dazed, not quite believing what just happened. I am sad. I am disappointed. I know that I am capable of more which is the hardest part. I'm not looking for redemption tomorrow. I am looking to put everything on the track that I was not able to do today.

Wednesday, May 22

Wow, what a facility! Indoor 300 meter track (only slightly different from ours), indoor turf fields, weight room along with an outdoor track were all very impressive. Had a shakeout/premeet today and felt pretty good going over hurdles which got me excited for tomorrow. We also went to the NCAA banquet where we got to see people inducted into the hall of fame, all with impressive accomplishments.

My favorite team was the one that all wore matching rompers for the girls and matching sequins vests for the boys. I told coach that we should've had matching outfits :/ Overall, a fun day just being able to hang out and practice in the facility. Tomorrow is the 400 hurdles and hoping for good weather.

Tuesday, May 21

Today was a travel day, we left from Minneapolis and had a layover in Chicago and made it to Ohio around 7 p.m. Jessica Bliese kept traveling interesting by helping a random lady carry her luggage and then getting water spilled on her. I am not an experienced flyer so I just followed Coach Josh and Tony around the airports the whole time.

For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with bread. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner so it took a lot of self-control to limit myself to less than a basket of their rolls ;) Can't wait to see the facility tomorrow and get the legs moving after a day of traveling.