by With his place rightfully secured among the advancing nine, Monte was ready to set his sights on a higher goal. The first step had been to qualify, but now the bar was raised and Monte would have to dig deep to make his name known. With Monte’s focus and drive, there is no doubt about the tenacity that he was certain to deliver in the upcoming performance.
“I didn’t change anything from what I did the night before to the next day. It’s funny, I ate the same meals, went to bed at the same time, and did everything exactly the same just hoping that I would do just as good.”
The first day on a state tournament environment tucked away, day two was met with nothing less than excitement. For Monte, however, it was not filled with nerves, but rather an anticipation to perform well and best represent himself, his school, and his hometown.
The times had been clocked in day one action, and now it was the best against the best, the showdown for the gold, silver, bronze, and the five following podium places awaiting in the afternoon heat.
“On day one, the prelims, it felt like there wasn’t as many people. I feel like I was more stressed because I didn’t think that I would make it out,” Monte said. “There was still pressure. I felt like a lot more people were dependent on me, so I had to compete.”
