Indiana University Athletics
NCCA Adventures in Austin: Megan Roark
5/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 19, 2006
On Friday, we practiced on Texas' field to get a feel for it before our first game. While we got ready to practice I looked around at the stadium I had seen so many times on television. It felt pretty amazing to be standing on the field at the pitchers mound that Cat Osterman pitches from every home game.
While I thought I would be nervous to be here I am surprisingly excited to see how our team will match up against some of the best in the country. We're the first team to represent IU in the postseason in ten years. No one my freshman year thought we would be here in only four years. Practice looked sharp, and I think everyone is anxious to start playing. We have a tough region and we'll have to bring our best game from here on out.
After practice, we went back to the hotel and cleaned up. Most of us went to downtown Austin to walk around and see the sights. We walked down 6th street, which is like an extended version of our Kirkwood. It looked like a fun place to spend time at as an undergrad, but maybe a little too big for one college. It's not like the smaller more intimate Kirkwood. Austin is more of a city than the college town I was expecting. After we walked down 6th street for a while, we headed up towards the Texas Capitol. We took some group pictures and then headed towards the Real World Austin house which has now been turned into a Mexican restaurant. More photos were snapped of the places the MTV characters had spent six months living at and then it was back on the bus to the hotel.
We then got ready to meet up with the rest of the team for a nice steak dinner. One of the greatest things about making the tournament is you get treated so nice in every aspect of the trip. That includes food, the hospitality of the host school and some good NCAA gifts.
I am both anxious and confident going into this first game. I can't wait to see how we match up against these teams, and I am confident that we can win. I am also thankful for the opportunity to realize my dream of going to the NCAA Tournament; there are plenty of players who will never get this chance. So thank you IU, and Go Hoosiers!
