Softball Concludes 2016 OKC Challenge

The 2016 Oklahoma City Challenge is in the books! Freshman pitcher Sydney Warinner reveals the winner of the hard-fought competition in her final blog of the preseason.

This morning welcomed the fourth day of incredible tests of energy, determination, and strategy for the UofL softball team, making it the grand finale of their 2016 OKC Challenge. This fourth and final day would take them onto the turf football field within Trager center. The Red team entered the day with an 822-608 lead over the Black Team after the Red Team's dominating truck push and the Black Team's tire flip win the previous day.

Coach Molly Binetti organized today's challenge as symbolic of the road to the Women's College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City and the individual excellence and teamwork necessary to get there. For this reason, the finale contained two parts.

Part one consisted of an individual medley in which one team member must sprint 100 yards to a med ball and run it back 100 yards. Then, she had to slip on a harness attached to a sled and pull it 100 yards to the opposite end-zone, where she dropped the harness and sprinted 100 yards back to the starting position. Similar to the second day's mile run, each team earned points based on their individual team members' time rankings. The Red Team raced through to win this challenge, and their very own, Ashley Nikolao, had the fastest time.

Part two was much more elaborate as it began with five envelopes scattered on opposite ends of the field. Each envelope contained instructions for a task that represented one step in the sequence of victories to take a team to OKC. The first team to finish every task would win.

For ACC season play, each team split into two groups of four to carry two sleds on their shoulders across the field's 100 yard distance. The instructions reminded each team to never slow down and love the challenge that accompanied each step. The Red Team took an early lead after speed walking through this event.

Next, each team had to win the ACC Tournament. To do so, each team had to complete ten perfect jumping jacks in sync. If any team member was off rhythm, failed to cross their hands at the top, or did not stand completely still after finishing the jumping jacks, then their team would have to repeat all ten. At this time, the Red Team ended up with the incorrect envelope for step two and started the third task instead. This allowed the Black Team to take a considerable lead.

The third task, representing Regionals, was for each team to continuously lunge for 100 yards to the opposite end-zone. The team had to lunge in a straight line with their arms on each other's shoulders. At times, each team had to pause and reset to correct the effects of their teammates' different leg lengths. Both the Red Team and Black Team finished strongly, but the Black Team maintained their lead.

To pass Super Regionals, each team had to sprint 200 yards, which was much more difficult than it sounds considering that the sprint directly followed 100 straight yards of lunges. After every team member crossed the finish line, the team sprinted to the center of the field.

The Red and Black Teams reached the fifty yard line at the same time, ready to face-off at the WCWS. The task, to complete ten more perfect jumping jacks, appeared simple, but attention to detail would mean the difference between victory and defeat. The Red Team's initial hesitation to line up correctly set them two jumping jacks behind The Black Team, so after their flawless execution of ten jumping jacks, the Black Team won part tw. Their subsequent cheers echoed throughout Trager.

Time stood still as the coaches calculated the final scores. The ultimate test appeared to be patience. Finally, the coaches turned around and called the entire team to the center of the field. We stood, frozen. And the winner is?

"THE RED TEAM!"

Screams of joy erupted from the left half of the crowd as the Red Team leaped into the air, momentarily lifted captain, Megan Hensley, and smothered each other with congratulations. The Black Team soon joined in and members of both teams, proud of the entire group's performance over the past four days, exchanged praise.

The UofL softball team celebrated a successful end to the OKC Challenge; however, in a broader sense, the challenge continues on. Though split into two teams for this competition, moving forward, this team will form a united front working to earn their spot in Oklahoma City at the end of the coming spring.

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Megan Hensley

Ashley Nikolao

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