On Friday March 6,Parker’s track team showed up to the Illinois Meet of Champions and came home winners. Sponsored by New Balance, the Meet of Champions is an intense competition featuring dozens of schools from across the state, including schools like Latin, Loyola, and Whitney Young. Despite the high stakes, at the end of the night senior Dal Harrell, sophomore Addie Williams, and senior Payton Yagoda were all handed medals for their performances.
Describing how she secured gold in the 400 and the 800, Harrell explained, “I was really nervous leading up to this meet, but my mindset was, what do I have to lose?”
“Warming up and making sure that I showed up as my best for practice helped me prepare for the meet,” said Yagoda, one of Parker’s silver medalists.
“The competitive nature of the 800 is what really drives me to try so hard during meets,” gold winner Williams said. “We really push ourselves during practice, and there’s a lot of team spirit, which puts us in the right position to win at these meets.”
The official starting date for track practices was March 2, but the real training began far before then. Even though it’s classified as a spring sport, indoor track began on January 26 during the winter. Track Captain Harrell said, “During indoor season, we really work on building a good base for the team. There’s a lot of conditioning, like the stair circuits, and we lift more during preseason.” Williams added, stating, “Indoor track is mainly running around the halls, up and down the stairs, and working out in the gym on the treadmill. Preseason can be a little murky because some people are still in basketball and other winter sports, but if you want to get started and attend some meets before the actual season starts, people come to preseason.”
Track’s efforts during practice and their diligence during meets should prove to be impressive to the student body, however, their support is slim to nothing. Students flock to the UIC stadium during rush hour for the White Out Games, filling stands despite the thirty minute drive, but no one can show up for any of Tracks meets.
Senior Xavier Irons said, “I think a lot of our track meets are really far, which just makes it really hard for people to go.” “Ever since I’ve been at Parker, I feel like track is an underrepresented sport that isn’t as highlighted, and I don’t really know why,” senior Jojo Huesbeck said.
“Sometimes, I wish we had more support or more spirit from the Parker Community. But honestly, there is so much spirit and support within the team, which helps make it feel okay,” Williams said.
Harrell believes that media presence would help “I think a lot of it also has to do with photography. Because our meets are so far away, we usually don’t have a lot of photographers, so it’s hard to get representation that way,” Harrell said.
With the development of technology, social media has become an increasingly popular method for sports teams to advertise their wins and highlights. Almost every sports team at Parker has a social media account, and most of the photos they post come from some of Parker’s designated student photographers. When one team isn’t receiving any or enough photos, it can be seen as inequitable and unfair. However, photography and the time it takes to produce quality photos is part of the reason for this gap.
Junior and the Student Athletic Council’s Head Media Manager Cameron Routenberg explained that, “I used to run both track and cross country, and it was a very long trek to some places, with arrival times reaching up to an hour and a half. The distance to these meets is what makes it harder for photographers to get photos of track.” Taking good photos takes time. “There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff that people don’t see. For example, I’m making a mixtape for basketball right now, and I’ve already gone through three hours of footage just for two-second clips. What we do takes time, and is more than just going on the field and taking photos,” Routenberg said.
Huesbeck sees the underrepresentation “I feel like sometimes Addie will win an award, and no one will ever know unless she told them,” she said.
Yagoda said, “I remember when we would win years prior, and there would just be no acknowledgement of that. I think what we really need from the student body is for them to care.”
Harrell agrees. “To be honest, I feel like my friends don’t get that excited, no matter the level of competition. I could go to the state meet, and no one will really get that excited or acknowledge that as a big deal, but when basketball goes to ISL, it’s a big deal, even though me and Jojo, along with others, have already won ISL,” Harrell said.
While increasing the number of photos taken by photographers will increase the exposure the track team receives, that is not enough to solve this issue. Attendance at track meets must increase, and students must look within themselves to find ways they can help resolve this disparity. The track team would like Parker to show and support the team. Williams said, “You don’t have to stay the whole time, but you can stay for a couple events, and trust me, some of our meets are actually closer than some basketball or soccer games.”
