State Track, Day 1

Last Friday was the first day of the state track meet. The first day of the meet is incredibly long, I start shooting at 8am and the last race is shot at 9:30pm. And that does even include putting together the slideshows, which is another couple of hours.

Austin in June isn't exactly the most inviting time to be spending 14 hours outside, but it's what must be done. Not only is it hotter than hell and humid, the press box at Mike Myers Stadium doesn't fit all the media covering the event, so of course the photographers gets stuck outside in the press tent. Of course, we get no air conditioning, heck there aren't even any fans. But, at least there is power.

The morning starts out with the 3,200m runs, after that the late morning and afternoon is all field events. It was nice because most of what I had to shoot was pretty spread out and I had time to concentrate on making good photos.

One thing that was different this year was graduation. Because all the regional meets were postponed for the swine flu scare, the state meet got pushed back three weeks. Which was also graduation weekend for many schools across the state. To make up for make of the kids who were missing their own graduations, the UIL made plans to hold a special graduation ceremony for all the athletes who were missing their commencement services back home. I actually wrote about a couple kids who had to decide whether to give their speeches of run at the state meet. They participated in the service along with a few Abilene High seniors. My favorite photo was of Abilene High's Jamar Sims and his bright yellow shows, which paired with his graduation gown made for the school colors of black and gold.