Tennis, track events at UK were always great fun to cover

(Column by Trevor Sherman)

With high school tennis and track and field state championships taking place in Lexington during the next couple of weeks, it has me thinking about the many KHSAA state championship events that I have had the opportunity to cover over the years.

I have been lucky enough to cover local teams competing in the boys and girls Sweet 16 basketball tournaments, I have stood on the sidelines at a few football state championship games, and I attended a baseball state championship tournament in 2018.

I have been to a state championship bowling meet, covered numerous cross country races at the Kentucky Horsepark, have followed soccer teams as they have made deep runs into the postseason, and I have gone to a couple of state wrestling meets as well.

With all of that being said, I still consider the KHSAA tennis and track state championship events to be my favorites to cover. Allow me to explain…

First, the time of year that these championships take place typically means ideal weather. I have covered some tennis and/or track events where I got uncomfortably warm during the course of the day, but covering these outdoor events in May is nothing like covering a Little League All-Stars tournament in the middle of July. There is just no comparison.

Second, both tennis and track are GREAT activities to take photos of, especially track and field. With both, you just find a good spot, and snap away. I would always come home from these events with a ton of great shots to choose from, and a few of those even earned me some recognition at the annual Kentucky Press Association awards banquet.

Third, these events are pretty low-stress. Or, they always felt that way to me, anyway.

Despite it being an all-day affair, and having to put some serious mileage in on the old sneakers in order to catch everyone in action that you are there to cover, I always found it kind of relaxing, and very rewarding, to get the necessary shots, chat with the athletes and coaches when/if I could catch them, and then head to a favorite restaurant to sit down to regroup and review results.

It is these moments, sitting in a restaurant in Lexington, ordering a burger, some pizza, or a plate of wings, and looking over tournament brackets for tennis, or making notes on the top finishes in track and field, that stand out to me the most, and are some of my fondest memories of my time as sports editor of the News Journal.

I don’t know, there was always just something about sitting down to a good meal after a long day of shooting and talking, and considering how I would like to make the following week’s sports section look. The drive home, too, was always a good time to reflect, decompress, and get ready to do a whole lot of work once I got back into the office at the beginning of the next week.

Some other memories that I have of covering tennis and track state championships in years past include the times that I ran into bad weather, and how that would tend to royally screw things up, especially when it came to the tennis competitions.

I only remember one time that it rained while I was at a state track and field meet, and boy did it rain! The clouds began rolling in, getting darker and darker, and it looked like the track and field facility at the University of Kentucky was going to take a direct hit. Well, that is exactly what happened, and everyone who had the misfortune of being out in it got soaked in a hurry.

Luckily, I had started walking back towards my vehicle before the rain hit, so I was able to duck into a nearby parking structure to avoid the storm. And when I say storm, I mean strong winds, crazy lightning… all of it. It was bad.

I can’t recall what year that was, but I want to say it was either 2017 or 2018.

If rain interfered with the tennis tournaments, which seemed to happen more often for some reason, all of the matches would get moved indoors at various facilities between Lexington and Richmond. I always hated this, as the picture quality went way, way down when shooting inside as opposed to outside.

I had the chance to be along for the ride with some very talented young men and women in both sports between 2014-2020, but it was a special honor to get to be there to witness the career of Williamsburg’s Selena Mattingly, and to watch her win state titles in two events (800m and 1600m runs) in 2016. She was, and forever will be, among the absolute best athletes to ever grace the halls of WHS.

Best of luck to all of our coverage area tennis and track athletes who will have the chance to compete at state this year. I look forward to following your progress in the coming days!