You make it easy

My goal for the WIAA state track & field meet this year was to get a photo of every Green Bay area competitor.

And to make sure Dayna didn’t leave La Crosse wanting to run away from me.

I thought for sure I had failed at both when I sent this text to her – “I may need you to get a photo of SD girl with your phone.”

The athlete I thought I was going to miss that Saturday afternoon was Southern Door freshman Hailey Shimon in the Division 2 girls discus.

Getting to the discus ring from the starting line at Veterans Memorial Stadium is a bit of a hike. I had made it about 30 minutes before I sent that text.

I made my way there earlier only to realize that Shimon was in the second flight. My mistake.

If you ever want to see true speed at the state track & field meet, watch a photographer race from the discus ring back to the starting line in time for the next race like I did that day.

Track and field is indeed a physical sport, and I apologize to anyone I bumped into during that trek.

I owe a lot to this sport. If not for it, I would have never bumped into Dayna.

No, she never competed in track & field. Her sport was softball.

We crossed lanes thanks to Kennedy Blahnik.

Blahnik was an eight-time state champion and state-record holder. I believe she also holds the distinction for being the athlete I interviewed the most during my time as a newspaper reporter because she also helped her basketball team advance to the state championship three times.

I never could tag Blahnik in any of those stories I posted to Twitter because she didn’t have an account. She eventually ended up signing up for a Twitter account in college for a class.

That’s probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it led Blahnik to seeing my call for help last fall.

That’s what ultimately led me to Dayna.

I tried to warn her that going to the state track & field meet probably wasn’t going to be too much fun for her. It was going to be a pair of long days.

She didn’t care. She insisted on tagging along just to be with me and see me in my element.

Many people across Wisconsin will say we didn’t have much of a spring this year due to the inclement weather.

Dayna would probably argue it was quite long since she was awoken by me getting up at 4 or 5 a.m. every weekend in May to go to my computer and pursue my passion for storytelling. She would then laugh at me when I struggled to keep my eyes open at night while attempting to watch a movie.

On that first Saturday in June, I was up at 3:30 a.m. trying to be quiet as possible as I opened my laptop and start editing photos to post.

I got her a credential for state to give her the full media experience, which allowed her to see that there were indeed others wired like me who enjoy the adrenaline rush of documenting those special moments that high school athletics provide.

She was so cute when the person at the will call window asked her for her information so she could get her credential. She unknowingly responded with, “No, I’m good.”

Yes, she is too good to me.

Operating without a merchandise department, Dayna took it upon herself to make PrepsAgenda.com keychains.

After listening to my tales of not eating while covering the state meet in years past, Dayna packed peanut butter and jelly to make sure I ate something this time around.

She was my copy editor, drawing attention to the fact that at one point I had spelled La Crosse with an extra ‘s’ in it.

When asked if she could get a photo for me, Dayna was there ready to help.

What she didn’t realize as she was nervously trying to steady her iPhone for a photo of Shimon was I was there, too. I had made it back to the discus ring in time to get a photo.

I could run circles around this world, but can’t picture myself finding someone else who cares as much about me as Dayna.

At the conclusion of the state meet, we didn’t take a victory lap around the track. Instead, we walked together under the bleachers after accomplishing both of my goals. Thank you for being there for me.

Dayna prefers to stay out of the spotlight like that, which is why she’ll probably be upset with me when she sees this appear on her timeline.

But I’m a storyteller. I feel our story was the best one at the state track & field meet this year.