The Long Run: A 2025 Retrospective
Trajectory is a funny thing. One moment, you are counting down the days until a season begins, and the next, a DM slides in asking if I could cover distance races at The Dempsey at the University of Washington.
Life comes at you fast. So does the shutter.
January: The Deep End (The Dempsey)
To be transparent, I hadn’t kept up with NCAA athletics closely prior to this year. Shooting the next level of athletes indoors was a fresh challenge—new lighting, new pacing, new pressure.
Ken at WestcoastXC gave me the recon on the facility, and walking into that building changed everything. Seeing athletes I recognized from the stat sheets right in front of my lens was surreal. The Friday afternoon drive to Seattle was instantly worth it as I snapped frames of Evans Kurui, Amina Maatoug, local hero Alauna Carstens, Pamela Kosgei, and the Moll Twins (Hana and Amanda)—the NCAA-leading pole vaulters. It was a high-speed, high-altitude start to the year.
Most runners grimace at the finish line. Pamela Kosgei smiles. Watching her tear up the indoor track at The Dempsey was a masterclass in efficiency and joy.
The Grind Begins: High School Track Season
As the high school season approached, I was on the edge of my seat. Then, the starting gun went off. I was hurled into a season that felt non-stop: shoot, edit, sleep, repeat.
It started with Olympia High School’s Intrasquad, followed by the Jamboree hosting Yelm and Capital. Seeing those familiar faces back on the track brought a sense of relief. The community was back.
March: The Future Stars (Emerald Ridge)
Closing out March, I headed to the South Sound Freshman-Sophomore Invitational at Sparks Stadium. This remains one of my favorite races of the season. It strips away the varsity seniors and pits the underclassmen against one another on an even playing field.
From a scouting perspective, this is gold. It’s my chance to identify the up-and-coming runners before they hit the mainstream radar. I also used this race to experiment with video—which, it turns out, is a difficult task to juggle while shooting stills. Lesson learned.
The Freshman/Sophomore meet at Sparks Stadium is my favorite for a reason. It’s where you see the foundation being built. Watching the future of the sport explode out of the blocks.
April: A Personal Detour (The Hands Off Protest)
April kicked off with the Hands Off Protest at the Capitol building. I went to support my family, but I grabbed my camera thinking, "What the heck, let's see what happens."
I didn’t snap many photos that day, but I walked away with one of my favorite images of the year—maybe of my career. As an organizer began speaking, I set up in an obscure spot behind the podium. My gut told me the angle was there. I waited. I waited. And then, the moment arrived.
A quiet angle in a loud moment. Captured from behind the podium at the Hands Off protest.
The Big Stage: Jesuit Nike Twilight
When Ken asks if I can cover a meet, the answer is always yes. When he asked if I wanted to head to Portland for the Jesuit Nike Twilight, my bags were practically already packed.
The magnitude of this event is hard to grasp until you are there. I had to park blocks away. As I unloaded my gear, the sound of the announcer, the music, and the roaring crowd washed over me before I even saw the track. The atmosphere was electric—a star-studded affair featuring athletes like Josiah Tostenson and Tayvon Kitchen.
Zero to Sixty.
The gun goes off at the Jesuit Nike Twilight. There is no sound quite like the spikes digging into the track when the most competitive field in the PNW explodes off the line.
May: The Community & The Championship
The Capital City Marathon is the crown jewel of the Olympia running scene. I wasn't on the official media team for this one, which was perfect. I went out purely for the enjoyment of the local community, covering the race my way, capturing the grit and the celebration on my own terms.
Then came the WIAA State Championship.
Three days. Sun, rain, erratic heat, and the state's best athletes. By Day 3, I was questioning my life choices—calculating exactly how much caffeine is medically required to survive another 10 hours of snapping thousands of photos.
But Day 3 also gave birth to one of my favorite moments of 2025. The Gig Harbor girls relay team took the state championship. I was positioned perfectly to capture the raw emotion: the finish line scream, the tears, the team collapsing into each other. It was the realization that for some, this was the last time they would ever race with these teammates.
Gig Harbor Now reached out to use those photos for an article. Seeing my work in print? I’m not gonna lie—I felt a little famous.
You can't fake this kind of emotion. The exact moment the Gig Harbor anchor realized they were State Champions.
June: The Heat (Brooks PR)
Track season was all but over when Ken hit my DMs one last time: The Brooks PR Invitational in Seattle.
I don’t recall the exact temperature, but it was a scorcher. I covered myself head-to-toe to survive the sun and minimized my movement to conserve energy. Despite the heat, it was an amazing capstone to the season, seeing Cooper Lutkenhaus and Jane Hedengren leave it all on the track.
Best in the West.
You don't get invited to Brooks PR by accident. Jane Hedengren proving why she is one of the nation's premier distance runners, battling the heat and the clock in Seattle.
Reflections on Track
Track season ended, and I walked away with a mountain of memories—and new friends. I had the privilege of meeting Melina Mara, a Pulitzer-prize caliber photographer for The Washington Post, at the WIAA State Championship. I will be forever grateful for our conversations and the wisdom she shared in such a short time. Looking at her career path is powerful; it reminds me where this trajectory can lead.
The Summer Void & The Creative Spark
As track season faded, the WestcoastXC crew kept the momentum alive, touring the West Coast to document summer workouts. Teams signed up, and the closest photographer got the assignment. My lottery numbers came up for Central Kitsap and Curtis High School—getting a raw, behind-the-scenes look at the grind before the glory.
I assumed my track season was wrapped until Coach Alex McIntire reached out with an unexpected invite: Yelm Speed Night.
I didn’t know what to expect from a late-summer track meet in Yelm, but it turned out to be the perfect palate cleanser. It was a Friday night under the lights with zero pressure. Runners of all ages, local standouts, and a community vibe that reminded me why we do this. Without the stress of a championship timeline, I was able to get creative, experiment with angles, and just have fun with the camera again.
[Insert Yelm Photos Here]
The sun went down, but the energy went up. Catching air during the golden hour at Yelm Speed Night. It’s moments like this—where the light lines up perfectly with the athlete—that make you hold your breath before clicking the shutter.
The Pivot: Elevating the Athlete
The off-season between track and cross-country eventually drove me mad. To fill the void, I stopped just "taking photos" and started building a platform.
It began with creating digital magazines—previews for the upcoming XC season featuring stats, key races, and my photos. That small project snowballed into the launch of this blog and a role as a contributor for ThurstonTalk, forcing me to sharpen my pen alongside my lens.
I realized my goal wasn't just coverage; it was elevation. Putting young athletes on a pedestal is something I take immense pride in. They work like pros, and they deserve to be seen like pros. This quiet period became the launchpad for a new skill set: giving these athletes a voice and a visual identity that matches their effort—a philosophy I now bring to every Senior Portrait session in Olympia.
The Adventure: The Ultimook
Then came the trip to Tillamook, Oregon.
The Ultimook is not just a race; it’s a survival course. It’s notoriously sloppy, famous for its mud pit, and even offers bee stings if you're lucky (or unlucky). The course winds through a rhododendron farm and forces runners through two river crossings.
I made the brilliant decision to ditch my shoes and socks and stand knee-deep in the river to get the shot. Was I terrified of slipping on algae-covered rocks and dunking my gear? Yes. Did my toes go numb? Absolutely. But looking at the frames of runners splashing through that water—it was worth every frozen digit.
[Insert Ultimook River Photo Here]
Mud as a Uniform.
You don't leave the Ultimook clean. Capturing the chaos of the river crossing from water level, where the mud and the current become the real competition.
The XC Season: New Faces, New Dominance
Cross country season brought new challenges and opened doors I hadn't expected.
My biggest local highlight was watching the incredible roster of freshmen transform the Olympia High School team. They didn't just join the squad; they elevated it. The girls' team stormed their way to a second-place finish at State and qualified for NXR Northwest. On the boys' side, freshman Quenton Lanese announced his arrival with a stunning second-place finish at the State Championship.
Portland Bound.
The moment the Olympia Bears realized they weren't just on the podium—they were heading to Regionals. A historic second-place finish at the WIAA State Championship. Read my story about the Oly Girls
Then there was Sehome.
I didn’t get an in-person look at the Mariners until the State Championship, but once I saw them, it was impossible to look away. This 2A powerhouse was the most dominant force in Washington. They swept the State title, went on to win the NXR Northwest Championship (a massive upset and achievement), and capped their season with a 10th-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN).
I had the chance to interview the team for a story, and seeing them on the national stage at NXN was a career highlight for me. Take note: 2026 is not ready for this team.
Sehome didn't just win; they dominated. The 2A State Champions and NXR Northwest winners posing with the hardware that proved they are the best team in Washington.
Read the full analysis of their historic season on the blog.
The Lens as an Anchor
I’ll be blunt: 2025 wasn’t a great year for me personally. In many ways, it kind of sucked.
Balancing a demanding full-time management career, university coursework, and family life left little room to breathe. The world is noisy, and the news cycle is relentless. But photography gave me an escape hatch. Being able to turn my attention—and my lens—toward uplifting others became a blessing in disguise.
When I am editing a photo of a kid breaking a PR, or a team crying happy tears after a State title, the negativity of the world falls away. 2025 tested me, but it also clarified my purpose.
If 2025 was about finding my footing, 2026 is about planting my feet and taking the shot.
Thank you for following along.
/// MISSION: 2026 SEASON
I am currently booking Media Days and Spring Sports coverage.
Elevate your team's visual identity before the gun goes off.
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