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Gabe Blackman

Megan Weaver

Ethnography

10/24/14

The Track Life

Track and field is a sport which combines various athletic contests based on the skills of
running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium
with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take
place.

HISTORY

The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory. Track and field-style events
are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural
and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized
track and field events at a sports festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in

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776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, the stadium footrace. The scope of
the Games expanded in later years to include further running competitions, but the introduction
of field events came later.

Races over short distances, or sprints, are among the oldest running competitions. The
first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event, the stadium race, which
was literally a race from one end of the stadium to the other. Sprinting events are focused around
athletes reaching and sustaining their quickest possible running speed. Three sprinting (not
including hurdles) events are currently held at the Olympics and outdoor World Championships:
the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters. These events have their roots in races of imperial
measurements that later changed to metric. the 100 m evolved from the 100 yard dash, the 200
m distances came from the furlong (or 1/8 of a mile), and the 400 m was the successor to the 440
yard dash or quarter-mile race.

LMC FRESHMAN SPRINT GROUP

The 2014-2015 freshman track and field rosters consist of seven men and four women.
Of this group of eleven, four are Alabama natives (Cameron Fuller, Swanagan Williams,
Breonna Lockhart, Tyree Reed) five are North Carolina natives(Xavier Baker, Mathew Darden,
Jordan Brigham, Christian Parker, Nyja Underwood) and the remaining two(KyAndra

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Anderson, Gabriel Blackman) are from Georgia. This group was put together by Assistant and
Sprint Coach, DeRico Tilley. Tilley began his track and field career at the University of South
Alabama, earning 12 all-Sun Belt Conference selections, while being named to the NJCAA AllAmerican team eight times. The eight-time Sun Belt Athlete of the Week graduated from
South Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication, and also holds an
Associate of Arts from Bishop State Community College. Following his career at South
Alabama, Tilley was selected to the United States Track and Field team, participating in the 100
and 200 meter dash events at various venues around the world from May 2002 to August 2009.
His top moment came in 2000 while still at South Alabama, when his performances in both
events landed him among the top ten in the world as well as a spot in the US Olympic trials.
When asked about his recruiting strategies, he said As a Coach, When I recruit I look for role
players who will serve as pieces to a big puzzle. The recruiting class that formed this discourse
community I know today is comprised of members that have running track from zero to thirteen
years. The experience amongst members does not hinder the growth as individuals in this
community. Each member primarily has two goals: to be Conference Carolina Champs and
then National Champions. While observing a practice one may hear terms such as fly or
three-point These are just two terms of a very large lexis that not only applies to the discourse
community but to the sport as a whole. I found that those who do not follow Track and Field find

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it very hard to actually understand such terms. Although there is no clear genre amongst this
group, there is a very intricate and unique way of communication through members. Coach
Tilley is the verbal communication, meaning he relays the message orally. But while running, it
is apparent that there is a form of physical communication. This is most clearly seen when
members are racing each other in this practice setting it becomes a competition between
members.

CONCLUSION AND FEEDBACK

The realm of this discourse community is very clearly centered on running. At

first glance may get thought that it is not as complex as other discourse communities, but on the
contrary, it is. Some students and Teachers call them the best team to ever come through LeesMcRae. Through the characteristics that were studied I came to know this group as a successful
discourse community.