The annual Tracy Wills track meet at Germany Park is a recurring tradition for the high school women’s track team. It gives the team a chance to honor the life of a fellow Scot who passed away at the young age of 15 from pneumonia.
The meet is held in March each year to commemorate the month that Tracy Wills passed. Wills was a sophomore at Highland Park who ran in track and cross country when she suddenly got sick and was hospitalized. Wills was only 15 years old when she passed away suddenly on March 1, 1995 of pneumonia.
“It was March first of my senior year. It just was heartbreaking, no one realized how sick Tracy truly was. She had this cold that she had been fighting, and she’d gone to the hospital” Tracy Wills former teammate Lesley Rhodes said. “They had x-rayed her lung and done this whole work up, but they missed that she had pneumonia. By the time she went back in, it had progressed so far that it was life threatening. It was just a huge shock.”
Current Scot runners remember Wills, not only through the run but also leading up to the meet. The coaches speak about her and remind the team of how important it is to continue to honor her memory.
“The day before the meet we talk about how important the event is to Lady Scott’s team,” sophomore track runner Jenna Mccombs said. “And the entire day of the meet we try to stay off our phones and commemorate Tracy Wills”
Many who attended the meet knew Tracy Wills on a personal level. Some ran with her and spent hours training alongside her.
“I knew Tracy because she was my younger sister’s best friend. I really got to know her when she started running cross country and track at Highland Park because we were teammates and we spent a lot of time together training” Rhodes said. “The best word I could use to describe her is tenacious. She was just a very fierce competitor. She was really a people person and really funny, and she joked around a lot.”
This meet is a favorite among track runners. Highland Park hosts many other teams and people in the community, which adds to the excitement of the team and encourages them to do their best.
“It’s a cool opportunity to honor Tracy Wills,” junior track runner Bess Prather said. “Anyone who’s been on the team if they come back for a meet this is the one that they come back for. The coaches emphasize remembering who came before you and who will come after you.”
An additional reason this meet is so special to the HP team and community is that they use this time to recognize their seniors.
“At all the other meets it’s usually only three varsity and three JV [who get recognition] but it’s not for this one since we host it,” Prather said. “We also have senior recognition, usually the juniors give the seniors a balloon and a yellow rose. And then all the seniors say their name and their favorite memory from the team, where they’re going to college, or what they’re majoring in.”
The Lady Scots came out on top and took home many first place awards for many events. The runners not only ran with a goal of doing well for the Scots but also to honor their former teammate, Tracy Wills.
“Overall, the meet went really well,” Prather said. “JV and Varsity both placed first overall. I ran the 800 and did shotput and discus. I mostly contributed to the JV scores because I placed first in shotput and discus.”
During the meet, lots of runners did better than usual and gained new personal records. Current Scot runners look forward to this meet each year not only for what it represents but also for the general feeling that embodies the crowd and runners. It is less about the competition and more about the meaning behind the event.
“The meet was really fun and lighthearted,” Mccombs said. “It was less stressful than a normal meet and a lot of people got personal records too.”
The annual Tracy Wills meet will continue to serve as a remembrance for a fallen Lady Scot. It serves as a reminder of the strong bond that the team shares and is also a way for those who knew Tracy to honor her life.
“It’s just special to see the next generation and their connection to Tracy, being able to participate in it,” Rhodes said. “It’s pretty cool.”
