Female athletes have triumphed over time, creating a space where young girls feel confident enough to join sports that may previously have seemed “too boy-ish”. This has drastically increased this year, possibly because of last year’s 2024 Paris Summer Olympics with a majority of the US roster being women. This is a triumph for female athletes considering that women were not even allowed to compete in the 1896 Athens Olympics. The percentage of female athletes then rose to 2.2% in the 1900 Paris Olympics, which was marking the first year they were permitted to be a part of the games. Now women represent over 50% of the US current Olympic roster.
Female athletes have been pushing the boundaries everywhere including WMC! West Morris Central’s Track and Field senior, Hailey Banning talks about her story of stepping outside of her comfort zone athletically and how she ended up going to Morris County Championships for throwing shot. It all started with Banning joining track as a way to stay in shape for her upcoming soccer season, but it quickly changed. “So, I thought sprints were going to be like my main sport, like the entire, like all four years. And I was doing really well…but I fell on a hurdle, and I destroyed my knee, and I thought it was fine.” Banning would later come to realize that it was in fact not fine and that her knee prohibited her from sprinting to her best ability without risk of it worsening.
Banning continues, “Once spring season was done, I started throwing, and they’re like, you have potential to do it in winter.” This then became the real jump of Banning’s High School throwing career.
Banning has accomplished many great things and created so many milestones in such a short period of time. She’s proud of how far she’s come in only her senior year with only a few months to explore this new skill. “ When I first started, I started throwing 25 feet, which is okay”.
Seeing all her potential, “WMC Coach Lawrence came up to me, he goes, your goal is to throw over 30”. She then went on to do exactly that. “Morris County relays, I threw 31, not just 30, but 31. I mean, I was so shocked. I was so proud of myself.” Banning’s mindset and openness to shifting her athletic career senior year just proved how versatile and strong of an athlete she is.
Banning’s greatest motivator this season has been her friends along with her WMC team. She stated, “The community of throwers and I think just having that group of girls to, you know, do better with and, we’re all improving together, and I think that’s what really motivated me.”
Banning’s team-driven way of thinking develops her and those around her so positively. In terms of women in sports specifically, Banning enjoys track because “for track specifically, we work as a group, it’s always guys and girls together. It’s always junior, JV and Varsity, we practice together. and I think that as a female… support not only from, like other female athletes, but, everyone in general, is like, really nice.”
Training hard and having that support system helps to push young athletes such as herself far and allow them to do great things. Banning’s story, much like other young female athletes, is only possible because of those who have come before her Athletic entrepreneurs such as the first female Olympians, to NCAA champs today, create such a welcoming space for young women. Banning is now entering her Spring Track & Field season with a newfound talent in shot, and hopefully she will be back out on the track sprinting. Banning is just one of many young women who prove how strong female athletes truly are!
