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Tracy's love for sports began at a very early age. Born the middle child, between two brothers, Troy and Todd, Tracy's competitive streak kicked in early as well. Growing up in the Midwest, with its icy cold winters and hot, humid summers, Tracy's first sports as a child were figure skating and gymnastics.
Tracy excelled in both sports very quickly, but then nature took its course. "I grew to be too tall for both of these sports. By the time I was 10, I had legs up to my ears." That led her to the sports of volleyball and basketball in her middle school years. It wouldn't be until high school that Tracy would discover her greatest talent and passion: Track & Field.
Running History In fact it was one event in particular that put Tracy's life on the fast track, so to speak. It was her sophomore year of high school, where she was a cheerleader. Tracy's older brother Troy, a senior, was competing at the Wisconsin State Track Championships in the 100 & 300 meter hurdles. "I remember my parents dragged my younger brother Todd and I to the competition. It was an all day affair of just sitting at a track. I did everything to get out of going that day." But destiny stepped in. Tracy watched her brother win two State titles that day. But it wasn't watching the competition that sparked Tracy to run and join the track team. It was a challenge from her big brother that she could never do it. "I remember after the meet was over, Todd and I wanted to go out to eat, but Troy was tired, and since it was his day, we had to do what he wanted. So I said, what are you so tired from? You only ran from there to there. And he said, "oh yeah, you could never do it!" And I said, 'I can do anything you can do, and probably even better.' And Troy said, "I'll bet you anything in the world you don't even have the guts to try."
So the bet was on... Over the next few months Tracy and Troy would race everywhere: to the car, to the house, up the stairs. And the next school year, Tracy joined the girl's track team at Pius XI Catholic High School; and chose her brother's event: the hurdles. No one could have predicted what would come from this silly sibling challenge.
The unexpected... After just one year, Tracy sent shock waves through the Track & Field world in the state of Wisconsin and around the nation by winning Conference and State Championship titles in three events; smashing the state records, becoming nationally ranked and sparking scouts from all the major universities around the country to sit up and notice. And of course it didn't take long for the media to fall in love with this skinny, blonde haired, blue eyed track star from America's Heartland.
"I think I got so much attention because nobody knew who I was. I just came out of no where. I mean it started out as just a stupid bet. Everyone was like, 'Who IS she?, Where did she come from? The media just ran with it, it was crazy!" Tracy went through the next year undefeated, rewriting the record books around the state. Her senior year, Tracy repeated the feats of her Junior year and broke her own School, Conference and State Records. Those records still stand today. They have gone untouched for nearly 16 years.
College Years...
Tracy went on to compete for two years at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where she set a University record in the 400 meter hurdles. Another record that still stands today. Seeking a program that gave greater emphasis to sprints and hurdles, Tracy transferred to Arizona State University, where she set another school record. Those records made her the first NCAA athlete ever to hold school records at two major Division 1 universities.
Throughout her collegiate career, Tracy was a five time NCAA All-American and earned 13 All Big Ten honors, 13 Academic All Big Ten honors, 4 All PAC Ten honors, and 4 Academic All PAC Ten honors. In 1992, she and current PGA golfer Phil Michelson were named Arizona State's scholar athletes of the year.
World Class After graduating from college with a major in broadcast Journalism and a minor in history, Tracy entered world competition and became ranked seventh in the world and fourth in the United States among hurdlers. Her long list of honors include Olympic Festival medals and International circuit titles. During these years, her athletic accomplishments, combined with her All-American good looks, led to several endorsement deals with some of the world's biggest corporations. Tracy has been endorsed by Walt Disney World, ASICS, Ray Ban, Kodak, and America West Airlines.
After being a U.S. Team alternate in 1996, Tracy was on pace to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when she suffered a spinal fracture in an auto accident in Austin, Texas. Her vehicle was halted at a stoplight when a Chevy Suburban "came flying around the turn behind me" and hit her car from behind.
"I'm a hurdler, and with all the impact and pounding the event requires, it made it almost impossible to work through. But believe me, we really tried. We did everything to work through it with doctors and chiropractors, but it just became too risky." National team doctors told her that if the fracture breaks all the way through, "I would risk never doing anything athletic again for the rest of my life." So we made the decision to forgo our goals for Sydney.
Tracy attended the Olympics in Sydney, but as a journalist writing copy for television broadcasts. It was in Sydney where Tracy first heard of an event called the Modern Pentathlon.
A New Event In Sydney Tracy worked with a company called World Sport and with the World Olympians Association, where many of its employees were pentathletes. "I remember asking, 'what in the world is pentathlon?' And the more I learned about it, the more fascinated I became with the sport and its history to the Olympic Games." (You can read more about this historical sport on the Modern Pentathlon page.)
But after Sydney, Tracy had a long healing process to go with her injury. She returned to Tampa, Florida with a decision to retire from Track & Field and focus on her broadcast career as a producer for the NBC station in Tampa. But her association with the World Olympians Association brought her to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, where she once again worked with the media. The trip to Salt Lake reunited her with the WOA and her pentathlon friends, who encouraged her to give the sport a try. "They kept saying, with your athletic background, it would be perfect for you." So I checked it out with the United States Olympic Committee and learned there were two places in the States to train for Modern Pentathlon; San Antonio and Colorado Springs. While in Salt Lake City, Tracy spoke with Mike Moran, head of media relation for the USOC, about the possibility of a media related job with the USOC. When he told her to come on out, she made her decision to give the sport a try.
Modern Pentathlon Tracy moved out to Colorado Springs in the fall and began writing for several Olympic publications, primarily her favorite, World Olympian Magazine.
Later that year, Tracy slowly got into the Pentathlon scene, learning one event at a time. Her training was very limited because she was working most of the time. While on an interview for World Olympian magazine, Tracy met Pat Parelli, one of the world's most renowned horsemanship trainers. He also became fascinated with the riding event of the pentathlon and offered to sponsor Tracy's training.
The sponsorship began in February of 2003. In March Tracy went to Europe to train with one of Parelli's level three trainers, Luca Moneta in Italy, where she worked on improving her riding skills. Tracy then spent the summer at the Parelli international training center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado working personally with Pat on her riding skills and learning to jump. In September, now ready to fully take on all five events, Tracy moved to the South of France to train in Monaco, home of the international federation of Modern Pentathlon: UIPM.
Training in Monaco "It's the most wonderful place to train. The coaches and facilities are absolutely amazing, not to mention it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It's really encouraging to be associated with the UIPM, the people are so supportive. UIPM Secretary General Joel Bouzou is so passionate about the sport and works hard to promote it. He really goes out of his way to support and encourage athletes to succeed in the sport." In Monaco, Tracy has individual coaches in each of the five events. "Their expertise and dedication has really helped me make some great improvements over the past few months, and we all are excited about the future."
The Future "I'm really excited about this sport, and I am looking forward to my upcoming competitions. It's a fascinating new challenge." With no past experience with the sport of pentathlon, Tracy has nothing to base anything on or compare it to right now. But she has worked very hard to learn the five sports in a very short time. "I'm looking forward to competing at the international level and seeing how far I can take it. How quickly I can put it all together is anyone's guess, but I'm working as hard as I can. I'm really determined to become an Olympic level pentathlete." The Beginning Tracy's interest in News Media began in High School, where she took her first Journalism class and worked on the school paper. Tracy became instantly fascinated with the news business after completing a class report on Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bob Woodward. "He is the person that really inspired me to become a journalist. Ever since I was 16, I've always said, I'd love to meet him one day." For those of you who don't recognize the name, Bob Woodward is one of the two reporters from the Washington Post who broke the story on the Watergate scandal. His investigative reporting eventually led to the resignation of President Nixon on August 8th, 1974. "I was fascinated by the power of the press and its protection by the First Amendment of our Constitution. The fact that the work of two journalists could bring down the White House, and force the resignation of the most powerful man in the world was just amazing to me."
University Studies In her first years of college at the University of Wisconsin Madison, Tracy focused on newspaper writing and print journalism. She remained on the Dean's List all of her semesters there. It was at Arizona State University that Tracy shifted her focus to the broadcast sector of the media. "It was the broadcasting classes that changed my mind. I had so much fun with it and I was fascinated by everything that went into putting a newscast on the air." Tracy graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in History
With a passion to pursue her Track and Field career, Tracy followed her coach, Tom Jones to the University of Florida, where he took the head coaching job. At UF, Tracy worked on her Masters degree in Telecommunications, while training for the Olympics.
Off to a Good Start Tracy's first television job came in 1995 at the NBC station in Atlanta, WXIA-TV 11 Alive. This was a very impressive beginning for Tracy. In the news business, it is almost unheard of that anyone fresh out of school start their career out in one of the nation's top ten markets. Atlanta is ranked #9. The story of how she got her first job there is a great one. It is a typical example of Tracy's unwavering determination at anything she sets her mind to.
Getting the Job Tracy believed her situation was unique, in that she was an Atlanta based athlete training for the Olympics and had a background in broadcasting. After all, this was the official station of the Olympic Games. She applied for a job as an editor, and while on her interviews, she shared her ideas on how advantageous her position could be as the Games were approaching. But since there were no positions available, she got the usual runaround. "I could see I was getting nowhere. I had already met with the executive producer and the assistant news director and they kept saying they'd get back to me." Now most people would just accept that and move on to the next job; but not Tracy.
Going to the Top "I really believed in my ideas. So one day, on my way out of the station I stopped at the receptionists desk and asked, 'who is the highest person at this station?' She replied, 'That would be Mr. Craig Dubow, our General Manager.' So I got the number and set out to take my ideas to the top.' Not an easy job! Craig Dubow was the GM of the official NBC station of the Olympic Games. CEO's of every major corporation in the world wanted to meet with him. "I remember seeing the president of Xerox and Visa; and thinking, god I'm just a kid out of school."
"I called or went in every day for about six weeks straight, requesting a short meeting. I was very persistent. Finally, Amy, his assistant, told me, 'he's just NOT going to be able to see you. And I remember looking up at the clock, it was 5:45 p.m. Now to this day, I still don't know what possessed me to say what I said next; but my reply was this: 'What time does Mr. Dubow leave to go home?' And she said 'around 6 p.m.' And I said, 'good, I'll wait and walk him to his car, while I talk.' She glared back at me like I was completely insane and said, 'just a moment,' and went into his office. Now I was thinking, oh my god, they're probably calling security. But she came back out a few minutes later. With a stone cold look on her face; in a monotone voice, she said 'Mr. Dubow will see you now.'
Tracy learned later that the ONLY reason Mr. Dubow agreed to see her at that point was just sheer curiosity. "I walked into the most beautiful office I'd ever seen, and behind this huge desk across the room sat Mr. Craig Dubow. He put his phone down and said, 'You have five minutes.' I froze for a second, then thought, 'oh gosh Tracy, just start talking.' So I did and I went over all my ideas just like I'd rehearsed. And surprisingly, he seemed to like them all. I know this because, this same man who had only five minutes in next year, didn't seem to care that an hour and a half had gone by and we were still talking. He called in Amy and said he wanted me to come back at 8:30 the next morning to meet with him and Bob Walker, the station's Vice President."
The Job Tracy's persistence paid off. The next morning Tracy returned to the meeting to get the biggest surprise of her life. "They CREATED a position for me at the station." It was something that had never been done before in the history of the station. "They told me I would start the next week. I was thrilled!"
During the months leading up to and during the Olympic Games, Tracy's job included: editing Olympic stories and doing wrap ups of each day of the Games, assisting the Olympic producer on stories ideas and interviewing her fellow track athletes. She worked with the promotions team and even hurdled in an Olympic commercial spot for the station. Tracy also had the opportunity to work with Bob Costas and Mary Lou Retton while interviewing athletes. "I worked at WXIA for two years and loved every minute of it."
In 1997 Tracy decided to train for the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney. That meant moving to the training base at the University of Texas in Austin. "I was really sad to leave that station, I loved everything about it. But I was also looking forward to the future. The day I left, Mr. Dubow said to me, 'do you know why I hired you? It was because I knew that if you could do nothing else, your determination alone would bring something great to this station, and I was right. Tracy don't ever lose that.'"
And she never did.
Moving on... Tracy's next job was at the NBC station in Austin, Texas, KXAN News 36. During this time she would focus on her running, while working in numerous capacities at the station. "At this point, I had done things on-air, but I really wanted to learn everything about the entire production of the newscast. I'd always been fascinated by how so many different jobs had to come together to pull off the newscast." Those jobs include, anchoring, reporting, writing copy, editing, audio, cameras, chyron, directing, producing, teleprompter, scripts. "I didn't want to be one of these people who become specialized and only care to know one or two aspects of the business, I wanted to learn everything." Aside from the knowledge aspect, I think its good to understand that EVERY job, the big and the small, deserve the same respect, because all parts have to work to make it happen." Working for two years on the evening newscasts at KXAN Tracy got the knowledge base she was looking for in broadcasting, all the while maintaining a very intense Olympic training and travel schedule.
"Everyone was so great and supportive of my Olympic training." (Of course it didn't hurt that NBC is the network of Olympic Games) Then, in October of 1999, while on her way to the NBC station for the 5:30 Newscast, an accident happened that would change the next year of Tracy's life. "I was halted at a stoplight, when this Suburban came flying around the corner and hit my car from behind. I remember feeling really sore at the time, but I never dreamed in a million years, it would ever affect my running." But it did. The result was an L-5 spinal fracture that would eventually halt Tracy's training and end her dreams of competing in the Sydney Olympic Games. Tracy would go to Sydney, not as an athlete, but as a journalist and broadcaster.
Sydney 2000 While Tracy did interviews for NBC, it was a News Media company called World Sport that she focused her attention on in Sydney. "It was great in Sydney. I loved all the events, the interviews, the stories we covered, it was one of the best experiences of my life." Of course it helped the company immensely that Tracy had every credential imaginable. "Yes I think that helped, we had access to every place the stories were, and sometimes for a reporter, that is the hardest part." It was in Sydney, with World Sport, that Tracy was first introduced to The World Olympians Association, the athlete branch of the International Olympic committee.
A Big Decision After returning home from Sydney, Tracy decided to retire from Track & Field and focus fully on building her broadcast career. In December she was hired as a producer for the NBC station in Tampa, Florida: WFLA News Channel 8. "I really loved News Channel 8. I learned so much there. They have one of the most talented and dedicated news staffs in the nation, I was proud to be a part of it. Not to mention they're some of my dearest friends."
While Tracy loved her work at WFLA, her association with the World Olympians Association brought her to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, where once again she worked with the media.
While in Salt Lake City, Tracy was encouraged to take a media job with the USOC, so she take on a new sporting challenge: training for the Olympic Games in a new event: The Modern Pentathlon..
After her contract with NBC in Florida ended, Tracy moved out to Colorado Springs to train and write for several Olympic publications, focusing primarily on her favorite, World Olympian Magazine.
The Future Tracy is now taking a short break from her News career to focus on the her Pentathlon training in the South of France. But as you can see from the past, it probably won't be too much longer before she finds her next media project. "I'm always excited to see what will happen next. I'm really looking forward to the Athens Olympics! Whether its as an athlete or with the media, I know it will be a great experience!"
