The Unacknowledged Achievements
by Anabelle Orth 10/3/2024
How many of the following athletic achievements—all from the past school year at Cony—do you know about? Girls field hockey won regionals; Loralie Grady placed 4th in cross country regionals; two cheerleaders were selected to cheer at the Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic; girls swimming won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Championships (KVACs) and placed second in a relay at States; girls basketball won regionals; girls lacrosse won KVACs; Elise Cunningham won javelin at States; girls tennis was ranked as the number one seed in the state with player Kira Gregor being ranked number nine individually in the state. What about these achievements from the previous two years? Cony girls track won KVACs for indoor and outdoor track; Loralie Grady won the 1600 at KVACs as a freshman; girls swimming won a relay at states; Emily Kennard won two individual swimming events at states; Emma Brown won the 400-meter dash at states. Now, is there anything you notice about these achievements? What do they have in common?
The achievements of female Cony athletes often go underrecognized. All of these things are incredibly impressive, and yet they do not receive the attention they deserve. In fact, when one cony student was asked about the girls tennis team, they said, "I don't think I went to a single match. I only know Lilah and Rekha are on the team.” This is telling, considering the girls tennis team’s standout season. Another female athlete, Emily Kennard, was asked how her achievements were recognized. Kennard, who won two events at states in 2023, said that “no one at Cony really even acknowledged it.”
This isn’t just true for Kennard. Two years ago, Emma Brown won the 400-meter dash, a fact that senior Abby Clark was unaware of. Clark expressed surprise upon hearing this, exclaiming that she “didn’t know Emma had won considering Cony track athletes don’t often make it to states, so I didn’t know Emma had made it, let alone won.” Clark herself is a member of the track team, further showing just how little recognition these athletes receive for their accomplishments.
Some female sports are not just ignored; they are undermined. Hannah Marshall, a member of the cheer team, stated, “We get a lot of pushback from the student section, especially boys. People don't think of us as a real sport and don't understand what goes into it [cheer].” Marshall also observed that “even getting student participation [during games] can be hard.” According to Marshall, sometimes members of the student section will go so far as to try to distract the cheerleaders or even make fun of their chants.
It’s not just individual athletes going unrecognized. The Cony girls swim team won KVACs last year and received a plaque for this accomplishment. The plaque was placed in the front of the school, on full display. It has since been moved, and is no longer visible to the general public. Where it used to be now lie plaques for boys baseball, boys track and field, and girls lacrosse, all from 2023. When asked about this, Kennard said, “It feels unfair. It was the first time in several years that we won it. It was a big accomplishment.”
This problem is widely felt within the Cony community. In a poll, 80% of students stated that they felt high school girls' athletic achievements are unacknowledged. This 80% is composed of both men and women, while the 20% who think women are recognized enough are primarily males.
However, there is hope to remedy this problem. Morgan Fitchthorn has taken up photographing sports events and is trying to get to all of the events, not just the popular ones. She went to a golf match this past Tuesday and attended the cross country meet last Friday. When asked why she does this, she said, “With Scoville gone, I want to make sure to represent everyone.” If everyone were to do as Fichthorn is doing, then girls' sports would be well on their way to finally receiving the recognition they deserve.