Jenks senior athletes honored with banners along B Street

Spring sports in 2020 were wiped away with the COVID-19 pandemic, but senior athletes will not go completely unrecognized.

Drive down B street this week and along the fence at Allan Trimble Stadium and you’ll see the faces of each of the nearly 70 senior athletes from golf, soccer, tennis, track, baseball, lacrosse, and slow pitch softball. Senior banners are typically hung at the respective venues in which the athletes compete, however, this year they’ll be placed where everyone can see.

Girls lacrosse coordinator Tracy Isbelle got the idea on Facebook where a town in Georgia had hung senior banners in their downtown. Isbelle worked with Shannon Ledford, who creates senior posters and senior banners, to come up with the idea.

The two coordinated with Athletic Director Tony Dillingham and the various booster clubs and parents to arrange the banners. Each student-athlete was given instructions on how to take the pictures since Ledford couldn’t take the photos herself.

“I think it’s going to give a sense of community,” Ledford said. “I think it’s going to be incredible when it’s all up there and everybody can drive by and see it.”

2020 seniors haven’t had a normal school year since they were freshmen. The teacher walkout in 2018, the flood in 2019, and this year their season was cut short again.

The banners are no substitute for memories that will never be made but Isbelle hopes this small token of appreciation will subdue the hurt.

“I think it certainly won’t replace their lost season but at least it will let them know that they aren’t forgotten, and that the Jenks athletic department recognizes their senior season was important,” Isbelle said. “We feel their pain, their heartbreak, and we will remember them. Hopefully, they’ll get to see their face on social media and that means something to them.”