This year’s Taylor Haugen Trophy winner is Chi Anchors Medina, a senior at Choctaw High School. Chi’s primary sports are track and cross country, from which she learned that perfection is not the goal — rather the goal is to improve. Chi is active in community service. She volunteers at the Emerald Coast Science Center, working with the animals and guiding students through science experiments.
In school, she is President of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and President of the Animal Club, which supports local animal shelters. Like most teenagers, Chi has faced adversity. She began her sophomore year excited about the track season, especially since COVID had cut short all sports in her freshman year. However, a stress fracture wiped out her sophomore season as well, leaving Chi feeling lost and defeated. By her junior year, after a good offseason of training,
Chi was ready for the comeback. But she began to struggle with a new injury, hip flexor tendonitis. She tried to push through, but the injury got progressively worse, to the point that Chi had trouble even walking. Chi was at a low point, physically and emotionally. It was then that her mom told Chi not to lose sight of her relationships with track friends and to be proud of their successes. Even though she couldn’t run, Chi continued to show up at practice and help in any way she could, such as timing other athletes during speed workouts. Chi’s friend, Chloe, brought a camera to a meet and taught Chi how to capture action photos of the runners.
Through this experience, Chi gained a love for sports photography. Chi’s teammates and even athletes from other schools began to ask Chi for photos, and coaches used Chi’s pictures for social media. Chi said, “I have never been a top tier athlete, but I learned to give my all and be strong for my team, and
now we have pictures to remind us of the struggles and the successes.”
All Sports proudly recognizes Chi Medina as this year’s Taylor Haugen Trophy winner.
