SOJC summer practicum students worked as a sports communication team at the Prefontaine Classic and World Athletics U20 Championships.
Summer school was more than just a chance to earn a few extra credits for 23 UO students this year. They spent July and August among world-class athletes at two elite track meets at Hayward Field.
It was all part of a new sports communication practicum offered by the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). SOJC Teaching Professor Kelli Matthews created the class in collaboration with TrackTown USA to give students a chance to hone their skills as professional sports communicators.
The practicum, an eight-week, 4-credit summer experience, allowed students to become members of a sports communication team, producing written content, photography, video packages, social media coverage and public relations, all centered on two of the largest track events of 2026: the Prefontaine Classic and the World Athletics U20 Championships.
Practicum classes are “institutional internships” rather than traditional classes, Matthews said. The practicum combined hands-on communications experience with classroom time between the two events. Students wrote previews, profiled athletes and covered meet results, along with producing photography, videography and social content.
Although focused largely on journalism and communication, the class was not strictly limited to SOJC majors.
“A student may want to work in sports, or a student may be just interested in sports,” Matthews said. “And getting hands-on experience in photography, videography, writing and social media in the sports industry can be a great way to gain experience, regardless of where their professional careers take them.”
She said the number of SOJC students who pursue a sports business minor was a catalyst for developing the class.
“We know there’s a real interest in sports because (students are) committing to the sports business minor,” Matthews said. “So why aren't we doing something in the SOJC that helps to respond to that interest?”
Students published their work on various channels, including the World Athletics website. All of the students ended the class with substantial portfolio work. Matthews expects to offer the class again in the summer of 2027.
“(It’s) exciting for writers, photographers and videographers to be able to see the public's reaction and the audience’s reaction to their work,” Matthews said. “It’s very validating for them.”
Mentoring was part of the deal
Zara Linneman, an SOJC public relations major, didn’t have a plan for summer and was looking for ways to get involved in campus sports. Then she saw a graphic promoting the class, which sparked her interest.
“I applied within the first few days, and it just sounded like a lot of fun to me,” Linneman said. “I didn’t know a whole lot about track, and I feel like going to Oregon, you should, so I wanted to learn more about it.”
Linneman said the class expanded her knowledge of sports public relations, a field that she hopes to enter. Along with learning more about the ins and outs of sports communication, she had the opportunity to photograph the World Athletics U20 Championships.
“We had some really great mentors who were showing us the ropes of working a meet like that,” Linneman said.
One mentor, Denis Paquin, was fantastic, Linneman said. “He gave a couple of presentations specifically on shooting athletics and what that can look like. And he was really, really good about giving us feedback after each session of the track meet,” she said.
Getting access to advanced camera equipment provided by World Athletics also was a huge benefit, she said.
“Having the opportunity and being trusted to have that much ridiculously expensive, nice, advanced camera gear on me for that whole weekend was just wild. It was so much fun,” Linneman said.
Linneman recommends the class to any student with an interest in working in sports media or to those who simply want to expand their skills. The class also allowed her to add event photography credits to her portfolio.
“It was very much a choose-your-own-path kind of course,” Linneman said. “If you just wanted to have a camera for the whole weekend and shoot photos, you could do that. You got what you put into it. If you really tried to get the most out of this program, it was fantastic.”
Angelina Handris is a public relations major from Portland, Oregon, minoring in writing, public speaking and critical reasoning. She is an SOJC Communications writing intern and serves as associate social media editor at the Daily Emerald. Her other interests include fashion, history, cooking and mass media.
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