Courtesy of @saratoga.track on Instagram
Track team members skip in their reel that reached over 778,000 views on Instagram.
When senior Natalie Zaragoza opened her phone in early April and saw the flood of notifications, she did a double take. One of the team’s Instagram reels — something they just made for fun — was blowing up.
“I was like, ‘No way — we’re influencers now,’” Zaragoza said. “I realized that we had to keep giving the people more track content.”
With over 28K likes, 300 comments and 5,500 shares, the video posted by the Saratoga track account made some serious waves, far beyond what the team usually sees on social media.
Even though the account has only 355 followers, the post quickly reached thousands, piling up 778,000 views.
The team has aimed to be active on Instagram this season, posting meet recaps and team interviews. Zaragoza, senior Kitty Gechlik and juniors Arbel Talker and Nikita Mirghasemi ran the account.
Following popular trends was the key element to skyrocketing the account. After getting inspiration from a TikTok video, the team decided to make their own, adding hashtags to help promote it.
The video showcased each type of track athlete by showing members skipping based on how much “aura” or cool nonchalance certain types of track events have — most members barely lifting their feet for distance runners and engaging in full-on, energetic skips for relay. The humor and relatability of the post seemed to resonate with many viewers.
The comment section blew up, with students from other schools tagging their friends and chiming in. The reel didn’t sit well with many distance runners, though. Some left comments trying to defend themselves. Altogether, these comments boosted the popularity of the account, helping the track team gain more recognition than ever before on social media.
Seeing the reel gain so much attention was exciting for the team, especially since it highlights the fun and energy they bring to the sport. With the season now over, they hope their social media presence leaves a lasting impression.
“We hoped the viral reel could bring more hype to the track team and have more people show up,” Gechlik said. “During Senior Night, tons of friends and family outside of the track team showed up, and hearing more people cheer your name really makes a difference so we hope the videos bring more people to our meets.”
