MAGIC BOOST CLASS OF ’21

Magic Boost

In April `21, CITIUS MAG and Hayward Magic launched their first collaboration — the Magic Boost — a summer-long experience for aspiring track & field storytellers representing all platforms of new media. Each of the nine men and seven women in the inaugural Magic Boost class have built upon the lessons learned over Zoom, and in-person at the 2021 Nike Prefontaine Classic, to grow their followings and expand their horizons. Boosters have had their work featured in CITIUS MAG, GQ, The New York Times, RunnerSpace, Runner’s World, SPIKES Magazine, Trail Runner Magazine, Women’s Running and World Athletics.

Ben Crawford

Ben Crawford publishes New Generation Track and Field, an honest-to-goodness print magazine.

Hannah Borenstein

Hannah Borenstein is a Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University with a special interest in women athletes from Ethiopia.

Katherine Burgess

Katherine Burgess is a graphic designer who is combining her professional training with a passion for working on campaigns that draw attention to the barriers women athletes face in gaining sports media coverage.

Dana Goiordano

Dana Giordano is a US Olympic Trials qualifier and the host of a lively podcast called More Than Running with Dana Giordano.

Elisabeth Hernandez

Elizabeth Hernandez ran Division II Cross Country and Track at Cal Poly Pomona, where she was also editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper. Now in graduate school at DePaul University, Elizabeth is a graduate assistant coach while she studies sports journalism.

Nikki Merrill

Nikki Merrill runs and writes for Villanova University while posting her thoughts on running on her eponymous website.

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker is a life-long sprinter turned coach with a YouTube channel — MJPTV — created specifically to shine the light on track and field, with the intent of elevating the sport to mainstream status.

Aron Potts

Aaron Potts is the older of the two brothers who power the 2 Black Runners Podcast.

Joshua Potts

Joshua Potts and his brother Aaron are very intentional in “producing content for and by the culture.”

Dominique Smith

Dominique Smith is a sports journalist from central Florida whose goal is to impact lives through the art of track & field storytelling.

Benjamin Weingart

Ben Weingart is a photographer making work at the intersection of art + athletics with an interest in humanizing track & field, making it more accessible.

Tiara Williams

Tiara Williams is a former Division I heptathlete who started Real Talk to gain experience toward her career goal of becoming a sports broadcaster.

Mattew Wisner

Matt Wisner is the editor of New Generation Track and Field magazine and has one more season of cross-country eligibility at the University of Oregon. He knows all about Hayward Magic.

KaDeem Wynn

KaDeem Wynn is a freelance photographer and videographer with a life-long interest in being a storyteller, rather than having his own story told.

Johnny Zhang

Johnny Zhang found both running and photography a little later in life, and the combination has been a winning one ever since.

Emma Zimmerman

Emma Zimmerman hosts the Social Sport Podcast, which explores the connection between endurance sport and social change.

Check out some of the excellent work by some of last year’s class:

Produced and edited by Ka’Deem Wynn

Produced & edited by Aaron & Joshua Potts

Produced & edited by Matthew Parker