16 AUGUST 2025 | INTHEVUE.COM continually says after games. Who’s got it better than us? And after each of these weekends, that’s kind of my thought. Who’s got it better than me? It’s an amazing experience to travel with the teams and to travel with the athletic staffers.” From May 16th to June 17th, Eaton traveled thousands of miles with Racer Athletics to document the postseason. First in track and field, which resulted in him sitting on the interstate in Southern Illinois for hours after a tornado tracked through. And then the Racer run to Omaha that started in Oxford, Mississippi, with the regionals, then the super regionals in Durham, North Carolina, and then Omaha. He estimated that he spent about 26 days away from home, and when he did come home, it was long enough to unpack, do laundry, and repack before boarding a plane or hopping into a car. “To be able to capture and experience those moments for the athletes and coaches is really a blessing and honor for me to be able to do it,” he said. So many people describe Charles Schwab Field in Omaha as a baseball heaven, a mecca for fans, players, and coaches. A reporter at one of the press conferences asked Coach Dan Skirka if he had ever been to Omaha before the CWS run, and he replied no, and that he wanted to earn his ticket. “You know, there’s something really, really special about that place to college baseball folks, and to be able to walk alongside them, capture some of those moments for them, to watch them as they wandered around the park for the first day that we got to Omaha and had a chance to look at Charles Schwab Field,” he said. “I don’t know that I can put into words the privilege and honor that it is for me to be there for them and for them to trust me to capture those images.” And while both games offered many moments for great action shots, the non-game photos matter more for Eaton. The moments of players hugging their families after the loss to Arkansas, or the players hugging each other after their season ended. But the image that stands out the most is from one of the managers who took glass vials that the CWS staff gave him and began scooping dirt from the infield into the vials for the players. “That struck me as pretty cool,” he said. “It struck me as being emblematic of the team.” In Oxford, after the Racers defeated Georgia Tech, he followed Skirka into the dugout to capture the team’s faces during the post-game huddle, and after the thrilling victory at Duke, he captured the team’s sports drink drenching of Skirka. He’s already printed and framed that image for his home office and will take another copy to hang at his MSU office. He also has a 16x20 shot of the dogpile celebration after the win over Duke that will grace his office. His MSU office already has some of his shots from other Racer teams. In the past few years, he’s been able to document Racer men’s basketball advancing to the round of 32, the women’s basketball team winning its first Missouri Valley Conference championship and advancing to the NCAA first round, soccer playing for a conference title, and softball winning their first Ohio Valley Conference title and advancing to the first round of the NCAAs in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. While he’s enjoyed the sports photography aspect tremendously, it’s the relationships and friendships he’s built with the teams, coaches, and supporters that stand out. “I consider myself very fortunate, very blessed, and consider it a great honor to be able to be a part of these experiences,” Eaton said. “Whether it’s the regular season or the postseason, to capture some memories that these athletes and their parents will take with them. I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know some of these athletes better.” Those moments have allowed him to see the affection Skirka has for his team, as well as the dedication of other coaches like Matt Lodge in soccer or Rechelle Turner, Monica Evans, and Wyatt Foust in women’s basketball. Seeing those coaches investing in their players and genuinely caring about their development as athletes and as people. “The people in the positions of authority - the faculty and coaches - aren’t just there to further what they’re doing,” he said. “They’re there to work with, to inspire, to challenge, and to help students and athletes achieve more than the students and athletes thought they would be able to achieve and cheer on their success as they go.” 52,000 Dave Winder, Dave Eaton, Brandon Banks, and Clay Wagoner
