The man behind the lens

Two careers. One team. Kent Graham makes Millers proud.

By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com

For the past 37 years, the Noblesville community has had one of the best people in the state: Kent Graham.

Kent came to Noblesville High School in 1986 as a teacher, and a track and field and cross country coach. He retired from teaching and coaching a few years ago, but he has been a part of the Noblesville and Hamilton County sports world thanks to photography – another vocation where he is one of the best.

Kent came on board the Hamilton County Reporter when it started 10 years ago, which means we had one of the best photographers in the state. I met Kent 16 years ago when I began covering sports in Hamilton County, and he quickly became one of my best friends.

If I’m using the word “best” quite a bit, it’s because that’s the perfect way to describe Kent: The Best.

I got to see Kent in action as a coach and a photographer right away. In 2008, I covered the boys state track and field championships, and in the first running event of the day, Noblesville won the 4×800 relay. Not only did Kent take pictures, but he also got to celebrate a state championship.

Kent had another state champion in 1990, when Ty Oliver won the 300 hurdles. The Millers finished fourth in the state as a team, one of three top 10 finishes under Kent’s supervision. Noblesville tied for ninth in 1992 and placed seventh in 2008.

Then there’s cross country. Kent coached the Millers to a runner-up finish at the state meet in 2010. That was one of the few times he couldn’t take a team trophy photo at a meet, because he was in the photo. That runner-up placement was one of seven times Noblesville finished in the top 10 at state.

Kent coached several runners to individual top 10 finishes as well. Matt Sparks reached the top five three times in the state meet (1989-90-91) and is now finding success as the director of track and cross country at Notre Dame. I wrote an article about Sparks, and we ran a photo of him coaching at the NCAA national championships in 2020. Guess who took the photo?

Kent had two other top 10 finishers at the state meet as well: Blake Dircksen in 2008 and Sam Roudebush in 2011. And in what is undoubtedly the toughest cross country area in Indiana, his Noblesville teams qualified for state 12 times and won four regional titles.

Since the 2007-08 school year was my first one covering sports in Hamilton County, I had only gotten to know Kent a little bit when his relay team won state. But that was to be expected. Great working relationships and friendships take time to develop.

But once they finally do develop, it turns into something amazing. Kent became my right-hand man throughout these past 16 years. I can’t count the number of events we’ve been to together. Not just track meets and cross country invitationals, but every sport there is.

Hundreds of football, basketball, baseball, and softball games. Volleyball and soccer matches. Swimming, wrestling, tennis, and golf meets. And the Indianapolis 500 several times. It’s not just me who notices. I was on the MaxPreps website a few days ago, and there was a photo of the Noblesville-Fishers football game. It was Kent’s photo – he’s been taking pictures for MaxPreps for a while now.

And for the friendship part? Kent has become one of those very few people I can call on the phone at any time and we can talk for a half-hour, if not more, about anything and everything. There are few people with whom I can do that. He became a confidant for me, and I became the same for him. People like that are hard to find.

As many of you know, Kent is leaving Noblesville this week. He’s moving to California to be close to his family. He told me he was considering this a couple years ago, so this wasn’t a surprise. Kent has grandchildren now, and he wants to be active in their lives, something I fully support. You don’t get that time back.

It is going to be weird not seeing him regularly at events and not getting his text – “Sent pics” – a minute or two after he emails me the link to his photos of that night’s football or basketball game. But while the working relationship is coming to an end, the friendship will still go on. I’m sure Kent and I will have phone chats every once in a while, and he has expressed interest in coming back next May for the Indy 500.

By the time you read this column, Kent will be getting ready to head out to California and the next part of his life. I wish him safe travels and that he enjoys this time with his family for many years to come.

Thanks, Kent, for being The Best!