She did it again! Alexus Shaw proved once more that scholar-athletes can excel on both fronts, when she claimed her place on the Mt. Rushmore of track greatness last month. Shaw became a back-to-back champion in the women’s 300-meter hurdles at the Class AAA State Track Meet on Saturday, May 7 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany. She is the daughter of Darlene and Anthony Grant. When Shaw achieved this accomplishment last year, she became just the third track athlete in the Pierce County High School history. “Lex wound up starting in lane 7, which is not an advantageous position,” said PCHS girls track coach, Robbie Spires. “But she took the lead right out of the start and kept the lead the whole way. She wound up clocking a personal record of 44.09.”
Her prep finale actually displaced Shaw’s personal record of 44.65 seconds, established in the 2015 title-winning performance. Her 2016 state accolades also include a state runner-up finish in the triple jump (up from 5th place last year) and 4th in the long jump. Also, she competed with the PCHS 4 x 100 relay team that brought home a 10th place finish.
“I did not sleep at all before the races,” laughed Shaw. “I had all these dreams like what would happen if I won, what if I lost, what if I fell again, and what if I called Coach Spires to tell her I didn’t want to go?”
Shaw not only showed up, she also followed up and followed through. What made the victory sweeter was her ability to overcome a hamstring that had nagged her all season. That situation wasn’t helped by Thursday’s preliminary races, which took place amid unseasonably cold and windy conditions. Saturday, she ran from the outside, as opposed to the highly coveted lane 4 post she enjoyed last year. That honor, incidentally, went to last year’s runner-up, who ultimately finished 2nd again. There was even more room for worry in Shaw’s camp, after she finished the prelims in 6th place.
“With all the repetition she had Thursday and the cold, I think muscle fatigue had finally set in and she crawled across the finish line in the 300 prelims,” said Spires. “That’s where she hit the ground. She had cleared all the hurdles coming into the last straightaway when her foot caught on a hurdle. I thought she would fall but she corrected. Then she collapsed three steps from the finish.”
“I tried to tell somebody that my hammy was hurting at the beginning of this year,” laughed, the always affable Shaw. “We got to prelims and I had to do 50,000 jumps and run-throughs and by then my leg was done. Every time I have fallen, I have hit the same hurdle before the fall. It happened two times this year and the other time was against Southeast Bulloch when I got 3rd place. Then in Albany, I got 6th place.”
Spires said, “Lex had already beaten herself up a little bit because of the fall, and we just had to make her feel confident because of her leg. Once she slept on it, she got her mind right and went out and did it. She really just ran with a lot of heart.”
“Well, I am not a cold-weather runner,” emphasized Shaw. “The girl who finished 2nd last year – I knew she wanted to win it – was in lane 4, the best lane. I was like, ‘No sister, you are not going to win this.’ Besides, she had already won a championship in 4 x 100.”
Following prelims, Shaw returned to PCHS on Friday, where she spent a good portion of the day with team trainer, Marlin Brown, working feverishly to restore the fatigued hamstring. The return to Albany on Saturday brought warmer weather, minus the wind. This year’s championship strategy included Shaw competing in the long jump instead of the 400-meter sprint, where she posted a top-10 finish a year ago.
Now, it’s off to Georgia State for Shaw, the 26th honor graduate in her class this year. Shaw leaves PCHS with a 4.0 GPA. She plans to major in nursing at Georgia State, where she will compete primarily as a 400-meter sprinter with some occasional jumping. As she ended her prep career by walking into the proverbial sunset, Shaw was quick to thank her support group that helped lead her to victory in Albany: her parents, sister NeNe, and granddad Johnny Mitchell, as well as softball teammate Ashlee Hunt. Shaw also acknowledged the hard work by Brown and Spires.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Shaw. “For all of those practices when I almost quit…I’m going to miss my favorite coach. I just kind of hope that everyone that does track tries to get better at it. We have some people at our school that are just too fast to not be doing track. I’m hoping Keara Clark (rising junior) will get on the podium next year and keep the legacy going.”
Southeast/Bonus/June 2016
Alexus Shaw
Pierce County High School
Blackshear, Georgia
Story by John DuPont
Shaw Caps Career
Photos by Jennifer Carter Johnson
