TERRE HAUTE — Brenna Shaw had her heart and mind set on achieving a Top-25 placement during the IHSAA girls cross country state finals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course on Saturday.
Unfortunately, the New Palestine senior’s body wasn’t on the same page.
Battling fatigue late, following a trying 2020 season, Shaw pushed herself throughout the 5K event and finished 75th overall in a time of 19 minutes, 52 seconds.
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As the county’s lone state-qualifier this year, Shaw’s appearance in Terre Haute was her third consecutive in her career and a direct result of her persistent effort and fortitude.
Both helped her become the second New Palestine female cross country runner in school history to reach the sports’ and state’s biggest stage multiple times, Dragons head coach Chuck Myers said.
Shaw just hoped that it had ended a little differently, though her accomplishments will echo for years to come.
“That’s impressive to make it three in a row, and she did a great job,” Myers said. “She’s had a great career here. Three-time state finalist is something to be very proud of. I’m just very proud of her, even though she didn’t get what she wanted today.”
As a sophomore, Shaw placed 95th at the state finals in her first postseason run at LaVern Gibson with a time of 19:55.9. Last year, she improved her placement by crossing the finish line 48th overall in 19:12.6.
This fall, Shaw’s times reached career lows, including 18:27 for runner-up honors at the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet, which broke Courtney Edon’s former 5K school record.
At the Rushville Regional last month, Shaw ran an 18:31.8 to win the event for a third straight postseason.
She advanced to Saturday’s state finals with a 17th placement at the Shelbyville Semistate in 18:58.8, which put her eighth out of the Top 10 runners from non-qualifying teams.
At state, Shaw ran as hard as her body would allow, but going sub-19 wasn’t obtainable, she said.
“Today was a little rough. These past two weeks, I’ve been struggling with some health issues, so these past two weeks, my races have been really tough,” Shaw said. “I’m really grateful I even made it to state. I didn’t think I was going to finish last week, but I did. The same thing this week. I’m just grateful I was able to finish.”
Much like at semistate, Shaw saw her splits increase after a strong start. The Purdue commit ran an average mile 6:23.6 at state.
“Sometimes, it’s just not there on any given day, and that could be the case today. It’s happened. It’s probably happened to every runner that’s ever got on the line,” Myers said.
“A lot goes into getting ready for a 5K, so it’s a lot of work on anyone’s body. She’s just had a very outstanding career. She’s only the second girl in the school’s history to be here more than once, so it’s a great thing.”
Shaw never quit regardless of the adversity she faced both externally and internally that attempted to derail her path.
“Last week (at semistate), I started out strong, but then halfway through the race, I just hit a wall and my whole body was fatigued. After I crossed the line, I blacked out, and then I was sick. So, it was pretty rough. Same thing happened this week. In the past, I’ve been able to finish my season strong, so I think something might be going on,” Shaw said while her emotions began to well up.
“It shouldn’t be a fight between your mind and your body to get yourself across the finish line, and as a runner that’s really hard to struggle with.”
Despite the unpredictable, Shaw dictated her own success and garnered the rewards, especially her opportunity next fall in West Lafayette to compete in the Big 10 Conference.
Shaw concluded her high school cross country career a four-time individual county champion, a two-time individual HHC winner and a first-time sectional champion his fall in a time of 18:49.4 on Oct. 10 at Mt. Vernon High School.
“I don’t think there’s really any concern about her health. She’s had a phenomenal season. She started out the season with a stress injury, and it took her out of the beginning of the season, some practices and she missed a race,” Brenna’s mother, Janice Shaw, said. “Her first race out wasn’t great, but she was able to take that time off and recover really well and come back out and have a phenomenal season. What she’s accomplished this year is incredible.”
The early-season setback fueled Brenna’s desire to return stronger, and she did to lead the Dragons to a third consecutive HHC team title and a fourth straight county team championship.
The New Palestine girls also repeated as sectional champions and were second at regional. The Dragons nearly missed out on a team state-qualification with at 10th-place finish at semistate with the Top-6 moving into the state field.
“Starting off the season that way and ending up at state, breaking the school record and being a Purdue commit is phenomenal,” Janice Shaw said. “Her last two races have not been her best races, and we just have to give her some time to rest and just see what happens. I’m not concerned about any health problems, but it’s certainly time to rest.”
Brenna Shaw definitely earned it.
“Today was very emotional because it’s my last high school race, and I just really wanted it to go well, so I could remember it with good memories, but it is what it is,” she said. “Going into the season, we didn’t know if we were going to be able to race at all because of COVID, so I’m grateful for the opportunities that I had to accomplish everything I did this season.”
