NEW PALESTINE — With the calendar turning to the month of December many thoughts — if haven’t already — shift to Christmas.
It is only fitting that New Palestine cross country standout Brenna Shaw, the All-Hancock County Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, had a very Christmas carol-like career during her time with the Dragons.
Embellishing with all due respect to lyricist Frederic Austin:
Four county titles, three regional championships and state appearances, two conference crowns and a Division-I scholarship to Purdue.
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Shaw will go down as one of the all-time greats at New Palestine High School, in that same class with four-time state qualifier and state medalist Emily Husted (1987-1990) and Courtney Edon, a three-time conference champ, who placed 13th in the state in the 2010 IHSAA Girls Cross Country State Finals.
“It makes me feel really good. Going into high school, I never thought I’d be at this point with my running when my career was over,” Shaw said of being considered one of the all-time Dragon greats. "Even though that wasn’t where I thought I would be, that kind of makes it even more amazing that I was able to do that."
Shaw got there with hard work, which is a must for anyone that is able to succeed in cross country.
"Running is definitely a sport you get out what you put into it," Shaw said. "Natural ability is not the main factor at play. It’s definitely how hard you work every day and the choices you make and sacrifices you make for the sport. Also, the mental aspect, you have to be mentally tough. It takes a lot out of you physically, so you have to be mentally strong."
In 2020, Shaw was knocking historic marks off her checklist one by one.
"I thought she came in prepared for the season," New Palestine cross country coach Chuck Myers said. "She worked over the summer, got herself in good shape and was ready to race.
"Each race she went out and knew she was one of the top athletes in the race and really executed the plan all season."
In late September, she capped off her Hancock County Meet superiority with her fourth individual title. She finished the 5K course at Eastern Hancock High School in 19 minutes, 28.33 seconds, beating closest competitor Audrey Brinkruff of Greenfield-Central by nearly four seconds. They were the only runners to finish in under 20 minutes.
To start the series of big meet Saturday’s in October, Shaw, for the first time in her high school career, didn’t win the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet, but she did get something big out of it.
In fact, she called it her best meet of the year. She broke the school’s 5K record, previously owned by Edon (when Husted ran cross country meets for 4K), finishing the race at Shelbyville’s Blue River Memorial Park in 18:27.
She finished second to Delta standout freshman Nicki Southerland, who completed the course in just 18:03.
"I feel the race I had that day was the perfect race for me," Shaw said. "I don’t know if it could have gone any better. Everything just kind of lined up and it was a really good day for me."
During her first three years at NPHS, Shaw had won everything except an individual sectional title. She marked that off the list on Oct. 10 at the sectional meet held at Mt. Vernon High School.
She had a good challenge from junior teammate Emma Mann, but crossed the finish line first with a time of 18:49.4.
As she had done the two previous years, Shaw took top honors at the Rushville Regional. She won in 18:31.8, six seconds ahead of Franklin Central’s Ella DesJean.
Back at Shelbyville the following Saturday for the semistate, Shaw placed 17th in 18:58.8 to advance to the state finals for the third straight year.
It was her third straight Top 20 finish at the Shelbyville Semistate. She was two seconds faster than her junior year, though she picked up a 14th place finish in 2019.
Shaw was the lone county runner to make it to the state meet in Terre Haute. She placed 75th on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Course in 19:51.9.
"She did a fantastic job all year. She was on top of her game, the only off-day was at the state meet. She was not feeling as well that day," Myers said. "Other than that, she really performed well all season. The people she lost to during the season were all people that went to the state meet. She was right there with them all season."
Along with finishing up front in most of her races, Shaw is at the head of her class at New Palestine High School. She’ll continuing running while she pursues her degree at Purdue University. She plans on studying Animal Sciences, then go to veterinary school after finishing her undergraduate degree.
"(Purdue) is getting a very intelligent athlete that is going to do great things there," Myers said. "I think she will run well for them, but I think they’re getting an even better student. She’s an excellent person to work with. She listens well. She takes instruction great."
"I’m grateful for the sport and the people I have met and come so close to," Shaw added on her cross country career at New Palestine. "Those people and the sport have really shaped me into the person I am today.
"I can’t imagine where I’d be without that. I feel so fortunate to have that experience in high school."
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2020 All-Hancock County Girls Cross Country Team
First Team
Name;School;Year
Brenna Shaw;New Palestine;Sr.
Audrey Brinkruff;Greenfield-Central;Sr.
Lydia Carrell;Mt. Vernon;Jr.
Alexandria Jenson;Mt. Vernon; Fr.
Emily Mann;New Palestine;Jr.
Kendall Mann;New Palestine;Sr.
Courtney Study;New Palestine;Fr.
Second Team
Name;School;Year
Emily Adam;New Palestine;Jr.
Melinda Cornelius;New Palestine;So.
Victoria Jenson;Mt. Vernon;So.
Sophia Moss;Greenfield-Central;So.
Esther Small;Mt. Vernon;Sr.
Morgan Tharp;Mt. Vernon;Jr.
Ashton Willis;Eastern Hancock;Jr.
Coach of the year: Chuck Myers, New Palestine
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