Senior track team captain Lizzy Shadle has suffered a lot in seven months. From stress fractures, a concussion, a car crash and pneumonia Shadle has been through a lot, but she did not let that hold her back from competing this past winter with the winter track team. Shadle’s commitment paid off when she was presented the Heart of the Lion award at the Kevin Dare Invitational track meet on Jan. 21.

Lizzy has been competing in track and field for six years and plans to run in college. She has encountered some setbacks, however, in the past year. Over the summer Shadle fought through stress fractures in both of her shins. This delayed her return for four months.

Lizzy’s woes did not end there. Just weeks after returning to practice, she suffered a concussion from a car crash.

When having her concussion evaluated in October, a CAT Scan also revealed that Lizzy had pneumonia, adding yet another problem to her already long list of ailments.

Shadle was able to recover fully from these injuries and accidents and fight back to compete on the Warriors winter track team.

Surprisingly, she said the most significant setback for her was the stress fractures.

‘That was four months of no running, and that was the longest I had ever gone without running,’ says Shadle.

After being diagnosed with the stress fractures, her doctor suggested that she lay off running for a year, but Lizzy couldn’t stay away from competing for that long because of her love for the sport.

Her stress fractures dashed her hopes of competing in states during the 2011 spring track season. She did qualify for districts, however.

The Kevin Dare invitational brought together approximately 36 teams from across the state. The coaches were told to nominate one of their athletes for the Heart of the Lion award based on their leadership, academics, courage and determination. One female and one male was nominated from each team.

Lizzy believes that The Heart of the Lion award was the most prestigious award that she has received as a track athlete.

‘I would think [that the Heart of the Lion is the most pretigious award] because it shows not just talent on the track but it looks at other out of track criteria.’

In addition to her hard work and experience in the 200-meter run and in the 60m hurdles[PK1] , Shadle is also quite scholarly. She is a member of the National Honor Society and plans to continue her student-athlete status during her college years.

Shadle says she could not have done this without the support of her coach and teammates.

‘I would just like to thank my coach for always being willing to work with me and my injuries, also my team for being so supportive,they are the best!’

Shadle plans to run division I track at either Temple University or the University of Rhode Island in the fall.