East Jessamine's Shelby Courtney (right) signed with Campbellsville on Feb 28. She is pictured with her parents, Bobbie and Chris, and Tori. (Photo by Jonathan Stark/jstark@jessaminejournal.com / February 28, 2012) |
East Jessamine cross-country and track athlete Shelby Courtney has signed a letter of intent to continue both running careers at Campbellsville University next fall.
“When I went to visit Campbellsville, I really liked the atmosphere and coaching environment,” Courtney said. “It’s smaller, and people are more down to earth and friendly down there.”
Courtney went to the state cross-country meet as a senior placing 48th overall with a time of 21 minutes, 56 seconds.
She went to the state track meet last year as a junior and was the fourth leg in East Jessamine’s 4x800-meter relay team, which placed 11th with a time of 10:42.54. Courtney also competes in the 800-meter, 1600-meter and 4x400-meter relay during track season.
“(Cross-country and track) kind of go hand in hand because cross-country is distance and in track not a lot of people do distance. They offered both, and I said, ‘Why not?’” Courtney said.
The senior has run since middle school. but never thought it would be something that she would do in high school. When she met the cross-country team at East, they welcomed her in. “It was like a family,” she said.
“(The East Jessamine program) really encouraged me, and they really built me up, and we build each other up. Being in that type of environment has really shaped who I am, and it’s made me more goal oriented and has been a phenomenal experience,” Courtney said.
She plans on studying criminal justice.
