WEST ALEXANDRIA — The track program at Twin Valley South continues to send athletes on to the next level to compete.
With three more signings this spring, the 2017 senior class has seven athletes who will take their talents to the collegiate level.
“It’s all of them. This class, over the last four to six years, in junior high and high school, has put in a lot of work, lot of dedication, a lot of hours. Not only in season, but off season work. Those who want to follow in those footsteps then they need to know how much work its going to have to take to reach their goal,” said Glen Mabry, former assistant AD at TVS and girls track coach.
“Not only are they quality athletes on the track, but they’re even better kids off the track. I’ve had all of them somewhere in their careers, either on the track, in the classroom, hardworking kids, dedicated athletes to get the most out of their ability. I’m thrilled to death for them that they get to continue their careers in college.”
Chris French
French will run track at Muskingum University and plans on majoring in Sports Medicine.
While at TVS, he ran short sprints, long jump, and in college plans to add the triple jump.
“It’s just a smaller school and more to my style. I’m more of shy guy. I don’t like the big busy (places). I like to be able to talk to professors and get help personally,” French said.
French, who gained in interest in running track in junior high, said he’s enjoyed his time at South.
“It’s been fun and I’ve gotten to do a lot of stuff and to participate in everything,” he said.
He also participated in cross country his junior and senior years and dabbled in football as a sophomore.
“I tried football my sophomore year and it just didn’t work out,” he said. “So I decided I wanted to do something to stay in shape and have a little bit of fun so I went to cross country.”
He said he began thinking about pursuing running in college the past two years.
“The last couple of years I kind of wanted to just see what I could do at the collegiate level. I got the opportunity when Muskingum started contacting me.,” he said.
He said Muskingum began recruiting him for cross country in the fall and toward the winter asked about track.
“That’s around the time I went to visit and I knew right away that I wanted to go there,” he said.
Megan Wright –
Wright will continue her track and cross cross country endeavors at Ohio Northern University and plans on majoring in Pre-Physicians Assistant program.
“They have good academics. I really enjoyed the coach. I wanted to run in D-3 and be able to focus on academics more and the coach seemed like he was a fun guy who would make running fun. But he’s still going to push me to be better,” she said.
Wright began running track in seventh grade and cross country in eighth grade. She played volleyball in seventh grade.
“I really enjoyed it and I was pretty good at it,” Wright said of her running. “I loved competing.”
Although she’s enjoyed a lot of success she didn’t always plan on running at college.
“Probably once I realized I was pretty good at it,” she said. “It was just for fun to hang out with some of my friends.”
It wasn’t until her freshman year she started to realize she could be successful.
“In junior high I knew I was decent but I didn’t think I would be good at the high school level,” she said.
Sammy Shockey
Shockey will join Division II National Indoor runner-up Ashland University, where he will run track and cross county.
He said track will be the main focus and cross country will be something new for him.
He played football in high school.
“It will be a new experience,” he said. “I really liked the family sense of Ashland when I went there. The coaching’s great and they have an amazing program. Their program is just out of this world. They were runner-up at indoor nationals this year.”
At TVS, he ran mid-distance (800, 400, 200).
“It’s been great. I’ve made some friends that I think will last a lifetime at South. My coaches have been amazing,” he said.
Shockey began running track in junior high while attending Preble Shawnee in 7th grade. He moved to Twin Valley South the following year.
“I never really fell in love with it (track) until I moved here. Then I started having success and kind of grew a passion for it,” he said.
