High school sprinters often disappear from memory quicker than they cover 100 meters.
Yet it figures to be a long time before anyone forgets about Ryan Shields of Class A state champ Leo.
Shields won the 100, 200 and 400 meters at the state track meet May 25 at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston for an unprecedented third straight season to become the overwhelming choice as the Tribune/WGN-Ch. 9 Athlete of the Month for May.
He was selected from a field of finalists that included Morgan Park freshman sprinter Alexandria Anderson, who won the long jump, 100 and 200 and ran anchor on the winning 4×100 relay for the Class AA state champs.
“The difference is his dedication, hard work and the ability to get along with his teammates,” Leo coach Ed Adams said. “He has a God-given ability, but he works very hard to become the kind of runner he is. His teammates enjoy being with him, and that helps. Sometimes with all that ability, there can be jealousy. That was not at all the case with Ryan.”
Longevity is the measure of the best sprinters, and no one in boys state track has had a career like Shields. His career total of 12 individual gold medals puts him among the top sprinters in the 108 years of Illinois track and field with Evanston’s Howard Jones and Tilden’s Ralph Metcalfe, who both won the state 100-yard-dash and 220 three straight years.
Shields won every race in which he competed this year, just as he had the year before. His last defeat was in April 2000, when he lost to York’s Terre Mastrino in the 400 meters at the Downers Grove South Invitational.
This spring he swept through the Catholic League and the sectional before winning state titles in the 100 meters in 10.77, the 200 in 21.41 and the 400 in a Class A-record 46.76. The 200 and 400 times were faster than those of the Class AA winners.
“I just go out and run my race,” he said. “Coach Adams says, `Stay relaxed and run your races.’ There wasn’t a lot of pressure. I didn’t feel it.”
A push from Matt Scherer of Bridgeport Red Hill contributed to the excellent times. Scherer, who will attend Oregon, finished second in the 200 and 400 and was third in the 100. Shields wasn’t allowed the luxury of letting up in any race.
Despite the competition Shields was as fresh for his final race–the 200–as he was for his first final, the 100.
“His sophomore year, he became a smarter runner,” Adams said. “He was interested in running and became a student of track. We’d sit down before every meet and discuss who he was running against, what type of speed they had and what kind of race he needed to run.”
What Shields believed he needed to do most this year was to help win a team title for Leo. He wanted to contribute to winning a state championship with his teammates for his coach.
“This year,” Shields said, “the important thing was winning the Catholic League, the sectional and state. The other meets, we won but we just walked off and left. No celebration. We celebrated at state.
“After three years of being together, some of us for four, we had a tight group. After three years of not winning [the state title], we just had to come back and win.”
While winning is more important than running fast times, Shields had some eye-popping times. At the Catholic League meet he ran a hand-held 10.1 in the 100-meter finals, the fastest time in the state. His 21.2 in the Catholic League’s 200 was second only to Wheaton North state hurdles champion A.J. Harris, who recorded a 21.0. Shields’ 400 time at state was the fastest of the season.
Saturday will be one of the biggest days of his athletic career, but not because of what he does on a track. He’ll be taking the ACT for the second time in an attempt to raise his score.
He has the required grade-point average but is just shy of the necessary ACT score to become fully qualified for an NCAA Division I scholarship. Coaches from Iowa, Texas-El Paso and Eastern Illinois–where teammate Marcel Morgan has signed–are waiting with letters of intent.
“It’s been great at Leo,” Shields said. “We spend more time together than we do with our families. We are family. I’m going to miss it. But you have to move on to another level.”
He has yet to visit either Texas-El Paso or Iowa.
EIU is a different story: “I have been to Eastern several times.”
He has the medals to prove it.
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ON WGN-CH. 9 Watch for more on Ryan Shields on “Instant Replay” Sunday at 9:40 p.m. and again on “WGN Morning News” Monday from 5:30-9 a.m.
