The term ‘athlete’ defines Crawfordsville’s Shea Williamson perfectly. Whether it be on the volleyball or basketball courts or out on the track, Williamson seems to excel at it all. This season for Crawfordsville track and field, Williamson was asked to be one of the leaders of the young Athenian squad by Cville coach Sean Gerold. Williamson fulfilled that task and more in her final season of her athletic career.
At the county meet this season Williamson would help lead the Athenians to their first county title in quite some time for CHS. She took home county titles in the 100M dash, long jump, 4x100 and 4x400M relays, going a perfect 4-4. Just four days later at the Sagamore Conference meet Williamson would do it again, going 4-4 in the same meets to add the title of Conference Champion to her resume. Her SAC title in the long jump (the last event of the evening) allowed the Athenians to leap frog Lebanon for a third place finish.
“Heading into Conference I was so nervous which is rare for me,” Williamson said. “At the end of the night it was just such a relief and I was overwhelmed with so many good feelings. I was so proud of the way our team performed well and so thankful that I got to experience something that I’ve never done before.”
The leadership on and off the track combined with her success in the biggest meets of the season for CHS, Williamson has earned the Journal Review’s 2022 Girls Runner of the Year.
While an injury at the sectional caused Williamson to miss the 4x400 (which the Athenians placed third and qualified for the Regional), that didn’t stop her from being right there to celebrate with her teammates afterwards as Gerold mentions.
“She was the biggest cheerleader we had on the team,” Gerold said of Williamson. “When she got hurt in the sectional, she was still right there cheering them on afterwards. The girls that ran it took a picture and wanted Shea in it even though she was unable to run. That shows how much respect that they have for her. When you have a young team like we did, having that senior leader who you can put in anything helps tremendously from a coaching standpoint.”
Williamson coming in to her final season with the Athenians knew that she would be relied upon as that leader. In the 4x400 relay team that she was a part of, every other runner was an underclassmen. Every team no matter the sport needs someone to take the reigns and lead them in the right direction. This season it was Williamson’s turn to do just that.
“I knew that they (4x400 team) was going to look up to me in ways I probably didn’t even realize at the time,” she said. “In any team I’ve been on, I’ve felt like I have been a leader, but at the same time It’s not where I try and say I’m better than anyone. I’m glad we as a team got to experience the success together so hopefully here in the next few years they can advance even further. We all worked hard together and you can tell that we bonded well this season.”
The third place finish in the SAC for the young CHS squad set the bar for future success. For Williamson, the conference meet is something that she says will stay with her for a long time, not just because of her individual success, but that’s where the Athenians were able to put their young talent on full display.
“Placing third was insane and I was so proud of all of us after that,” Williamson said. “We didn’t really have a plan of placing that high because that hasn’t been something that Crawfordsville has been known to do. To think about what’s going to happen in the future is pretty special.”
While the Athenians have the talent to still be a factor next season, there’s no debate that the loss of Williamson and her versatility and leadership will be missed deeply. However Williamson can look back on what has been a stellar high school athletic career with the Athenians knowing that she made an impact in many different ways.
“You want all of your athletes to be able to finish on a high note when they’re done with their high school careers,” Gerold said. “I told Shea that what she did in her last full meet at Conference going 4-4 is pretty impressive because you don’t see that often. She capped off what was a great high school career and this season is something that she’ll remember forever.”
There’s little doubt that what Williamson has accomplished as an Athenian has been nothing but special. Hats off to you Shea on a stellar season and career!
