Sports
Shaw becomes first female NSU track athlete to be an All-American in open event
By: Jonathon Zenk, Assistant Director of Communications Story Links NATCHITOCHES—Two days. Two All-Americans. It was a successful trip to nationals for Northwestern State as Roy Morris earned All-American honors Wednesday and now Maygan Shaw does the same Thursday evening. Shaw clocked a 51.80 in the 400-meter dash to place 14th and […]

NATCHITOCHES—Two days. Two All-Americans.
It was a successful trip to nationals for Northwestern State as Roy Morris earned All-American honors Wednesday and now Maygan Shaw does the same Thursday evening.
Shaw clocked a 51.80 in the 400-meter dash to place 14th and also earn a Second Team All-American spot during the women’s first day of nationals at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
It is the first time a women’s sprinter has ever earned an All-American spot.
Coming out of a veteran-laden third heat in lane No. 4, she put heat on the top two qualifiers, but the top two qualifiers—Georgia’s Dejanea Oakley (50.18) and Iowa State’s Rachel Joseph (50.77) pulled away in the home stretch and were ultimately the only two to make it from the heat.
“I am so proud of her,” associate coach Adam Pennington said. “She really went for it today and just came up a little short. But to be a top 14 girl in the entire country is nothing short of amazing.
Making it last year was great, but making it individually is much different. I believe she is now the first All American sprinter in an individual event in NSU history. That’s alone tells you where she sits as the greatest.”
She will now prepare for USA championships but until then we will celebrate today and her amazing career. She loves cheese cake so we might end the night with that .
Shaw was out in front of Tennessee’s Javonya Valcourt, one of the 10 fastest 400-meter runners in college athletics, but Valcourt came back to squeak past Shaw to finish fourth in the heat and 13th overall with a time of 51.65.
To qualify for Saturday’s finals, a runner has to finish in the top two of her heat or be one of the three next fastest times.
While only nine qualify for the finals, Shaw did once again earn a spot as an All-American.
It is the second consecutive All-American honor for Shaw, also doing so as a member of the 4×400 relay team, which also made the second team.
Shaw wasn’t the only member of the Southland Conference to earn an All-American spot, as Southeastern Louisiana’s Onyah Onyinye Favour also made the second team after finishing 16th the event and sixth in her first heat, running a 52.39.
Another familiar name—former NSU runner Sanaria Buter—placed 21st with a time of 52.78 for Arkansas.
Georgia went 1-2 in the semifinals, as Aaliyah Butler, the favorite in the event, ran a 50.16, finishing just .02 ahead of Oakley.
All nine finalists are from power conference teams, including five from the SEC, two each from Georgia and Arkansas.
This ends arguably the best career for any NSU sprinter ever, finishing it off with a bang with another All-American spot.
As a senior, she broke both the indoor and outdoor school records, including clocking a Southland Conference record 51.19 at the LSU Alumni Gold, shortly after breaking the SLC and school records two weeks before at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational with a 51.87, also breaking the meet record as well as the Walter P. Ledet Complex record.
Now Shaw gears up for the USA Championships, which will also be held at Hayward Field, starting on July 31 in Eugene.