Chicago
Public Schools is noted for producing standout athletes in basketball, football
and even baseball, but track and field has been a bit under the radar in recent
years. This might change as athletes like Lindblom Math and Science Academy
sophomore Shamier Little begins to receive notoriety for their high-level
performances in the sport.
Little won the 100-meter hurdles at the CPS
championships, setting a meet record of 14.28, and also placed first in the
200. Her success on the track continued at the IHSA state meet where she set
two state records, running 14.16 in the 100-meter hurdles and 54.85 in the
400-meter dash (tying with Whitney Young senior Raena Rhone for the best in the
state of Illinois.)
Those
fast times have garnered Little state rankings of number one in both events, in
addition to U.S. rankings of 35th in the 100-meter hurdles and 48th in the 400.
Running
for Lindblom, which just reinstated it’s girls track team after several years
on the wane, is somewhat of a challenge for Little, whose been running track
since 2005, but head track coach Tasha McCray said Little is already where she
needs to be physically to compete at a high level.
“She came
to me with talent,” said McCray. “She has natural talent and she’s already in
shape. I just have to help maintain it.”
Conditioning
is the key to bringing out the best in a track athlete, and it's that aspect
that discourages many young athletes from getting involved in the sport and
sticking with it. Running is hard work, and some athletes have the will to do
it while others don’t.
“It’s
mind over matter,” Little said. “When I feel tired coming in for the 400 my
legs start burning but I know I can’t slow down, I've got to keep running.”
Little’s
mother, Tiffany Mayfield-Brandon, was a track athlete herself, and said that
talent alone is not enough to reach your potential in track & field.
“It takes
a lot of work and many athletes depend on talent and are lax in practice, that
won’t help you lower your times,” she said. “But it’s really more of a mental
thing, and you have to have the mindset to put what your coach teaches you to
use on the track.”
Mayfield-Brandon
is highly active in her daughter’s track career. She helps schedule her meets
and drives her to and from practice, but she said Little doesn’t need any real
help when it comes to the actual running.
“With
Shamier it’s within her, it’s God-given talent and she just knows how to run,”
she said.
This
summer Little will be running with the Illinois Gazelle track club and she’ll
be competing on the AAU and USATF circuit. She's headed for Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina for the 2011 World Youth Track and Field Trials this weekend, and if
she does well there she has an opportunity to be added to the IAAF World Youth
Team.
This
might be heady stuff for some young athletes, but Little has a level-headed
approach to running on the national track circuit.
“You’re
exposed to more competition, but it’s all the same for me,” she said. “I just
go to practice, train, work out and hopefully my times get lower the longer I
train and practice.”
However,
it’s not just about athletic achievement on the track. Her mom is encouraging
her to succeed academically as well, so she can have choices when it comes to college,
and not necessarily be bound to athletics.
“With the
high cost of college anything that can help supplement those high tuition fees
whether it be academics or athletics is welcome,” Brandon-Mayfield said. “But
it’s always good to get an academic scholarship overall, then the athletics can
augment what you’ve already received.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
