Gate City Striders

   Shauna Salem is a quiet kid who is new to the running scene but you wouldn't know it by the times and performances she has put in this year. Shauna came to Gate City last fall after running Cross Country with the Presentation of Mary school in Hudson NH. She was a relatively new runner and under the tutalige of Ron Johnson she began to blossom. At the New England cross country meet she was the 4th runner on a very talented GCS team. By the time Nationals came Shauna had moved up to 3rd runner and placed 71st at the National meet in Reno Nevada. This I think was the start of Shauna getting what I call the "Running Bug".

   Shauna continued to run after Nationals with a running group out of Amherst NH led by Janice and Justin Platt (Fellow Striders and GSF Coaches). The easy winter running has given her the Base to flourish in local road races and the USATF track season. In the winter she ran the Freeze your Buns race #3 in 20:50 good for 2nd overall woman at only age 13. A month later she ran the same course in 19:58 for a 5K PR for her. Just 3 weeks later she was the 1st woman at the Milford Preseason 5k with a time of 20:55 on a very hilly course. At the Nashua Soup kitchen 10K she was the top GCS woman runner good for 5th overall woman in a time of 41:16. And finall at the Medical center 6K she was 2nd woman overall sandwiched between Heidi Westover and Cathy Merra. Not a bad stretch of races for a new runner who is just trying to figure things out.

    Shauna continued to run strong this past week with 2 or should I say 3 races in just 3 short days. On Thurs June 10th at the Hollis Apple Country Fast 5K Shauna finished 2nd overall woman in a time of 18:15 and led her youth team to a 1st place finish. The team also feature Meaghan Philpot, Marie Morrier, and Victoria Lizzotte who were all on the GCS National Cross team that finshed 7th in Reno.  Then on Sat June 12th she completed a tough running double at Amherst Track in winning both the 3000m (11:04) and the 1500 (5:31). There was only the 100m dash in between both events. This was an amazing demonstration of her strength and desire to win races. I am sure that she will be successful the next 2 weekends when she competes at the Junior Olympic Track Championships and tries to advance to the Nationals. Good luck shauna and run strong.