How far can she go?

All-Conference distance runner Athlete of the Year

Amy Paterson / photo editor Junior Shannon Saunders stretches out before practice at Bridgeforth Stadium Tuesday afternoon.

When Shannon Saunders was in middle school she didn’t envision herself as a future track and field standout.

"I didn’t want to run the mile in gym class," Saunders said. "I used to try to get my mom to write me a note to get out of it."

Saunders’ mom never penned any notes to get her daughter out of the mile, so Saunders attempted to reason with her gym teacher.

"I remember telling my teacher that ‘I’m just not athletic,’" Saunders said.

That idea didn’t work either.

These days, the junior distance runner is a three-time All-Conference honoree. Saunders set a JMU record March 26 in the 10,000-meter. The Forest, Va., native followed that up by being named JMU’s 2004-’05 Female Athlete of the Year, becoming the third track and field athlete to receive the award since 2001.

While the accolades don’t stop there, Saunders calls those two accomplishments her proudest, though she isn’t sure which one takes precedence.

"It’s a toss between school record-holder and Athlete of the Year," Saunders said. "Both are for the same reason. Coming into college I knew there were great athletes here. I’m surrounded by them all the time."

And that made the Athlete of the Year selection a bit of a shock for Saunders.

"I was surprised to be named Athlete of the Year, especially with all the competition I was against," Saunders said. "It feels good to represent female athletes at the school and maybe symbolize the hard work everyone puts into their sport."

Saunders has been a good representation of hard work since coming to JMU, consistently pushing herself to reach the next level — even if it means doing the legwork on her own.

"She really doesn’t have a training partner," JMU women’s track and field coach Kelly Cox said. "For her to really train with someone she has to train with some of our guys because there isn’t any other female right now that can train with her on a consistent basis. So a lot of what she does she has to do completely alone. That speaks to her focus and discipline."

And it’s Saunders’s discipline that Cox praises the most.

"She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get through the work," Cox said. "There’s a mental step that has to be taken at some point in a career to get there. She made that step early on and it brings everything together."

That idea of progress has driven Saunders from the very beginning, and in 2005, everything did come together at the Stanford Track and Field Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.

"I knew it was going to be a breakthrough race for me," Saunders said. "I hadn’t run a 10k race in almost a year and I had been putting in a lot of work."

Competing against some of the best distance runners in the country — including Wake Forest’s six-time All-American Annie Bersagel — Saunders placed 15th out of 39 runners. She shattered the 10k school record by nearly 24 seconds.

"I was elated," Saunders said. "I couldn’t wait to call home. It was really late, Pacific time, so I was waking up people left and right on the East Coast. I called my mom — it was like 2 a.m. here."

But even at that early hour, Saunders wanted to spread word of her success to those who helped her achieve it.

"When I have good races like that, it’s always special to be able to share it with the people who helped me get that far," Saunders said. "I was waking up teammates and friends because I feel like they play such a big role in everything I do."

And if there is one thing Saunders still has to do, she makes it crystal clear.

"Hands down, All-American," Saunders said. "It’s something I wanted in high school and never got. I set state records but I never got to be All-American. I’m willing to do whatever it takes."

Not bad for someone who isn’t athletic.