"There's No Place Like Home for Shannen Rose-Forde" by Javier Jenkins
Dominion Christian Schools is the home of Multi event competitor Shannen-Rose Forde who is currently ranked US#8 in the 60 hurdlers. Shannen-Rose is coming of a very strong Junior campaign, which she was the New Balance Elite Emerging winner in the long Jump, and runner up in the 60 meter dash. She was ranked #2 in the long jump and US#10, ranked #3 in the 60 hurdles and US# 20, and ranked #4 in the 60 meters, and US#44. Those stats alone are noteworthy in itself, but when you factor in Dominion Christian does not have a track to practice on, and 20 year old hurdles that have more tape on it for repairs than the "mummy" her performance looms even more impressive. We practice in the school parking lot, and we have an asphalt runway that has a 14' sand/dirt box, it is an amazing feat. Amazing enough to be actively recruited by: GA Tech, Iowa, Wake Forest, Purdue, Virginia, and Kentucky.
In her spare time Shannen-Rose is the Student Body President, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Peer Leader, and FCA Vice President. She has a 4.2 average, and has also done Performance Poetry, in which she not only performs but writes her own material. This is her final HS season. She holds 4 GISA State Records, LJ, 100m, 100h, and 4x1, and six school records. I would say that Shannen-Rose is the best kept secret in Georgia.
Shannen speaks about her Indoor Season, “Indoor season seemed to take forever to get here but has finally rolled around the corner and now is almost wrapping up in March. It is hard to believe that this is my last high school competitive season. My Coach and I set high goals this summer for both indoor and outdoor season. As we work hard in practice every day, we are waiting in expectation and ready to see what will unfold. We have a small team for indoor giving us good time to be productive in every practice. Last year around this time we made it to New Balance Indoor Nationals and I placed first in Long Jump and second the 60m Dash in the “Emerging Elite” while I made it to the semi-finals in Elite Hurdles. This year, I will be competing Elite in all my events, I would like to make it to the finals in the hurdles & long jump, and place in the top six."
On her Outdoor season, Shannen allowed, " Practice starts this coming week while our first meet is only one month away. I am in the process of working to drop my times by a few tenths of a second and add a foot or more to my long jump. I am definitely striving to defend my region and state titles in the 100m, 100h, and Long Jump. I am also excited to see how the team will play out. We have a lot of girls coming out this year, which gives us a good variety and depth to make some good 4X1 and 4X4 teams as we shoot to defend our region title, and challenge for the state title. This being my fourth year of track, my love for this sport continues to grow and as I continue to use this ability God has given me I am excited to see what doors will be opened as I continue to work hard"
