News : Shelby Beyer off to fast start on UNI track team

Shelby Beyer is off to a fast start for the UNI track team.

Shelby Beyer at the starting blocks.

Grandmother Bonnie Fennern is among UNI freshman Shelby Beyer's biggest fans.

Shelby Beyer, right, with her teammates and coach after a race.

2011 Vinton-Shellsburg graduate and student-athlete Shelby Beyer is having a great experience in her freshman year on the UNI track team, and in the classroom.

She said being on the team is even more than she imagined, all the way from the coaching, amazing facilities, tough practices, well qualified trainers, to the camaraderie among the teammates both on and off the track.

When asked what the hardest part of any practice was, it didn't take her long to reply, "Definitely walking on all fours...backwards all the way up the UNI-Dome steps."
Her hard work is paying off, though. In her first collegiate race, at the UNI Panther Open, she finished third in the 60m race and set a new personal best time of 8.25 seconds. Two weeks later at the Jack Jennett Invitational at the UNI-Dome, she participated in the 60m and 200m race. In the 60m preliminary heat she came in 4th and set another personal best, with a time of 8.20 seconds and qualified for finals. Shelby won her finals heat and came in 9th overall with another personal best of 8.14 seconds. She also finished in the top 20 in the 200m run and she is looking forward to her next opportunity to hopefully improve in both races.
The diversity of the UNI track team surprised Shelby, as well. The Panther women's best athlete is from Poland and is currently ranked 3rd in the nation in pentathlon competition. There are girls from all over the USA on the team, while at the same time there is also a good representation of the WaMaC conference.
Although known for their athletic level of competition, the UNI Women’s track team is ranked among the top 20 Division 1 schools in the nation with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.42, and it is no surprise why they are. Study table is required for all incoming freshman, regardless of incoming GPA is or what grades they are currently earning in their classes in the fall semester, with no exceptions.

The only way out of study table is to have a 3.75 GPA or better at the end of semester. Shelby was one of two freshman no longer required to attend but many others were very close to that 3.75 mark. There are GPA requirements for upperclassmen to attend study table as well.

The predominant major among the majority of Shelby's teammates is Biology and study table has really helped with getting students to study together both there, and on their own time. That support shows through on the track during meets as well, as the girls’ support of each other is very apparent.
Shelby said last week when she was practicing, she looked around the Dome and thought to herself, "I can't imagine going to college anywhere else."

That says more than anything about how things are really going during her freshman year, says her mom, Dawn Beyer.

In addition to being named the VSHS Governor's Scholar in 2011, Shelby was a member of the VSHS girls 4 x 100 relay team that set a new school record for that event while finishing fifth in Class 3A the 2011 State Track meet.