According to the records that can be found online, Ke’Lashia Shelton became Perry County’s first ever Heptathlete. The Hepathlon is a two-day event that includes seven total events. On May 13th at Hoover High School, Shelton raced the 100M hurdles, jumped in the high jump, threw the shot put, and ended with the 200M dash. She performed a 18.81 second hurdle race, a 4’8.75″ high jump, a 26’10.75″ shot put throw, and a 26.96 second 200M. She returned on May 14th to compete in her first ever 800M run and javelin throw, followed by a more familiar event to her, the long jump. She ran a 2:39 second 800M (just seconds behind the school record). She then threw 81’10.25″ in the javelin and jumped 15.1 feet in the long jump. Overall she placed 15th out of 56 athletes in her first ever heptathlon, which included 1A through 7A athletes. Shelton’s only a 10th grader who has just begun rising to the top of the high school track world. According to Coach Bolding, if she continues to work as hard as she has been both in the classroom and on the track, then she’ll find herself athletically and academically competitive for a D1 scholarship by her senior year. Multiple of her event performances already qualify her for any D2 team.
