'A natural talent'

West Aurora's Shanice Andrews won three DuPage Valley Conference titles.

(Donnell Collins/For the Beacon News)

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If you bumped into Shanice Andrews in the hallways of West Aurora High School, the first thing you would notice is her beautifully braided hair with a few strands of gold intertwined.

If not for her crowning locks, the diminutive sophomore with the soft voice and shy smile could be your average Blackhawk, except for one thing -- her explosive power on the track.

Andrews' ability to clear hurdles at blistering speeds, zoom past rivals and spring farther than her competitors in the long jump recently earned her three DuPage Valley Conference titles.

"She has a natural talent," teammate Mariah Smith said. "She's amazing."

The talented Blackhawk won titles in the long jump, 100-meter hurdles and 1600 relay.

Her leap in the long jump was a personal best at 17-9½.

"It was a good day," Andrews said.

Andrews, who is naturally quick, gravitated towards track and field after a serendipitous encounter with Wilbert Walters when she was seven.

Walters, the founder and head coach of the Aurora Sundowners Track Club, was teaching golf at McClure Grade School when he saw the youngster run.

"He saw me running and told my teacher to give my mom his card," Andrews recalled.

Her mother, Karrina Walkins, took him up on the offer and she has been running ever since.

"They (Sundowners) taught me everything I know," Andrews said. "He's the best coach in the world."

About three years ago, Andrews transitioned from dashes and distance runs to hurdles.

"She just developed this talent for the hurdles," Smith said of her Sundowners teammate of the past 10 years. "No one can top it."

"You can put her in anything and she will be successful in it," West Aurora Coach Teresa Towles said.

Andrews' lightning-quick speed will be challenged Friday when she goes head to head with Batavia's Natalie Tarter and Waubonsie Valley's Shakeia Pinnick.

Both juniors earned All-State honors in many of the events Andrews will compete in.

"Her biggest challenge is herself," Towles admitted. "She knows what she is capable of...sometimes she is afraid of the competition."

In order to qualify for state, Andrews will need to record times below 15.64 in the 100 hurdles and 47.24 in the 300 hurdles and leap over 17 feet in the long jump, regardless of what Pinnick and Tarter do.

Andrews has already posted qualifying times in the 300 hurdles and long jump.

Whether she's jumping, sprinting or hurdling the one constant has been the watchful eye of her grandmother, Belva Cooper, sitting in the stands.

"We're close," Andrews said.

Andrews would love to return to her grandmother's home state of Louisiana and run for the LSU Tigers, "really, really, really bad" when it's time to head off to college.

But until then, the speedster would settle for a trip to Eastern Illinois University for the state track meet next week.