We are posting a daily review of the top 10 sports stories of the 2010-11 school year in Augsburg College athletics, as determined by the sports information staff -- Sports Information Director Don Stoner and Assistant SIDs Kelly Anderson Diercks and Ryan Kershaw. Today's entry features the No. 7 listing in our countdown. Check back each weekday for a new entry in the top 10 list, and the No. 1 story will be revealed on Aug. 12. Agree or disagree with the selections? Comment by sending an e-mail to Don Stoner at stoner@augsburg.edu.
It's probably appropriate that
Shanek Telphia (SO, Chicago, Ill./Gage Park HS) is a sprinter, because of the way she has sprinted to prominence in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in women's track and field.
In just two seasons at Augsburg, Telphia has already competed in three NCAA Division III national championship meets, earned an All-American honor, won six MIAC championships, earned 12 All-MIAC honors and four All-MIAC honorable-mention honors. And she's been a part of five school records in the process.
“Shanek has been a large part of the outstanding Auggie women's sprint group the last two years,” said Augsburg head coach Dennis Barker.
During the indoor portion of the 2011 season, Telphia was a team leader in the relays, as she led off an 800-meter relay that set a school- and conference meet-record time of 1:42.50 en route to a conference championship. She also anchored a 1,600-meter relay squad that placed fifth in a school-record 4:05.29.
Individually, Telphia recorded two second-place finishes at the
MIAC indoor championships, in the 200-meter (25.51 seconds) and 400-meter (58.94 seconds) dashes, while finishing eighth in the 55-meter dash (7.73 seconds). As a result, she earned 20.5 of Augsburg's 51 team points -- a seventh-place result that marked Augsburg's best MIAC indoor meet finish since 2005. Her point total was fourth-most among the MIAC indoor championship participants.
“Making it as far as I did this year, I really didn't expect it … I consider myself very unpredictable. It's like I never know what the result of what I do is until I do it,” Telphia said. “I try not to pressure myself too much because I'm always nervous before a race. So what I do is breathe, stretch, shake and let my nerves go and whatever the outcome, just move on.”
Telphia had an even greater impact during the outdoor portion of the season. At the prestigious
Drake Relays in Iowa in late April, she was part of an 800-meter relay squad that set a school record in 1:42.54, placing fifth among the 27 NCAA Division II, III and NAIA schools in the event. She was also part of a 10th-place finish in the 400-meter relay. Later in the season, she was part of a 1,600-meter relay squad that set a school record of 3:57.77
at the St. Thomas Tommie Twilight Meet.
At the
MIAC outdoor championships, Telphia again racked up the points for the Auggies, winning the conference title in the 200-meter dash (25.87 seconds), while anchoring a 400-meter relay team that repeated as conference titlists in 48.39 seconds.
She also placed second in the 100-meter dash (12.90 seconds), fourth in the long jump (5.38 meters/17-feet-8.0) and anchored a fifth-place 1,600-meter relay squad (4:01.78). She earned 26.5 of Augsburg's 53 points in a seventh-place team finish -- Augsburg's best MIAC outdoor meet finish since 1996. Her point total was third-most among the MIAC outdoor championship participants.
“Steve Dalhed, the Auggie sprint coach, did a great job of helping Shanek get stronger as the year went on, and peak for the big meets at the end of the year,” Barker said. “Winning the MIAC 200-meter title and being an All-American marked good progress in her Auggie career.”
Telphia earned a trip to the NCAA Division III outdoor national championships at Ohio Wesleyan University in May,
reaching the finals in the 200-meter dash with a season-best 25.03-second effort.
In the finals, her 25.08-second time was good enough for fifth place. Her All-American effort was the first for an Auggie women's track and field athlete since 2006, and the 31st in women's track and field in school history.
Telphia has now competed in three NCAA championships, qualifying for both the indoor (400-meter dash) and outdoor (400-meter relay) nationals last season. At the 2011 Auggie Awards, she was named Augsburg's Women's Outstanding Athlete of the Year, her second Auggie Award (she was Augsburg's Women's Rookie of the Year in 2010) of her career.
