Shawntell Manning (2024) - Hall of Fame (2024)

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Introduction of Shawntell Manning, presented by Branwen Smith-King, former Women's Track & Field Head Coach and Senior Woman Administrator at Tufts.

As some of you know, I live in Bermuda now, so it’s not super easy to get to Boston. But I will tell you this – there was no way in the world I was going to miss this night. I am so excited about our next inductee, and I am thrilled to be here tonight to help induct Shawntell Manninginto the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame.

As Shawntell’s coach, one of the things I loved the most about her was her competitive spirit. For all the titles Shawntell won, there is one loss that sticks out in my mind as much as any of her victories. It took place during her junior year in the 400-meter dash at the 1995 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships in Minnesota. Shawntell was edged at the finish line in that race, losing by just .11 seconds to Lisa Melendez from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Her national runner-up performance was the highlight of Shawntell's career to that point, but that loss – if you want to call second in the nation a “loss” -- left a bad taste in Shawntell’s mouth that she never forgot. And like other great athletes, it fueled Shawntell’s determination to train even harder and avoid tasting that sort of defeat again.

But before I get to what happened next, let me back up a little. When Shawntell arrived at Tufts in 1992 and joined our track & field program, I was so excited! Another Tufts Hall of Famer, Vera Stenhouse, had just graduated, and although Shawntell would definitely blaze her own path, I had a strong feeling that Shawntell would be the one to carry on Vera’s championship legacy.

Right out of the blocks, Shawntell earned the anchor leg spot on our 4x400 relay as a first-year, and she led that group to 4th place finishes at both the NCAA indoor and outdoor championship meets in 1993. In her sophom*ore year, she won the DIII New England indoor and outdoor titles in the 400, and she earned her first individual All-American honor in the 400 meters at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

But it was during her junior year that her talent on the track really blossomed. In DIII New Englands, she not only repeated as champion of the 400 meters both indoors and outdoors, but she also added a title in the outdoor 200 meters. At the NCAA championship indoor meet, she placed third in the 400, barely one second behind the leader. And at the NCAA championship outdoor meet, that’s when she finished runner-up in the race I spoke about earlier.

So how did Shawntell respond to that painful NCAA runner-up finish? Well, she decided she was going to win an NCAA championship in her senior year, and she worked harder than she ever had before to make that happen.

Her next opportunity to achieve that goal came in March of 1996. The NCAA Indoor Championship meet was held during a blizzard at Smith College, and Shawntell and Lisa Melendez were again two of the top-ranked entries into a loaded 400-meter field of sprinters. As her coach, I thought it was important for her to run a tactical race because the turns and spacing of indoor track requires assertiveness and strategy. Current Tufts head coach Kristen Morwick was my assistant at the time, and we developed a race plan that would capitalize on Shawntell’s competitiveness. We knew that if Shawntell were neck-to-neck with her competitors coming off the final turn, she had the strength and the competitive fire to win. One of the other things I liked the most about Shawntell was her coachability and her knack for processing and implementing instruction. She bought into the race plan fully, and when we saw her come off the final turn on the right shoulder of her top competitors, we knew the race was over. Shawntell pulled away to win the NCAA title!

By the time Shawntell graduated from Tufts, she had won five New England titles and she was an eight-time All-American! In recognition of those achievements and her NCAA championship, Tufts Athletics named Shawntell the winner of the Hester Sargent Award as Tufts' most outstanding female athlete.

Shawntell's times from nearly 30 years ago have stood the test of time in the Tufts record book. Her outdoor 200 meters PR of 25.03 remains second all-time, the outdoor 4x4 relay she anchored in 1993 is still ranked third, and her 400-meter time is fourth in Tufts history.

Shawntell was not only one of the most coachable student-athletes I ever had the privilege to coach, but she was also an incredible teammate. Many of her teammates are here celebrating with her tonight. Shawntell’s support of our team mission never wavered, and she always put the team’s needs ahead of her own -- often doubling or tripling up in running events to score points needed for the team’s success.

She was just a wonderful leader and a joy to coach, and I could not be prouder of this amazing woman. Congratulations my friend! Your family, teammates and friends all over the world are so excited for you! Please join me in congratulating Shawtell Manning and welcoming her into the Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame.