It had been at least 35 years since

Shadden trained hard by working over the summer and throughout the season in practice and with Steve Jacobs. His routine on meet days was to get plenty of water so he could stay hydrated and to eat food every hour. He gave up pop and started a low sugar diet so he could be in the best shape possible.

Shadden was motivated to win conference because it was his last shot to beat everyone in the conference including Brendan O’Brien, a senior from Lewis Central. O’Brien beat Shadden in the conference meet in 2015 and both were expected to have great races. Shadden said he was “more nervous and sad than excited” at the beginning of the 2016 conference meet because he had a lot of pressure to win or be in the top three. His game plan of getting out in first and staying there worked and the only time he was not in first was when Kuemper senior, Ben Grote, passed him at the top of the hill in the wooded area.

Shadden was not about to give up, so he pushed the pace and Grote’s lead lasted a short amount of time. Shadden came out of the woods and took off. Running around the practice football field, he extended his lead and never let up taking home the gold medal.

Winning conference was a great accomplishment for Shadden, and he’s looking forward to track season where he competes in the two mile race. He plans to attend college and study criminal justice because he “wants to protect people” and continue his running career.