St. Mary’s bringing race home
Lacrosse coaches, teams keeping event alive in tough times
In most cases, races happen rain or shine.
In the case of the Kellie Thompson Shiley5K, it’ll happen pandemic or not.
St. Mary’s girls lacrosse coach Mindy Jones wanted to make sure of that. The race meant too much to lose, even for a year.
The race remembers Thompson Shiley, a US Lacrosse Hall of Famer and former star for the St. Mary’s and North Carolina Tar Heels programs who died
because of childbirth complications in 2012. The first 5K and Family Fun Run began in 2013, and the event has annually brought 300 to 400 people to the Eastern Shore, includingThompson Shiley’s friends and family.
Naturally, as the pandemic
continues on, an event of that scale wouldn’t be coronavirus-safe this year.
Jones and boys coach Victor Lilly had another idea: bring it home. Last week, they set up a sign-up sheet for their two programs online. In return, 89 boys and girls lacrosse players said they’d be there.
Thetwo lacrosse programsatSt. Mary’s run in sync under Jones and Lilly’s guide. Still, ThompsonShiley’s legacy is personal to girls lacrosse. As such, Jones credited Lilly for the “amazing job” of getting his boys on board to provide support.
“It’s one family,” Lilly said.
Ever since fifth grade, Jones looked up to Thompson Shiley — she was “that player youwanted to emulate.” It setJones on a course to play at St. Mary’s herself, while Thompson went on to become a three-time All-American at North Carolina and the Tar Heels’ all-time leading scorer in 2002 (222 career goals), a mark that lasted for 10 seasons
Her uniform number was retired by St. Mary’s in 2015.
“Kellie Thompson Shiley is probably the most notable female athlete to come out of St. Mary’s High School,” Jones said. “Ever since I took over at St. Mary’s five years ago, it’s been my mission to make sure we honor her legacy. In conjunction, our boys lacrosse program has really supported us with that.
“The fact we could do this and make it just about boys and girls lacrosse at our home and our own St. Mary’s turf really means a lot to me and to Victor to do this to rememberKellie.”
Thompson Shiley’s mother Roseanne will also be in attendance Saturday, as will Tiffany Hoffman, a longtime friend of Thompson Shiley’s. As a member of the committee in her friend’s honor, aswell as a mother of three little Saints, Hoffman over the years has gotten to knowmany of the players running Saturday.
“We are blown away by the support fromSt. Mary’s… truly our committeewas so disappointed to have to cancel this year, or do it virtually,” Hoffman said. “It’s so heartwarming, uplifting and amazing, especially for Kellie’s family, to see this communitywhere she spent somuchtime and made an impact really stepping up and proving what it means to be part of that community.”
On Saturday morning, the athletes will be divided by their cohorts, the Saints and Fleur de Lis, or “Fleurs,” which is how St. Mary’s High currently separates its students for in-person learning, and will each be a mix of boys and girls players.
The5Kitself is split into pieces; the first group will run for 40 minutes at 7 a.m., followed by the next, back and forth until 10 a.m. Rather than staggering start times, the athletes will spread apart at the start.
Every player will also have their temperature checked and fill out a health questionnaire, just like one they’d submit to their school to attend class, to demonstrate that they’re not showing any signs of coronavirus.
The matter of the 5K distance itself wasn’t straightforward. In previous years, the Kellie Thompson Shiley 5K spanned over a “beautiful route” over Kent Island, where Lilly and Jones usually provide support from early in the morning to late after the race.
This time, the players will run15 1⁄ laps
2 around the Saints field, which will total 3.10 miles, the typical length of a 5K.
Asmuchas the continued race serves to honor Thompson Shiley, it serves to benefit the lacrosse players who are teenagers operating within aworld unlike the one they’d known, ones who lost their spring seasons and are facing uncertainty going forward.
“Me and Coach Jones have talked about it before — it’s up to us as leaders of the program to provide opportunities to the kids tobe asnormalaswe can for every kid that came through,” Lilly said. “Since Mindy and I have been head coaches, we’ve been involved in this event. It’s part of what we do every year. If there’s a way for us to do it, we’ll find away to do it.”
Every race since its inception in 2013 has acted as a fundraiser for Thompson Shiley’s three children, initially paying for their needs before turning into a scholarship fund.
The fee to race typically costs $30, but this year the coaches asked players to consider a non-mandatory $15 donation.