Shaffer picked for All Arkansas Academic Track Team
DECATUR — The Decatur High School senior boys’ track team finished its 2017 winning season with yet another honor bestowed on one of its members.
Ryan Shaffer was one of 25 boys to be selected for the 2017 All Arkansas Academic Track and Field team. He was one of five top athletes from that team selected to attend the 2017 Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame ceremony held at the Wyndham Hotel in North Little Rock June 2.
The Arkansas Track Coaches Association has sponsored this event since 2005. Coaches from around Arkansas nominate their best athletes based on four criteria, which include a grade point average of 3.5 or better, ACT test score of 25 or better, competed in state track meet and active in school clubs or organizations.
Shane Holland, Decatur track coach, nominated Shaffer for this award in May. He has made a selection every year since this academic team began in 2005. Holland, along with Shaffer’s mother Anna Wilkins, was on hand to witness the award ceremony.
“Coach Holland accompanied me to the banquet in North Little Rock,” said Shaffer. “Mom also made the trip with us. It was nice having both of them there for this event.”
Shaffer more than qualified for the award with a perfect 4.0 GPA and as valedictorian for the class of 2017. His ACT test score was 31 out of a possible 36 (36 is considered a perfect score). He was also very active in several extracurricular activities, including serving as 2017 class president, as a member of the high school band, a drum major for the marching band, and holding membership in the National Honor Society and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.
As far as participating in a state meet, Shaffer more than met this requirement, bringing home a gold medal in his best event, the 300-meter hurdles, during the 1A event in Conway May 2. He earned a silver medal in this same event during the 2A state track meet in England, Ark., May 1, 2016.
Shaffer ran the first leg of both the 2017 1A state champion 4x400-meter and 4x800-meter relay teams. He was also a member of the 2015 2A state champion 4x800 relay and the 2016 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams.
Shaffer was the first Decatur Bulldog track star to be named to the All Arkansas Academic Track and Field team, an honor that Coach Holland loves to talk about.
“I am very proud of this young man,” Holland said. “I can’t think of anybody that deserves this honor more than Ryan.”
Ryan Shaffer will leave his long-time Decatur home bound for Medford, Mass., to begin his freshmen year as a civil engineering major at Tufts University. He plans to minor in political science and hopes to hold public office in the future.