University of Evansville cross country coach Don Walters has landed another local standout for his women’s cross country team, as Evansville Memorial High School pacesetter Shelby Cron has signed a National Letter of Intent to run cross country at UE.

Cron excelled both on the cross country course and the track over the last four years at nearby Evansville Memorial High School.  On the cross country course, Cron earned Memorial’s Kiwanis Award this past year, after placing fourth at sectionals and fifth in regionals (in a 5-K time of 19:41) en route to leading Memorial to a semi-state appearance.  Cron earned both all-conference and all-city honors in cross country for the Tigers, while also notching a pair of city individual titles and a conference championship in 2005.  In fact, Cron was named the Evansville Female Runner of the Year in 2005, after winning both the SIAC and city titles.

On the track, Cron earned four trips to the Indiana state finals with Memorial’s 4x800-meter relay team.  She helped the Tigers to back-to-back city championships on the track, while also being crowned the 1,600-meter city champion this past spring.  Cron earned all-city and all-conference honors on the track, while posting times of 2:25 in the 800-meters, 5:25 in the 1,600-meters, and 11:51 in the 3,200-meters.

“Shelby has been someone that I’ve had my eye on for a while now, as she has been one of the top female runners in the area throughout her high school career,” said Walters.  “I think that she will add a lot to our program over the next four years because of the fact that she is a great runner, number one, and number two, she has a great work ethic and attitude.  She proved this past year that she can handle the 5-K distance well, and I think that she will continue the long line of outstanding local runners who have made a big impact on our program this fall.”

Cron, a native of Newburgh, becomes the fourth Indiana native to join the UE women’s cross country program this spring, joining Forest Park High School standout Alison Cooper and Crawford County all-state runners Lauren Schaftlein and Morgan Kenner.  She hopes to major in exercise science/physical therapy at UE, and will join former Memorial High School teammates Jaclyn Dippel and Ryan Witters on the 2008 UE cross country roster.  The 2008 cross country season will kick off on Saturday, August 30 at the Mid-America Opener hosted by UE.  The season will begin at 10:00 a.m.