Ryan Shields
Leo High School
Impact Statement
“I just go out and run my race.”
–Ryan Shields
Biography
“Athletes like Ryan Shields are among the success stories produced in high school athletics today,” NHSCA executive director Bob Ferraro said. “He has worked extremely hard to develop his skills and has become one of the best track athletes not only in the state of Illinois, but the entire nation, and we are proud to be honoring him.”
A native of Jamaica, Shields was sent to Chicago to live with his father at age 9 and he overcame the culture shock and the stress of learning English to become one of the outstanding sprinters in Illinois high-school history. As a sophomore, Shields became just the second runner in state history to sweep the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter dashes, and followed that with sweeps as a junior and senior as well. Though he competed in tiny Class A, his times were faster than the winning times in the big-school Class AA competition. He helped lead Leo to the Class A state title.
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