Falcon Spotlight

Jackson Shaw

Jackson Shaw is a sophomore runner on the UW-River Falls cross country team.

Shaw is originally from La Crosse, Wis., and is a Health and Human Performance major on campus.

Despite running since his freshman year of high school, cross country was not always what Shaw originally wanted to do.

“I did football in seventh and eighth grade. I made a deal with my mom that if I was over 100 pounds my freshman year that I could do football,” Shaw said. “But I was about 99 or 98, so I switched to cross country.”

Shaw has been running cross country ever since he made that deal, and it is a decision he said he both probably would not have done on his own, but also is glad that he made.

“I had no idea what cross country was. I mean it sounded pretty bad to me, running all the time,” Shaw said. “I’ve fallen in love with it, so I’m glad I did it.”

In nearly six years of running, Shaw said his favorite memory was his team placing third at the state meet his senior year of high school.

Shaw is a part of a talented group of sophomores currently leading the team at the meets. Both Co-Head Coaches Matthew Cole and Scott Sekelsky have talked about the potential of what this group could accomplish in the coming years. Shaw sees that potential as well.

“We’re the future of the team and we work really hard. It’s nice to know that we might not be at the top of the WIAC right now,” Shaw said. “In the future we should be near the top because our talent is young and we will continue to improve a lot.”