For a second straight spring, the West Central Valley girls track and field team has welcomed a disabled student-athlete to compete on the squad. According to Quikstats Iowa, sophomore Suzanne Shoemaker is one of only two wheelchair competitors who’ve competed in a meet this spring across Iowa. Shoemaker takes part in the 100, 200, and 400-meter dash races and the shot put, the four sanctioned wheelchair events in Iowa High School Track and Field. The Raccoon Valley Radio Network spoke with Shoemaker during Tuesday’s Earlham Invitational track meet. She urges parents of disables students to allow their kids to compete in the sport. “There’s too few of us; we need to get more (disable athletes) out here,” Shoemaker said, “You go to state automatically, it’s just fun. You should do it and take advantage of the opportunities given to us, or they’ll eventually go away.”

She says of the four events she competes in, Shoemaker says she enjoys shot put the most. She’s the only wheelchair competitor to record results in the shot put and 400-meter dash this spring. Sophomore Maria Horn of Ottumwa Community Schools has competed in the wheelchair 100 and 200-meter dashes earlier this spring and is leading the state in those two categories.

Suzanne Shoemaker’s results from the Earlham Invitational
100 meter dash-46.32 seconds
200 meter dash-1:59.49
400 meter dash-3:31.4
Shot put-8′ 3.5″