September 10, 2009 – Athletics

Sarah Shinn ’10

Photo by Sara Tincher

Shinn Shines Again
OWU senior battles back from illness-plagued career to win first race of season

After spending almost two-and-a-half years fighting recurring illnesses, Sarah Shinn ’10 made a triumphant return to the Ohio Wesleyan track and cross country programs.

Shinn, who battled autoimmune diseases in high school, contracted mononucleosis at the end of the track season her freshman year and has been fighting to stay healthy ever since.

“I thought I was going to bounce back but I got it again,” says Shinn, who caught mono after cross country season her sophomore year as well. She didn’t find out she had contracted mono again until the beginning of the track season that same year.

“I was just wiped out,” she said. “I kept trying to come back. I never expected it to be mono again, because you’re not supposed to get it twice.”

She only competed in several meets that season before she was forced to sit out. That August, right before her junior year cross-country season, she was tested again. Not only did she still have mono, she had contracted strep throat as well.

Shinn spent that fall recuperating and training for the spring season.

“The season went pretty well,” she said. “It took a while to get back. I kept getting sick because my immune system was down.”

Shinn trained hard this summer and ended up winning the race in OWU’s first cross country meet, a triangular meet with Denison and Kenyon. The meet was not scored, but Shinn says she is optimistic about both her individual performance and the team’s overall performance this year.

“We were ranked pretty low in the preseason,” she said. “We’re looking to surprise a lot of people. We’re only going to get better.”

– Michelle Rotuno-Johnson ’12