LUCAS — She is just a kid from little old Lucas, Ohio.
But Shelby Grover found herself 2,442 miles away in Tracktown, USA.
On June 12 and 13, Grover, who had just completed her freshman year at Kent State University, spent two days in Eugene, Oregon, home to the campus of the University of Oregon, competing in the Nike Outdoor Nationals and USATF U20 Championships for one of the most memorable moments of her life, one she almost decided to pass on.
MORE ON SHELBY GROVER:It's in the name: Lucas' Shelby Grover lived up to all the hype and then some
Grover had no idea she was even on the radar for the U20 Championships. It wasn't until she got a text on a random day while she was with her grandma at the lake that she really started thinking about it. Her coach was constantly talking about it throughout the year, but Grover was still unsure.
"I just didn't do great this year," Grover said. "He texted our group chat and said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Shelby Grover is currently fourth in the nation for U20.' He called and asked if I wanted to do it and I wasn't sure. I didn't know how the training would go since it was summertime and school was out."
That was easy. Grover would train at Kent State two days a week and train at Lucas High School on her own the rest of the week.
With Grover still on the fence, she needed some push from her coaches. She was told it would be a mistake not to go. So, she went.
Shelby Grover put together best meet of young career
Grover impressed in her first U20 Championships. She finished third in the heptathlon which consists of seven events: 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash, long jump, javelin throw and the dreaded 800-meter run to cap it all off.
She scored 5,168 points which ended up as her season and lifetime best as she quite literally saved her best for last.
"It was fun," Grover said. "We flew out on a Sunday and didn't get to our hotel until about three in the morning. We competed Wednesday and Thursday. My coach told me to just go out and compete and whatever happens, happens so I went in with no pressure."
Finishing third, Grover missed out on a chance to compete in the U20 World Championships in Peru, but she will have another shot at it next year. JaiCieonna Gero-Holt of Washington Track and Field Academy took first place with 5,420 points while Abby Elmore of Texas Ultimate Athletes took second with 5,363. They were the No. 1 and 2 placers at the World Championships last year and Gero-Holt is No. 4 all-time in the heptathlon in her age group.
Grover ran a 14.80 in the 100-hurdles which was a solid time, but she clipped the final hurdle shaving some time off of a nice race as she ended up taking fourth. But it was in the high jump where she impressed even herself. She cleared 1.70 meters (5-feet-7) for a new lifetime personal record and a huge confidence boost heading into the rest of her events. She may have finished fourth in the high jump overall, but achieving a lifetime PR was enough to leave her satisfied.
"That was a nice surprise because during indoor, I struggled so bad in the high jump," Grover said. "I couldn't clear five feet all year. I just kept wondering what was going on."
There was a simple explanation. Grover was a freshman who was just getting used to the college athlete life. She was on a completely different weight training program which was way more intense than anything she had ever experienced in her life. Her body took its time adjusting so during indoor season, she wasn't her usual (or what would become her new) self just yet.
During outdoor season, Grover was put onto the French Contrast Training program which was developed by legendary coach Giles Cometti. It is centered around workouts designed to trigger muscular and neurological adaptations at the same time. And that was when Grover found a new gear within herself.
She ran the 200-meter dash in 26.21 taking fourth in the event which wasn't exactly her best race, but enough to keep her in the hunt for a Top 3 finish.
"We were working on the 800 all year because that is a very tough race and it is the last one of the event so everyone is dreading it," Grover said. "So from the end of outdoor until Nationals, we trained in the 800 and kind of put the 200 on the back burner."
Grover then nabbed two first-place finishes in the javelin with a throw of 34.99 meters (114-09) and the long jump with a winning distance of 5.53 meters (18-01.75). She also finished third in the shot put with a throw of 11.74 meters (38-06.25) before capping it all off with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.16.
"Long jump wasn't my best, but it was good for the hep," Grover said. "You aren't supposed to PR in the hep because you just want to do well enough in all of the events to gather up as many points as you can. But I did have a lifetime PR in the javelin and the 800."
So that gave her three lifetime event PRs in the biggest meet of her young college career. Her point total was also the most she had tallied in during her sensational freshman season and the fourth-most in Kent State University history.
But the experience at the U20 Nationals was one she won't soon forget.
"I got a chance to look around and those facilities are so nice," Grover said. "They call it Tracktown USA because that is where track really kind of took off. The Olympic Trials are there and it was just an amazing experience."
First year in heptathlon an adjustment for Grover
Before beginning her freshman track season at Kent State University, the last time Grover stepped on a track was at the Ohio High School Athletic Track and Field State Championships during her senior year at Lucas. She won a Division III long jump championship and ended the weekend with four medals.
Aside from the new weight training, Grover had her fair share of figurative hurdles to jump over in her first year competing in the heptathlon full time. She did earn All-American honors in high school in the event, but college was completely different.
"The training was just hard to get used to," Grover said. "I would hurdle once a week, high jump once a week, shot put once a week, long jump once a week and javelin once a week. That was difficult because that doesn't give you a lot of time. When I came into college, I thought I would have plenty of time to learn these new events and get better. You do get a lot because it is over nine months, but as soon as you think you are getting the hang of it, you have to wait a week to practice it again."
But, it all worked out. Grover took fourth in the Mid-America Conference Championships in the heptathlon and helped the Golden Flashes win the 2024 MAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
The toughest event for Grover to master was the javelin, an event that is outlawed in Ohio high schools. When Grover was being recruited to run track at Kent State, her coach visited Lucas for a volleyball game and noticed her arm swing when she would go up for a spike. It was one she could tweak to fit javelin perfectly. But it took some time.
"When I was throwing it, it was curving and almost coming back toward be by the end," Grover said. "When I went out to pick it up, instead of landing with the point away from me, it was almost sideways so I was losing a good 10 meters. I wasn't throwing it exactly over my head and was throwing it almost like a volleyball swing. Once I got that down, it was better."
Grover's first year at Kent was all about adjustments, much like her growth in the javelin. She changed all of her approaches in the high jump and long jump. She now uses a two-step into her approach in long jump and actually developed an approach in the high jump instead of relying on her insane athleticism like she did in high school.
"The lifting was just so different, too," Grover said. "We lifted in high school, but it was like full body every single day and we didn't really gain a lot out of it. In college, you have intense trainers who are specific and it is just so helpful. Each season was completely different. Pull ups? I never had to do those and they wanted me to rep it. It was intense."
After Year 1, Grover sets sky-high expectations on herself
Grover had many heart-to-heart conversations with coaches, teammates and family during her first year of college track and field. There was that tear-filled call back home to her mom, Kathy, during the indoor season when her body was undergoing major adjustments to a rigorous training schedule. Grover wasn't meeting her own expectations and it was breaking her down.
She got a vote of confidence every step of the way.
Then came the conversation with coaches about what she wanted out of her track career. Does she want an invite to the Olympic Trials? How about a spot on the Olympic Team? What does she want?
"My coaches wanted to know what I wanted and I do want to be an All-American," Grover said. "My coaches believe in me that I can. Even after my first pentathlon, I did so bad. High jump, I didn't clear 5-feet. Long jump, my approach was off and I only jumped 16 feet and in the 800, I ran 2:40. I broke down and cried in front of my coach and it was embarrassing. My coach said he gets it. I was just so mad at myself but even after that, he still believed in me."
Why did he still believe? He knew Grover was a three-sport athlete in high school, not to mention a three-sport All-Ohioan. It was understood that Grover wasn't used to putting all of her eggs in the track basket like she was being asked to in college.
"He said he was a three-sport athlete in high school and his freshman college track season was bad," Grover said. "He said he hoped I would have some crazy PRs, but if I didn't he wasn't going to look at me as a failure. He assured to me that the next three years, the sky is the limit."
With Grover's work ethic and internal drive, it is easy to see what her coaches see.
"It isn't all rainbows and sunshine," Grover said. "It is hard and a big difference. I really didn't expect it to be that big of a difference. But the hard is what makes it great."
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