Hi-Line Athlete Profile: Chloe Shennum, Havre track

This Saturday at the Havre Middle School Track, the Havre High track and field teams will celebrate their senior day during the Havre Lions Invitational. One of the seniors who will be honored is Chloe Shennum, who is excited to compete at home one final time.

"I hope to get pretty good times so I'm looking forward to that," Shennum said. "I look forward to meets because I love competing and it's another chance to get a better time. Every time I compete, I feel like I learn something new."

Shennum runs in the sprints for the Blue Ponies. Over the season, she has competed in the 200-meter sprint, the 400-meter sprint and the 800-meter dash. While all of these events consist of running, Shennum has a slight favorite.

"It's probably the 800 because I need to be smart in how I race it and smart in how I pace myself," Shennum said.

Shennum has had some of her best performances at home this season. At the Cal Wearley Memorial earlier this season, Shennum set a personal record of 29.86 to finish fourth in the 200. She also set a season record of 1:09.92 in the 400 to take 15th in the same meet. In the 800, her season record is 2:55.03 which she set at the Gold Strike Invitational in Laurel.

"I've learned a lot mentally and I've enjoyed competing," Shennum said about her senior season. "I've learned a lot and I've become a much smarter runner."

Shennum only has a few more weeks left in her senior season. The Ponies will wrap up the regular season with the Dawson County Twilight Meet in Glendive next week. The Ponies will then begin the postseason with the Divisional Meet in Sidney starting on May 19. Even if she is unable to qualify for the State Meet in Laurel, Shennum hopes to improve her times and set personal records in her final few weeks of her career.

But even when she is done with high school, Shennum hopes to continue competing at the next level. In college, she hopes to study kinesiology. While her future is still up in the air, Shennum hopes that she can find herself on the track once again.

"Track means a lot. I couldn't imagine my future without it," Shennum said. "I can't picture myself not doing a sport, especially track when I'm older."

Shennum also runs for the HHS cross country team in the fall. In the winter, she competes for the HHS swimming team. While she loves track, Shennum's favorite high school sport to compete in is cross country.

"In cross country, you're more of a family and you have a much closer bond with your team versus swimming or track," Shennum said. "In track, you have all these different groups of people and everything but with cross country, you're really close with each other."

In her spare time, Shennum enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She spends much of her time outdoors running or hanging out at the lake. She also enjoys reading non-fiction books in her spare time.

Shennum and the HHS track and field teams will compete at the Havre Lions Invitational at the Havre Middle School Track this Saturday. Before her final time competing at home, Shennum answered five questions for the Havre Daily News.

HDN: What do you love the most about track and field ?

Shennum: "How hard it is, how difficult it is and how competitive it is. And I love the running aspect of it."

HDN: What is your favorite track memory?

Shennum: "I feel like the Twilight Meet last year. It was really fun to compete in because I competed in it at night when it was dark out."

HDN: What have you learned from your time in the HHS Track and field program?

Shennum: "To push yourself and to not quit. If you don't push yourself, you're never going to get the results you want."

HDN: What is the most difficult aspect of track and field?

Shennum: "It's mentally hard. Compared to softball, you have your team but in track, it's just you racing against everybody else so it's much more individualistic."

HDN: When you are running, what is your biggest motivator?

Shennum: "Just to get better and to improve."