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Penguins’ Walker ran with purpose in hurdles victory
By STEVE WILAJ
YOUNGSTOWN
The stars aligned for Youngstown State senior Shatasia Walker on Sunday. And the 2011 Chaney High School graduate believes it wasn’t by coincidence.
At the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships inside the WATTS, the first-year Penguins runner notched her first conference title when she won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.72 seconds.
But making it more special, it was a race Walker ran for her recently deceased cousin, Gladys Manigault.
“I really felt like her spirit was watching over me today,” Walker said.
Manigault, a Youngstown native, passed away on Feb. 20 in California at the age of 43.
According to Walker, she had been “sick for a very long time. She had high blood pressure. She had thyroid problems, she had a stroke. The last I heard, she was in a coma.
“We didn’t get to see her final days because she stays in California,” Walker added. “So, as a family, we all came together and did a little ceremony here in Youngstown and tried our best to pay our respects here.”
Much of the Walker family — which Shatasia described as “close-knit” and “spiritual” — came in from Cincinnati to mourn together. It just so happened to line up with the Horizon League indoor meet, as Walker had the large group of family in attendance to watch her compete — many seeing for the first time.
It didn’t start well on Saturday, as Walker — who previously ran collegiately at Central State before using her final year of eligibility this season at YSU — cramped up and fell in the 200 dash preliminaries. Still, she placed second in the 60 hurdle prelims behind sophomore teammate Amber Eles.
On Sunday in the 60 hurdle finals, Eles tripped and fell on a hurdle. She couldn’t finish the race, as Walker cruised to a first-place finish.
“I feel really good considering the fact that I was out a whole year [after Central State],” said Walker, who earned her bachelor’s degree in communications broadcast media at CSU. “I’m just coming back, so I wasn’t really confident in the beginning.
“I’m really surprised I won, to be honest. Yesterday, getting hurt, I wasn’t sure how this race was gonna go. But I had all my family here.”
The Walkers celebrated as a whole following the victory. Also, after Saturday’s prelims, the family gathered together for the stream of Manigault’s funeral in California (she’ll be transferred back to Ohio soon to be buried in Youngstown).
Penguins track and field coach Brian Gorby spoke highly of the fifth-year senior who is in graduate school at YSU to pursue a master’s degree in interdisciplinary communications.
“Shatasia is very mature and she’s been great for the program,” he said. “She’s very competitive and is very passionate about what she’s doing. She expects a lot out of herself.”
Still, even Walker wasn’t exactly expecting a championship in the 60 hurdles on Sunday. But when it’s meant to be ...
“I ran in honor of my big cousin,” Walker said. “It’s almost like a miracle.”