With a new ring on her finger and trophy in her hand, Harding junior Emily Shell found one April weekend to be quite eventful.<\/p>\n
On April 19 and 20, Shell and the rest of the Lady Bisons Track team competed in the 2019 Great American Conference Women\u2019s Track and Field Championship.<\/p>\n
Among other successes, Shell was the heptathlon champion, a track and field combined contest made up of seven events.<\/p>\n
Shell said she was excited to place first in the heptathlon. She also broke the school record and set the meet record for that multifaceted event.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing in on Friday, I was placed in eleven events \u2013 I counted the heptathlon as seven individual events \u2026 and I ended up having a personal best in four of those seven events,\u201d Shell said.<\/p>\n
Shell also placed third in the triple jump at 37 feet, 11.25 inches, breaking a 30-year-old school record by an inch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was tired and had just done 10 events prior, but with each jump I got a little bit further,\u201d Shell said. \u201cOn my last jump, I went way farther than I had, and beat the best that I had done before by a foot and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shell set many personal records during the two-day event.<\/p>\n
Senior teammate Kaylin Turley has run with Shell since 2016 and also competes in the heptathlon for the track team. Both Turley and Shell are math majors who love to run.<\/p>\n
These similarities have made the two competitors and close friends. Turley said that she is proud of Shell and happy for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re so similar, we also compete hard against each other and push each other a lot,\u201d Turley said. \u201cBut because we\u2019re best friends, we\u2019re also each other\u2019s biggest fans. \u2026 I\u2019ve loved competing with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the successful track meet, Shell spent time enjoying the company of friends and family. Her record count was not the only thing that grew over the weekend; so did her family.<\/p>\n
On Sunday April 21, Shell got engaged to junior Charlie Collins at Camp Takodah.<\/p>\n
Shell said she had talked with Collins about getting engaged but he had made her think it wasn\u2019t going to happen until this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had gotten her mom in on it too, and her mom called her that day and asked \u2018When are we going to get together with Charlie because he hasn\u2019t asked us the question [for permission to marry you] yet?\u2019\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
Collins said that Camp Takodah, specifically Takodah Bluff, holds a special meaning for the couple.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both worked at Camp Takodah together in 2017, and that\u2019s where we got to know each other really well and built a foundation for our relationship,\u201d Collins said. \u201cOn one particular day that summer, we got to walk up to the bluff and spend some time together.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the couple returned to Takodah Bluff, and Collins proposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were looking out over the bluff and he got down on one knee \u2026 it kind of felt like a movie,\u201d Shell said.<\/p>\n
The couple said the day was filled with a lot of nervousness, peace and happiness all at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody asked me if I was dorky or romantic, and Emily responded by saying \u2018all of the above,\u2019\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n
From the track meet to the engagement, Shell said that she has had a weekend \u201cfull of really good things.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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