Bell finishes strong career

By Joe Doss-Antoun

Upon crossing the finish line at the NCAA regionals last weekend, senior Shannon Bell concluded more than just a race: she wrapped up one of the most illustrious cross country careers in Bronco history.

Tom Service, who has been the cross country head coach for six years at Santa Clara, had the pleasure of coaching Bell for four of those years.

"She was definitely one of the top runners to come through Santa Clara, if not the best," said Service.

In five out of the six races she competed in as a freshman, Bell finished ahead of all other teammates.

After finishing seventh at WCC championships that year, Bell joined her older sister, who also ran for Santa Clara, along with then freshman Lauren Swigart as First Team All-WCC performers.

Two weeks later, Bell finished 32nd at the NCAA West regionals, which still stands as the best ever finish for a Bronco runner at regionals.

"What was incredible about her performance that year was that she was coming off of an injury and had to work out in the pool leading up to that race," said Service.

As a result of Bell's tremendous efforts that year, she was named the team's most valuable runner.

Unfortunately, Bell suffered an injury before the next season and was forced to redshirt her sophomore year.

"It's difficult to say what season was the most fun for me, but I can definitely say that my sophomore year was the worst," said Bell.

Upon returning to the team as a junior, Bell picked up right where she had left off. She was the Broncos top finisher in each of her team-leading seven competitions, including a second place finish at WCC's, which marked the second time she earned All-WCC First Team honors.

"That was probably my proudest moment because I did so well at conference despite missing the whole season before," said Bell.

Bell followed up her efforts two weeks later with a 59th place finish at regionals. That finish was the second highest finish by a Bronco runner at a regional's competition, trailing only her own record set freshman year.

Although her senior year hasn't lived up to "Bell-standards", she's still helping out the team in other ways.

"She is a great role model for the other runners," said Service. "She is very dedicated, eats well, has a good work ethic, and on top of all of that, she was fantastic academically."

Though she will never participate in a collegiate race again, Bell admits that she will not miss the running as much as the friends and teammates she made along the way.

"The good thing about running is that you can do it anytime on your own, so I know I will always be running," said Bell. "But it's the friends and practices where you get to catch up with one another that I'm really going to miss."

A member of Service's cross country teams for the past four years, Bell credited her coach for her success.

"He has been awesome during my time here and has pretty much been my father away from home," said Bell. "There is no doubt in my mind that I will stay in touch with him after graduating."

Though her career has come to an end, Shannon Bell's name has become synonymous with the Santa Clara University cross country program.

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.