Shamal Sullivan is a senior family and consumer sciences major who has been running track since the seventh grade.

Sullivan is on the long sprints position for the UCA track and field team. UCA has been the conference championship team for both indoor and outdoor track every year he has been a student, excluding 2020 and 2021.

Sullivan most recently placed 17th in the 600-meter dash with a personal record time of 1:21.77 and placed eighth on the men’s 4×400 relay team with a time of 3:22.11 at the Wooo Pig Classic in Fayetteville in December.

One of the highlights of Sullivan’s career is the indoor conference he participated in during his freshman year. That year, UCA came in third place on the Southland Conference podium.

Last year, Sullivan joined the sprints team and broke a 49-second personal record.

Sullivan’s season last year ended early due to getting sick, but he is looking forward to the spring 2022 season.

“I just need to figure out how to be relaxed for the first part of the race,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan enjoys getting to travel to different cities for meets.

“What I’m most excited for before each meet would be buying a lottery ticket at every gas station we stop at,” Sullivan said. “I also like racing against new schools because the same people get boring.”

Traveling is something Sullivan has become familiar with during his time at UCA.

Sullivan is originally from Mckinney, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. It takes almost five hours to drive from Conway to Mckinney.

“I got homesick my second semester here because I was the only freshman on the team traveling to a meet in Florida for our Spring Break,” Sullivan said. “Shortly after that, I realized you’re always at home if you know where God is.”

Sullivan says the best thing about Track and Field is that you can watch your teammates from one spot without having to worry about moving around to get a better view.

“For example, in cross country, you can stand still in one spot, but you’ll miss the majority of the race,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan stays involved on campus by attending campus ministries and volunteering at the Bear Essentials Food Pantry and for Bear Patrol.

“I enjoy Bear Patrol because I get to escort people on a golf cart while playing music on my speaker,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan is also a part of the Student Orientation Staff.

“I joined SOS because it gives me summer camp vibes, and I love to be very energetic while helping someone. I wanted to give out information I wish I knew about my freshman year to the newbies,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan says it can be challenging at times to juggle being in sports and clubs on top of classes, but you just have to remember what your priorities are.

“As a student-athlete, you’re a student first, then athlete, then you can add on other things,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s end goal for track is to run a 46.99 in the 400-meter dash. He also wishes to bring gold home in the men’s 4×400 at the outdoor Atlantic Sun Conference Championship.

As for career goals, Sullivan wants to help influence the next generation by being a teacher.

“I would love to be a high school teacher to motivate and challenge students to be the best person they can become,” Sullivan said. “It means so much when you have a teacher rooting for you in your corner.”