News Archive

This year for the first time, there will be an Indigenous women's team competing in the New York Marathon.  Early this year two Indigenous UWA students, Samantha Shepherd and Jordan Ah Chee tried out for the training squads.

Samantha Shepherd, third year Environmental Engineering student at UWA is still a member of the training squad and although she had never tried a marathon prior to March this year, she has been training for six months starting with three kilometre trials.  The current squad consists of 20 members (8 women; 12 men) but it will be cut to 10 members - 4 women; 6 men for the New York Marathon in November.

Former World champion marathon runner, Rob De Castella and coach/manager Tim Rowe are guiding and training the women through set programs which involve running every day and competing in half marathons and competitions around Australia.  So far, Samantha has competed in a half marathon in the Gold Coast; a 10 kilometre run (Canberra Mother's Day Classic); the Sydney City to Surf, Perth City to Surf and on September 18, the Sunday Telegraph Body and Soul Bridge Run as part of the Sydney Running Festival.

The final trial will be a 30 kilometre run in Alice Springs, after which the women's team will be selected.

Samantha (Sam) from Karratha is a very keen sportsperson and the women's captain of the Western Waagyls who are competing in the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games (NITESG) at Melbourne University from 18 - 23 September.    Sam will finish the Sydney Running Festival in Sydney on Sunday 18 September and fly to Melbourne to compete in the Games.  Apart from athletics, Sam is competitive at football (AFL), basketball and netball.  She has represented UWA at the NITESG every year from 2009 and with Jordan Ah Chee, second year medical student, was selected for the All Stars team following last year's Games.

Staff and students at the School of Indigenous Studies will be barracking for Sam's success at the Alice Springs final trials and a place in the New York Marathon.

Media references

Gabrielle Garratt (School of Indigenous Studies) (+61 8) 6488 2467

Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716