Class of 1988

Shana Mitchell Smith graduated from Apex High School in 1988. During her first two years at Apex, Shana put Apex on the map as one of the first great female track and field athletes. She established school records in the 100 meter high hurdles (14.82) and the 300 meter intermediate hurdles (43.97) at the NCHSAA State 3A-4A Championships in 1986. Remarkably, both of those records still stand as of 2022. She placed 2nd at the state championship in the 300m hurdles in both 1985 & 1986. Shana was a state champion in the indoor 60 yard hurdles in the first-ever NCSHAA State Indoor Championships in 1987 as well as the runner-up in that same meet in the 300 meter dash. During her Apex career, she set 17 school records in individual or relay races and showed phenomenal overall range in doing so. At one point, Shana held the school record from 100 meters up to 800 meters, as well as both horizontal jumping events. In addition, she was the #1 ranked hurdler in the state of North Carolinain both the 100 and 300 hurdles. Outside of the high school season, Shana continued to run with a local track club and she qualified for three races for the national championships after both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She placed in the top six nationally in all three events in both years. Furthermore, at nationals she competed in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, and heptathlon both years. In 1985, she placed 3rd in both the 400m hurdles and the heptathlon. 

Unfortunately, Shana suffered severe knee injury at the Triangle 3A Conference Track & Field meet during her junior year. However, she was cleared to return to running in the fall of her senior year where she joined the Cross-Country team halfway through the season in time to lead Apex to the conference championship and to personally finish as the runner-up at the Triangle 3A Conference meet.  She then concluded her cross country career for Apex by finishing 15th and leading the Cougars to a 5th place finish in the NCHSAA State 3A meet.  

Following high school Shana ran for Brown University where she was selected as 1989 All-Ivy League in the 4×400 Relay and the 4×800 relay. After Graduating from Brown in 1993 with a BA in Biology, she later received her BS in nursing in 2002 from the University of Central Oklahoma. 

Today Shana lives in Oklahoma with her husband Sherman Smith (Apex class of 1988). She also has two sons: Sullivan is a second year medical student and Kai is a rising high school senior and an accomplished soccer player. 

Shana would like to express her gratitude to her coach, Roy Cooper. She says, “He encouraged and supported me as both an athlete and a person. He was a dedicated coach, and his love for track and field showed.” She would also like to thank her parents, “who attended every one of my school and club track meets from the age of nine until I graduated high school. They sacrificed many summer weekends to drive me all over the state and beyond for competitions.” 

Despite her injury, Shana Mitchell Smith’s accomplishments have gone beyond her era and stood the test of time as an all-time great runner and athlete for Apex High School.