Senior girls’ basketball captain Shantell Harden was a recipient of the 2023 Athena award for her outstanding achievements. The Athena award honors female athletes for their excellence in sports, their leadership skills and their support of their community. Harden’s teammates and coaches said they have been proud to see her grow throughout her athletic career.

Harden said the award isn’t just about what she’s done in sports, but that it’s about being well-rounded.

“It recognizes my hard work and it talks about achievements but it’s more than that,” Harden said. “It’s showcasing your talents in the classroom and outside of the classroom and that’s a big part of being a student athlete, a lot of people don’t understand that it’s about both.”

Harden’s long-time teammate senior Stayci Spates said Harden has always been an important leader on the team, and that’s what the Athena award is recognizing.

“She always wants to make sure that she’s putting the best product out on the floor that she can,” Spates said. “If you’re an Athena award recipient you try your absolute best in your sport all the time, you make sure that you’re putting your best out there and at the same time involving your teammates and making sure that your teammates are getting better.”

Girls basketball coach Chris Nordstrom said he liked seeing her grow in and out of sports.

“Athletically, she’s continued to grow and get better and have success, but more importantly as a person she’s grown in being a leader and she’s grown in dedication to her sport,” Nordstrom said. “That’s been the neatest thing to see in her over the last couple years.”

Harden said one of her biggest motivations throughout her life came from watching Seimone Agustus in women’s basketball.

“In my career someone that inspired me was Seimone Agustus, she played for the Minnesota Lynx,” Harden said. “I always looked up to her because I could tell from the way people talked about her that I wanted to be looked at that way. I want to be someone that younger kids could look up to and pick me out in a crowd the way that I picked her out in a crowd and say, ‘Oh I want to be just like her.’ I strive for that and a lot of people have talked about her work ethic so I started doing things like that to make it so people would say that about me.”

Nordstrom said Harden’s motivation changed and increased throughout her athletic career, and it paid off on the court.

“I’ve been fortunate to coach her for three years in basketball and from her sophomore year to about halfway through her junior year, she really flipped a switch where she realized every time she steps on the court she really can be one of the best players,” Nordstrom said. “That showed in her game and her confidence. She was able to score more, rebound more, be a leader on the floor and really elevate our team’s success.”

Spates said Harden has been with the team through her injury earlier this year.

“I was really proud to see the way she stepped up and chose to be a part of the team after her injury,” Spates said. “A lot of people would have left or not have been there to support us, but she was still there at every single one of our games. Even after she had surgery she came to our games and was still the captain we needed her to be.”

Harden said her coaches and teammates have always been there for her, and they’ve been important to her success.

“I’ve had a really supportive circle throughout my whole life,” Harden said. “I’d say coach-wise they didn’t let me slip up or make little mistakes, they held me accountable. As far as teammates go, they’ve always been there for me, they’ve always been the perfect description of a good teammate. We always had that bond, we may not all have been best friends outside of the sport but while in the sport we all had that family feel, even with the coaches. That was really helpful and that helps athletes become successful.”