Sheena Gooding not only was one of the greatest female track athletes in Austin Peay history but one of the finest in the Ohio Valley Conference as well.
Great things were expected of Gooding when then APSU coach Elvis Forde recruited her from his native Barbados. Forde knew Gooding would bring extreme talent to the Lady Govs program— she came with an international junior track background. Forde was even more impressed by Gooding’s fierce competitiveness
and almost unequaled work ethic.
What transpired was almost unparalleled success by the St. Philip native. She became the first OVC runner in history to win four straight 800-meter indoor championships and duplicated the feat at the outdoor championships. In addition, Gooding was the OVC Indoor Mile champion in both 2000 and 2001.
In total between the OVC indoor and outdoor championships, Gooding won 14 first-place medals, including two indoor mile championships and four relay titles (indoor mile relay, twice; outdoor 4 x 400 meters, twice). She also left Austin Peay holding four individual school records (indoor 800 meter: 2:06.17; indoor mile: 5:03.10; outdoor 800 meters: 2:04.35 and outdoor 1,500 meters: 4:35.28) plus three more relay marks.
She helped lead the 2001 Lady Govs track team, which had fewer than 15 athletes, to the OVC Indoor Championship. Gooding was named the OVC Women’s Co-Athlete of the Year, with 2007 APSU Hall of Fame inductee Ayesha Maycock. She also was named OVC Women’s Indoor Athlete of the Year the previous two seasons.
Twice, Gooding qualified for NCAA Indoor championships in the 800 meters. She equaled that feat in the NCAA Outdoor championships. In 2001, Gooding not only earned a trip to the NCAAs, but she earned All-America honors by finishing fifth in the championship heat with a time of 2:04.95. She is believed to be Austin Peay only NCAA Division I women’s track All-American (United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association).
In 2002, Gooding re-set her own APSU 800-meter indoor and outdoor records, but a leg injury hampered her some in her quest to repeat as an outdoor track All-American.
Gooding was more than just an outstanding track performer. During the Fall 2001, she earned first-team All-OVC Women’s Cross Country honors, finishing fourth in the finals. She was APSU’s last first-team All-OVC cross country runner until this past fall. Gooding also earned second-team All-OVC honors the previous season. Twice Gooding was named the program’s most valuable athlete and as a sophomore was chosen as the most improved.
Gooding, meanwhile, was equally successful off the track. She was president of Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and was a six-time nominee for Academic All-America, twice earning Academic All-District honors.
Gooding, who shared APSU’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete Award with Brooke Armistead in 2001, was APSU’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete for 2001-02 along with the Female Joy Award recipient as the most valuable senior athlete.
While working as a personal trainer, she has continued her track career since leaving Austin Peay, representing Barbados at several International Track Federation championships, including such prestigous events as the 2002 Commonwealth Games (Manchester, England), 2003 Pan Am Games (Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic); 2003 World University Games (Daegu, South Korea); 2004 World Indoor Games (Budapest, Hungary); 2007 North American, Central American and Caribbean Games (El Salvador); and the 2007 Pan Am Games (Rio De Janiero, Brazil).
