Also invited to Australia in track and field

Powell High School sophomore Shawnea Harrington probably never envisioned standing on the field of a packed NFL stadium when she grabbed a flier from her elementary school all those years ago. Nevertheless, that’s exactly where she stood last month after placing second nationally in the Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

After winning the local competition and scoring well enough while winning the district contest in Riverton, Harrington was invited to Denver to face off against a horde of other district winners from throughout the region.

As the name implies, the Punt, Pass and Kick competition tests participants on each of the three football disciplines. Competitors are given one punt, one pass and one kick of a football. Each attempt is measured for both distance and accuracy — all attempts are expected to land along a center line and the distance a competitor’s attempt misses that central line is subtracted from his or her overall distance as a penalty. In the end, the greatest combined distance total wins.

Harrington’s distance in Denver placed her at the front of the field and earned her the right to attend the national event in Baltimore.

“It gets pretty crazy in Denver,” Harrington notes. “There’s a lot more people when you reach that event. Especially the younger kids will just freak out.”

Harrington should know. At the age of 8, she grabbed a flier from the hallway of her elementary school. The advertisement for the Punt, Pass and Kick competition looked like fun and she begged her father to let her enter. At age 9, she earned her first trip to the national competition. She promptly won.

Over the years, she’s been fortunate to make several additional trips to Denver in an effort to qualify for the national championships. This year was no exception.

“My family has been really proud of me and been really supportive of me doing this every year,” said Harrington. “Every year, I got a little bigger crowd of people cheering me on.”

Football, typically, is thought of as a male-oriented sport, but Harrington found no shortage of support, even when her pursuit of a Punt, Pass and Kick title pulled her away from other sports.

“My teammates and coaches have always supported me and cheered me on,” said Harrington. “The bigger competitions usually happen during basketball time and the basketball girls have always been supportive of me. I have also gone at times during volleyball season, too. I’ll have teachers in the hallways who will wish me good luck and stuff.”

Once at the national championships, Harrington notes there’s a lot that goes on out of the public light. The kids are introduced on the field at the playoff game, and often times can be seen throwing a football on the national television broadcast. What many people don’t realize is that those throws are merely for show.

“The actual competition takes place the day before, usually at the training facility,” notes Harrington. “They call you out onto the field for the cameras and fans, but that’s all it is.”

Harrington prepared for the national event by throwing a football indoors and, whenever the Wyoming weather allowed, taking a tee and footballs out to the Powell High School football field to practice her punting and kicking.

“Practicing is the biggest thing you can do,” Harrington said of the secret to her success. “If you don’t practice, chances are you’ll choke. I’d go to the football field and work on my accuracy, because that’s a big part of it. If you can’t be accurate, it doesn’t matter how far you can kick or throw the ball.”

Other than that, Harrington’s only other advice to aspiring Punt, Pass and Kick competitors is to just relax and have fun.

“You just need to relax and be in a happy place when you compete,” she said.

In Baltimore, Harrington’s three attempts resulted in a net distance of 329 feet. It was a personal record for the sophomore in actual competition. Unfortunately, it was 17 inches shy of what she needed to win the national title.

“I was mad at myself for not winning, but I was pretty glad I got a personal record,” said Harrington.

Harrington will have to treasure the memory of that personal record. Unlike previous years when she could console herself with thoughts of improving the following year, Harrington knows this is the end of the line. At 15 years of age, she has reached the maximum age allowed to participate in Punt, Pass and Kick.

“It was fun,” Harrington said of her many years competing. “I would have liked to win it again on my last try.”

Don’t expect Harrington to get too down, however. While her Punt, Pass and Kick days might be over, her next big opportunity may already be staring her in the face.

Harrington was recently informed she has been selected as a participant in the Down Under Sports Tournament track and field competition. She’s in the process of attempting to raise funds to represent Powell and the state of Wyoming in competition in Australia during the summer of 2012.

“I’m honored to be an ambassador of not only our community and state, but also our country,” said Harrington, a noted member of the Panthers’ shot put and discus cadre last spring as a freshman.

Harrington noted that she’s looking for sponsors to help defray the cost of travel to Australia. A savings account has been set up at Wells Fargo in Powell for anyone wishing to assist.

“I just want to thank my parents (Sofia DeLeon and Doug Harrington) and family for all the support they’ve given me,” Harrington said. “They’ve always been so supportive of me.”