Hall of Fame
Long distance running wasn’t high on Tina Shriver’s list of favorite events but it got her a foot in the door with a local coach who invited her as a 14-year-old to join his track club, an invitation that would result in a life-changing move.
“I was working at the Frederick City pool when I met Jack Griffin,” Tina recalls. “He had a track club going during the summer and asked me if I wanted to join in. At the time it was cross country but he realized I had some talent and eventually steered me to the heptathlon (pentathlon at the time).”
After two years at Walkersville High School Tina transferred to Frederick High where Griffin coached. She ran cross country to stay in shape but focused mostly on the long jump, shotput, high jump, javelin, high hurdles, 200-meter dash and the 800-meter run because those were the events for the heptathlete.
During her two years at Frederick High the Cadets won two outdoor and two indoor state track championships. They were cross country runners up one year. Tina’s 37’8.5” shotput was a school, county, tri-state and regional record.
Tina matched her athletic prowess with a similar academic performance. A Maryland Distinguished Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society, she graduated in the top five per cent of her class at Frederick. She was well prepared to take the next step.
As a prelude to what was to come Tina captured the 1979 National Junior Pentathlon Championship while competing with the Frederick Track & Field Club.
Tina realized success almost immediately at Towson, becoming one of the most decorated track athletes in program history. As a freshman she won the EAIAW Division II heptathlon with a meet record 5,005 points, finishing first in five of the events. A couple of weeks later she captured the AIAW Division II heptathlon national championship, becoming just the second Tiger to earn All-American honors. As a result she qualified for the AIAW Division I national championship at Texas A&M. She placed 10th among 20 competitors. She was the only non-Division I athlete to finish among the top 15. She also competed in the National Sports Festival
In the years ahead Tina continued to add to her successes. She finished third in the EAIAW Division I pentathlon with a Towson record 3,634 points, just two points out of second place in a field of 23 competitors. That mark stood for 23 years. She later set a school record with 5,041 points in winning the EAIAW Division I heptathlon. She was named the Most Outstanding Performer in the 1983 East Coast Conference Outdoor Championships.
The following year she won the ECC pentathlon (3,264 points) by 475 points ahead of the runner up. She was also Mason-Dixon Conference heptathlon champion with 4,883 points. In 1983 Tina was recognized as Towson’s Female Athlete of the Year.
While at Towson, where she set 11 program records, Tina was ranked as high as 35th in the nation by Track & Field News for the heptathlon. She was invited to the U.S. Olympic Development Summer Camp. She participated in The Athletics Congress Indoor National Pentathlon championships featuring the U.S. vs. Canada in Toronto, Can.
After graduating Tina returned to Frederick County where she taught physical education for 29 years, initially in the elementary school and for the final six years, in a middle school, before retiring.
