Sharon Shepherd

In 2001, Sharon Shepherd was enshrined in the athletics hall of fame of her alma mater, Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. Source: https://golinfieldwildcats.com/honors/linfield-athletics-hall-of-fame/sharon-shepherd/29

In 2001, she will be the first woman athlete and the third woman to be enshrined in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame since was founded in 1998.

She was a member of the exceptional 1961 U.S. team which made a three-week, four-meet European tour with dual meets against the Soviet Union, Poland, Great Britain and West Germany. In 1957, she was on the first U.S. sports team to compete in the Soviet Union.

Gene (Linfield 1961) adds, "I remember Sharon's openness and pure athletic doggedness. While my teammates and I would be playing baseball at Linfield, Sharon was working out on the track, mostly on her own, because she was way too far ahead of her time. While we players lollygagged around, Sharon would get her discus and shot and practiced. Then she would take an Army duffel bag full of wet towels, heave it up to her shoulders and jog around the track. At that time, I wasn't ready to think of women as great athletes. But now I believe Sharon is one of the best ever to graduate from Linfield College."

1960 graduate of Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon. Attended Linfield, 1956-1960

1960 Linfield College graduate Sharon Shepherd was an athlete of exceptional ability, from her youth in Oregon's Lane County, until she competed for the final time six years ago, at age 57.

Mariann Johnson Culley (Linfield 1960), now of Pendleton, Oregon, was Sharon's roommate. Both good athletes, they ran many of the practice drills for their Linfield teams. They both were employed in the Pioneer Hall cafeteria, working all three meals and at all college banquets.

She represented the U.S. in the Pan American Games in Chicago, 1959, and Sau Paulo, Brazil, 1963.

Shepherd competed in the Olympic Trials four times dating back to 1956 as an 18-year-old, finishing in second place in the shot put in 1960, and third in both shot and discus in 1968, however she never appeared in the Olympics. She also competed in the javelin throw and pentathlon in the national championships. She did represent the United States in international dual meets. She was the silver medalist in the shot put at the 1959 Pan American Games, and bronze medalist in both shot and discus in 1963.

Sports: Women's Basketball, Field Hockey, Volleyball, Track & Field, although not a Linfield women’s sport at the time, 1956-1960, when she was a student-athlete.

She was a sports standout for the Sailors of Mapleton High School, from which she graduated in 1956. Sky Pennel and Liz McCain were her high school coaches.

Traveling to track meets took her around the U.S. and to other countries. This included the U.S. Olympic track and field trials: 1956, Washington, D.C.; 1960, Abilene, Texas; 1964, New York, and 1968, New York and Los Angeles. She was a U.S. track team alternate for the 1960 Rome and 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Sharon Shepherd (born June 1, 1938) is an American track and field athlete, primarily known for throwing events. She is a multiple time American champion, winning both the shot put and discus at the 1963 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Prior to winning, she had finished in second place three times and third twice in the shot put.