Track And Field's Hicks A Charlotte Athletics Hall Of Fame Inductee

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Shareese (Woods) Hicks, a University of Memphis track and field assistant coach, was the first University of Charlotte track and field performer to earn two All-America honors in the same season.

She was Charlotte's first female sprinter to qualify for the NCAA Championships. She also was the first 49er to compete in three events at an NCAA Championships.

Now, Hicks is the first female student-athlete to be inducted in the Charlotte Athletics Hall of Fame, the school recently announced. Hicks is a member of the 49ers' inaugural class that includes four student-athletes, one coach, one administrator and one contributor. Among the other inductees are former athletics director Judy Rose, former men's basketball head coach Lee Rose and men's basketball standout Cedric Maxwell.

Hicks is in her second season on the Tigers track and field coaching staff in 2020-21.

"I have just been charged with keeping the momentum," Hicks said. "Coaching and mentoring athletes. It's all about getting someone to run faster and score higher – that's been my personal charge.

"I'm already indebted to everything that Charlotte has given me. With the jersey retirement alone, for (the athletic department) to put that together is something I can't put into words. Now with Hall of Fame – that's cherry on top. I'm just in awe. (The 49ers) have already given me so much. I'm excited."

Hicks had her jersey retired in a ceremony during a Charlotte 49ers football game in October 2018.

One of the 49ers most decorated athletes, Hicks earned four U.S. Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-America honors, four Atlantic 10 (A-10) Conference Performer of the Year awards and a stunning 15 A-10 Championships event titles in her remarkable career. She led Charlotte's women's track and field program to sweeps of the 2006 and 2007 Atlantic 10 Indoor and Outdoor Championships. In addition to her collegiate career, Hicks represented USA Track and Field and claimed several medals, including a bronze medal in the 400 meters at the 2008 International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Indoor World Championships.

Her fourth-place performance in the 200 meters at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships is the highest NCAA finish by a 49ers sprinter. She placed sixth in the event at the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships and posted an 11^th-place finish in the 400 meters at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships for her four all-America honors.

In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Hicks was named USTFCCA All-Region six times in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 relay. She was named A-10 Performer of the Year during each of the team's indoor and outdoor championships in 2006 and 2007 and took home 15 gold medals from the league championships from 2005-07 (200m/400m/4x100 relay/4x400 relay).

Hicks earned six team MVP awards (3 indoor/3outdoor) in her four-year career and still holds five school records (2 indoor/3 outdoor).

In addition to her third-place finish at the 2008 Worlds, Hicks earned a gold medal with USA Track and Field at the 2006 North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships as part of the record-setting 4x100 relay team. At the 2007 NACAC Championships, she again won gold with the 4x400 relay team and claimed silver in the 200 meters. She was also a member of the USA's silver medal-winning 4x100 relay team at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Hicks, who coaches the Tigers sprints and hurdles groups,came to Memphis in the summer of 2019 after serving as the Neosho County Community College track and field head coach from 2015-19.

In her first year in the Bluff City, Hicks made an immediate impact. She coached Paris Perkins to a silver-medal performance in the 400 meters at the 2020 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships. Perkins is the first Memphis female athlete to medal in an indoor short sprints event (60m/200m/400m) since the Tigers joined The American prior to the 2013-14 year.

Hicks also helped Perkins shave nearly 1.5 seconds off her 400-meters time from the start of the 2019-20 season (55.10) to the end (53.71; AAC Championships). Perkins' 53.71 time in the 400 meters set a program record.

On the men's side, Hicks had three sprinters place among the top-eight in the 200 meters at the conference indoor championships in late February.

University of Memphis Athletics

Track And Field's Hicks A Charlotte Athletics Hall Of Fame Inductee

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