Homewood’s Doud, 2 others claim All-America honors

Homewood High senior Rachel Doud and two other Lakeshore Foundation athletes claimed All-America honors at the National Junior Disability Championships in New Jersey.

Clay’s Rashad Bennett and Hokes Bluff’s Emily Frederick were the other two athletes honored. The championships were this past summer, but the announcements were not made until September.

U.S. Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee, revealed the 66 athletes selected as 2015 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field High School All-Americans. 

This is the sixth year that U.S. Paralympics has honored the top high school track and field athletes with Paralympic-eligible impairments based off performances during the 2015 season.

“Each year, the high school All-American list showcases the top young athletes across the country,” Cathy Sellers, high performance director of U.S. Paralympics Track and Field, said. “This group has a number of athletes that we will see on the podium at the 2020 Paralympic Games and potentially even in 2016.”

Doud, who was also named All-American last year, took honors in the 1,800-meter event.

Originally from Oklahoma, Doud and her family moved to Homewood to be near Lakeshore so she could train and be near other family members. Doud, who was born with spina bifida, draws nothing but praise from her coach at Lakeshore, Jerry Allred.

“Her first love is basketball, which I also coach her in,” said Allred. “Her parents really wanted her to do track and field for the fitness aspect, and she really took to it, really excelled at it. She’s a hard worker and very coachable.

“She has a very competitive spirit.”

Doud didn’t win the 1,800 meters, but both she and the winner broke the national record.

“On the last lap, I tried to draft the girl in first but I couldn’t get close enough,” Doud said. “I started strong but kind of ran out of steam, thought I was going to pass out, but my friend in the race was pushing me on.”

While she looks ahead to next track season, she’s really enjoying getting back to her first love, basketball, right now. 

“We lost some of our big players – big both in talent and size – but we’re a faster team this year. We’ve got to learn to utilize that team speed.”