Data-driven approach helps Shaler track and field athletes improve

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, April 13, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Shaler boys track coach Shawn Ryan likes numbers. Becoming a track and field coach necessitates an interest in data to help track progress and guide improvement.

But Ryan said he became interested in recording, ranking and publishing times for sprinters when he saw Tony Holler speak.

Holler is a member of the Illinois Track and Field Hall of Fame and coached at Plainfield North High School.

“He’s a guy who is all about recording, ranking and publishing,” Ryan said. “I have a Google page with anything and everything we’ve done for the past three or four years. We also have all of our school records on there. I have an Athlete of the Week, and we put it on our Twitter page and will write an article on them with their time and accolade attached to it.”

Ryan was especially impressed with how his distance runners performed in a recent meet against Pine-Richland. The Titans had the top three finishers in the 1,600-meter run.

Logan Messina finished in first place with a time of 4 minutes, 52.81 seconds. Tommy Podgorski was in second place (5:02.68) and Lucas Fedel placed third (5:04.25).

“That’s pretty impressive when P-R is a distance-heavy team,” Ryan said. “They have a nice cross country team. For our guys to sweep the mile is impressive.”

Liam Kelly, who qualified for the WPIALs in the triple jump last season. He has continued to build on his success after a strong indoor season.

Against Pine-Richland, he placed first in the high jump, second in the long jump and third in the triple jump.

“I’m confident in his ability,” Ryan said. “He’s a kid who didn’t play a whole lot of competitive sports. He was a baseball player, but has been determined based on his results over the years to motivate himself.”

Max Wiley hit a new personal best with a throw of 148 feet, 6 inches in the javelin. Garrett Graizer has made improvements as well in the pole vault.

Ryan said that he enjoys tracking everyone’s performance. He wants to see their numbers improve as the big track meets start to get closer on the schedule.

“I’m a big data guy,” Ryan said. “I had a presentation with the kids looking at the numbers. Our boys are scoring more points than we have been in section over the past few years. We picked up more points against Seneca Valley, North Hills and Pine-Richland. That’s a good indication that we are improving.”

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