Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1996
At points during her career, she had the: eighth best outdoor 200 meter dash, second best 800 meter run, second best 80 meter outdoor hurdles, school record in 400 meter hurdles, seventh best outdoor long jump, fourth best outdoor high jump, second best outdoor shot put, fourth best javelin, school record in heptathlon, third best indoor shot put, third best indoor long jump, fifth best indoor high jump, second best indoor 800 meter run, school record in 600 yard dash, school record indoor 400 meter dash, school record indoor 440 yard dash, second best indoor 300 meter dash, third best indoor 300 yard dash, school record indoor 60 meter hurdles, second best indoor 55 meter hurdles. (MSU Sports Information)
Val Lemoignan-Sheley set nine school records in her track career at MSU from 1981-85. Two of her indoor marks, including the 60-meter hurdles and the pentathlon, as well as three outdoor records in the 400-meter hurdles, the 800-meter relay and the heptathlon still stand today.
Prior to coming to Murray, Lemoignan-Sheley lived in England where she was member of a track club and ranked sixth in the country in hurdles. Margaret Simmons, currently the MSU academic advisor for athletes, recruited Lemoignan-Sheley, who came to Murray State as a 25-year old freshman.
Lemoignan-Sheley had planned to attend Murray for only one year before returning home to England. However, Lemoignan-Sheley fell in love with the United States and decided to make MSU her home for the next four years. She graduated in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in education.
Lemoignan-Sheley came into the track program with a fierce determination and competitive attitude.
“I remember that my first meet for MSU was an indoor competition and I was determined to do well,” she said. “I don’t remember where it was, but I looked at the record on the wall and said I was going to break it. I felt so strongly that it shook out my nervousness and all I could think about was breaking that record, which I did.”
Lemoignan-Sheley’s glory days of running track came to an immediate halt when she sustained an injury during the European game trials in 1986.
“I stopped competing in 1986 when I blew my knee in the European game trials,” she said. “It was very disappointing.”
Lemoignan-Sheley will never forget what athletics at Murray State did for her. She said it introduced her into a career that she loves, and that she “will always stay in the athletic field.”
Currently, Lemoignan-Sheley is the assistant director of athletics for compliance at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
She says that being named to MSU’s Hall of Fame is a great honor.
“Being named to the Hall of Fame is a nice finishing touch,” she said. “It is a great honor and flattering that a school thinks enough of you to put you in the Hall of Fame.” (The Murray State News, October 4, 1996, Staff Report)
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