Sharika Nelvis

Sharika Renea Nelvis (born May 10, 1990) is an American hurdler. In 2014, she was NCAA indoor and outdoor sprint hurdles champion. After graduating from Arkansas State University that summer, Nelvis turned professional and topped the indoor world list in 2015.

Nelvis was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 10, 1990. She had a difficult childhood; both of her parents died before she'd turned eight, and after her grandmother suffered a stroke Nelvis was taken in by an aunt and separated from three of her four siblings. Nelvis took up track and field in sixth grade, competing first in the sprints and then also the hurdles and the long jump; in addition, she played volleyball, softball and basketball. She became a leading track athlete at Northside High School, winning four events at the 2009 class AAA state championship meet. After graduating from high school that spring she briefly attended Southwest Mississippi Community College, but found it didn't suit her; she left almost immediately and transferred to Arkansas State University, having been recruited by its assistant track coach, fellow Memphis native Jason Brooks.

Nelvis missed the 2009–10 track and field season due to ineligibility resulting from her transfer, but after that, she developed rapidly under the coaching of Brooks and Arkansas State's head track coach Jim Patchell. In 2011, she was named the Sun Belt Conference's top freshman both indoors and outdoors. Over the next three years Nelvis won Sun Belt championships in the sprints, hurdles and long jump; she was named the conference's top track and field athlete indoors and outdoors in 2012 and again in 2013. She broke 13 seconds in the 100 m hurdles for the first time at the 2013 NCAA championships, winning her semi-final in 12.84 (+1.3); in the final she ran 12.92 and placed sixth, her first points finish in an NCAA meet.

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