Shearouse, Joseph - Track, 1987
Joe Shearouse was an outstanding high school athlete for Savannah’s Benedictine Military Academy, where he competed in both football and track. Shearouse showed signs of greatness early, winning the state title in the 220-yard dash as a prep senior in 1969. The University of Georgia signed him to a track grant-in-aid that same year. Shearouse would continue to shatter past records in track performance during his stay. He first broke the school’s record in the 220-yard event at 21.6 seconds as a freshman in 1970. A year later, he set a school indoor record for the 440-yard dash (49.9 seconds). In 1972, Shearouse won an South-Eastern Conference title in the 220-yard event with a 21.2 second record. He continued on to set a school record at 47.2 seconds in the 440-yard event, was named the schools’ Most Valuable Player for track, captained the track team, and was voted to the All-SEC track team. During his senior season, Shearouse set an SEC record for the 220-yard event at 20.8 seconds. He also made the All-SEC track team for the second year and was voted Georgia’s Outstanding Senior Athlete. Shearouse competed in the NCAA national track meet that same year, placing in the top ten.