River Shaw is the son of Scott and Heider Shaw and brother to Codie and Maria. He has attended Madill Public Schools since fifth grade and is a senior this year. Shaw is active in sports such as football, basketball, baseball, and track.
Shaw said his biggest challenge over the last few years was his freshman year when he was diagnosed with acid reflux. He lost quite a bit of weight and muscle mass over the span of eight months due to not being able to eat because of his medical condition. He found that getting back to his normal routine of lifting, running, and practicing for sports was the hardest part.
Shaw said his favorite memory over the past four years of high school was beating Kingston in football last year in the Marshall County Bowl.
He said that he is thankful for his coaches for having faith in him and for helping him correct his mistakes in practices and games. However, he gives the main credit to his das.
“My biggest inspiration in sports and life has always been my dad,” Shaw said proudly. “I’ve always enjoyed listening to his stories about how great of an athlete he was. It inspires me to be a better athlete. He continuously inspires me to push myself when it comes to getting in shape and lifting weights. Everyone always tells me how great of a man he is; how kind, funny, and how is such a good friend and man. My main goal in life as I get older, is to treat people as well enough as he does in hopes that they will think of me and talk about me like they do my dad.”
“I just want my parents to know how grateful I am for them always taking care of me and setting me up to go down the right path in life,” he continued. “In fact, I want to say thank you to all my teachers, coaches, and especially my friends for making high school such a fun and memorable experience. I especially want to say thank you to Andrew Ray and Josh Schneider for being my best friends since day one at Madill. My mom may have only had one boy, but I consider these two guys nothing less than brothers.”
Shaw’s advice for the younger classes is to start working hard now. If one waits until your junior or senior year to earn a spot on any team it’ll be too late. He said he strongly feels that to win, athletes should constantly work hard. His plan after high school is to play football in college and hoping to get a degree in environmental science.
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