Sheela Agrawal a 1999 graduate of Joseph Case High School in Swansea Ma. A two-time Boston Globe Female Athlete of the Year in cross country, Agrawal finished second in the state in her junior and senior cross country seasons. One might say, “oh she finished 2nd but when you find out she finished 2nd to Olympic silver medalist and recent winner of the New York marathon, that’s not so bad finishing 2nd. Agrawal twice qualified for the prestigious Footlocker National Championships, finishing 22nd her first time and 11th in her senior year, earning All-American honors. As a Junior Agrawal won the New England Championships in the 2 Mile run clocking in at 10:39. As a senior, she won the prestigious Dartmouth Relays in the Mile. Her time of 4:59.4 was the fastest female indoor time in the country. Her time also qualified her for the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden. Her accomplishments also include a second place finish in the Indoor National Championships in the mile. She also competed in the Outdoor national Championships and finished 2nd place in both the 1Mile and 2 Mile. By the time Sheela graduated she would hold the state record in the 1 mile with a time of 4:46.0 and the 2 mile with a time of 10:19.0 At the end of her stellar high school career, she earned a scholarship to Duke University where she would continue to perform at the highest level. At Duke, Sheela became the quintessential Student Athlete. A Duke publication stated the following in 2002: Duke junior Sheela Agrawal was named to the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District III first team, as announced by Verizon and the College Sports Information Directors of America. Agrawal, one of the Blue Devils' most decorated female runners ever, is a three-time All- American selection, earning cross country honors as a freshman and sophomore and indoor accolades as a sophomore. This season, she finished 16th in the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Her top finishes came at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships, where she was seventh, and at the 2001 NCAA Indoors, where she was ninth in the 3,000-meters. The Swansea, Mass., native has a 3.710 grade point average as a biology major. Agrawal is a two-time All-East, three-time All-ACC and two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll selection. As a freshman in 1999-2000, Agrawal was named the ACC's Rookie of the Year for Cross Country and Indoor Track and Field. Her 1 mile PR at Duke was 4:40.0 and she held Duke Records in the indoor 3,000 at 9:23 and 5,000-meters at 16:29 and distance medley relay. Also at Duke University, Sheela made the USA National Junior Cross-Country team that competed in the IAAF World Cross-Country Championships in Portugal. The team included two other former Massachusetts superstars in Shalane Flanagan and Julie Spolidoro. Sheela said about those championships “that was a really humbling experience; the level of competition was unreal. I remember we started out of actual gates. The Kenyan junior national team was right next to Team USA and looked so calm and collected compared to us. Even more intimidating was that most of them were running barefoot. I think they outran all of us except for Shalane. When asked about her high school days she says, “My closest friends to this day are all the gals I ran with in HS- All have been incredibly successful outside of running which is amazing to me. We encouraged and pushed each other to do our best in all aspects of our lives. I am profoundly indebted to my coach and best friend Judi St. Hilaire who took me under her wing my junior and senior years. If it had not been for her, I probably would have exited the HS running scene altogether and never made it into my dream college. After graduating from Duke University, Sheela earned a PHD from Ohio State University. She currently works as an environmental scientist who specializes in water and waste management treatment. She currently resides in University Heights, Ohio.
Class: 1999 Inducted: 2018