Feb. 23, 2005
By Scott MacDonald
On Oct. 27, 1985, identical twin girls, Shantia and Shantrell Moss, were born in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Ten years after that date, the twin sisters embarked on an adventure that would set a course that would lead down the same path. That adventure was participating on a middle school track team and never looking back.
“We decided one day to go out and run with the middle school track team,” said Shantrell. “We had a lot of success and loved doing it so it made sense to continue track in high school.”
Shantia and Shantrell Moss watched one another decimate the competition. Between them, there were 10 Florida state titles in high school and a Florida State 2A Championship for Pompano Beach High School last spring.
“That was definitely the fondest memory for me and my sister,” said Shantrell. “I really enjoyed watching Tia [Shantia] win eight state championships, but winning that team title was an unbelievable feeling.”
Shantrell went on to capture four state titles in the 100- and 200-meter dash races. Her sister Shantia won all four state crowns in the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles for a grand total of eight.
“Shantia is one of the best young hurdlers in the country,” said head women’s track coach Alan Drosky. “She will be a force in the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as nationally. She is very talented, has a great work ethic, and is an outstanding competitor.
“Shantrell was a very solid sprinter in high school in the state of Florida and has the ability to develop into an outstanding sprinter at the collegiate level,” said Drosky. “It will be a challenge to do so with her time divided between sports, but she is excited about track and field and is anxious to work hard to make up for missed time.”
The accolades did not begin there for Shantrell during her senior year at Pompano Beach High School. The 5-9 guard poured in over 700 points during her senior campaign on her high school basketball team and finished second in the 3A Florida State Miss Basketball voting.
“She really had a great senior year in basketball,” said Shantia. “She’d already signed to run track at Georgia Tech where I had decided to go too.”
Already planning on running track at Tech, Shantrell decided to walk-on to the women’s hoops team at Georgia Tech. She made the team and is currently a freshman on the Rambling Wreck squad. Shantrell will compete for the Jackets during the outdoor track season.
Back on the flats, Shantia extended her success during the high school season into the summer track season. She traveled to College Station, Texas for the U.S. Junior National Championships, June 25-27, 2004.
“I was really nervous out there because I had to go by myself,” said Shantia. “My high school coach could not make it.”
Ranked as the No. 1 high school sprint hurdler in the nation, Shantia did not disappoint. The Tamarac, Fla., native ran a personal-best time of 13.39 in the 100-meter hurdles to finish second and punch her ticket to Grosseto, Italy, for the IAAF World Junior Championships.
“I was running and noticed that I was in second place,” said Shantia. “I got really excited and just started pushing myself so that I could finish in the top two and qualify for the World Junior Championships.”
Representing the United States, Shantia won her heat in the quarterfinals with a time of 13.46, before suffering an injury in the semifinals and ending a tremendous 2004 season.
Now freshmen at Georgia Tech, the Moss twins are adapting to the college scene. The indoor track season has started for Shantia and she earned All-ACC honors at the indoor conference championships in Chapel Hill, N.C., with a third-place finish in the 60m hurdles, tallying a NCAA Provisional time of 8.34.
Shantrell is a reserve guard on the Tech women’s basketball team and has seen limited action thus far. The women hoopsters are 13-11, 4-8 ACC.
For the Moss sisters, it’s not about themselves, but each other.
“I get so pumped up when I’m out there with my sister and watching her do well,” said Shantrell. “I don’t even care if I win or lose a race, just that Tia does well.”
