Shannon Clerkin
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- Year:
- 2005
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- Hometown:
- Barneveld, Wis.
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- High School:
- Barneveld
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- Team:
- Basketball, Softball
Shannon Clerkin is a native of Barneveld, Wisconsin, and attended Barneveld High School, where she was a three-sport athlete. She was a two-time state champion in basketball, all-state basketball and softball player, and an inductee into the school’s hall of fame.
Clerkin enrolled at Lake Forest College in 2001 and led the Midwest Conference champion women’s basketball team in rebounds and blocked shots that winter. She was named First Team All-MWC and voted the Foresters’ Most Valuable Player each of the next two seasons, leading the squad with 13.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, 59 blocked shots, and a .574 field goal percentage during that span. Despite missing the final 16 games of her senior season due to injury, Clerkin finished her career ranked seventh in program history with 947 points, fourth with 607 rebounds, and second with 89 blocked shots and a .542 field goal percentage. She also earned Third Team All-Central Region honors from D3hoops.com as a junior, served as a team captain her final two seasons at the College, and received the MWC Sportsmanship Award her senior year. Lake Forest posted an impressive 49-15 record (.766 winning percentage) in conference play during her career and, in addition to capturing the 2002 title, qualified for the four-team MWC Tournament each season. Clerkin was also a first baseman and pitcher on the softball team as a freshman and sophomore, belting three home runs and posting a 1.81 earned run average over 27 innings in the two seasons combined. The Foresters claimed MWC titles both years, advanced to the championship game of the 2002 NCAA Division III Tournament, and were inducted into the College’s Hall of Fame as a team a decade later.
Successful in the classroom as well, Clerkin was a three-time Academic All-MWC honoree and was named Second Team Academic All-District® by the College Sports Information Directors of America as a junior. The business and communication double major was a four-year Dean’s List honoree and graduate cum laude in 2005. While on campus she also served on Athletic Council and as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative. Clerkin went into a career focused on sales operations and management consulting.