Danielle Shannon received the Charger Award for this year's Outstanding Female Athlete. The award is given to a female who has extraordinary athletic ability and has contributed the most to her team, the college and the world of sport. The award is a token of hard work, good judgment, understanding and determination.
“Danielle's talents and hard work led her team to not only dominate the eastern region in our sport but also contend with the best in the nation,” said Head Coach Garrett Lashar. “It would be very difficult for a college ski racer to have a better season than Danielle this past year. During the regular season she won an incredible 10 out of 12 races and finished second in the other two. Not only did this allow Danielle to win the individual title for the regular season and make her first team All-Conference, but she also led her team to a regular season championship in the very difficult MacConnell Division for the second year in a row.
"At the ECSC Regional Championships, Danielle and the lady Chargers kept that momentum. She won the Giant Slalom, capturing the Individual GS Regional title and was second in the Slalom; and once again she finished first for the Individual Overall Regional title. And with help from her teammates, the women's team swept both events at Regionals, making them ECSC Regional Champions for an impressive third straight year.”
At the USCSA National Championships Danielle and the women's team continued their impressive season. The week opened with her winning the Giant Slalom race and capturing an Individual GS National Title. In the Slalom, she finished in fifth place and led the team to third place in both events and overall. Danielle finished in second place overall and was the first American in the overall standings. As a result, she earned a birth to the U.S. Alpine National Championships—an incredible honor to be apart of and race against the best competitors in the world.
After the week was over and the results were tallied, Danielle claimed three First Team All-American awards (GS, SL, Overall), the Individual GS National Title, a spot to the U.S. National Championships, led her team to the podium each day, finished with an Academic All-American award, and was voted as the MVP of the extremely talented women's team. With two years behind her as a Charger, she has six out of a possible six All-American Awards (5 of which are First Team) and two Academic All-American Awards.
