Shahmeer Turk Is Ready For A Great Sophomore Season

After an injury cut short a promising start to his cross-country season this fall, Shahmeer Turk is ready to compete this track season.

Turk will run his first indoor race of the season on Sat. March 4 at Purdue University. He’s running the 800M race.

“I’m really excited to finally get out there and run a competitive race for Penn after months of grinding during winter training. It should be really fun running at Purdue, and I’m excited to get out there and crush some PRs,” Turk said.

His fastest time during his freshman year was 2:06. He says he wants to break the sophomore 800-meter record (1:57.4) this year.

Sophomore Runner Noah Shafer believes Turk can accomplish this.

“Shahmeer utilizes his speed to help him find success in the 800. He is very motivated, and he has trained well all winter long, recovering from injuries that are detrimental for a runner,” Shafer said.

Turk was not just a great runner overnight. He has an incredible work ethic, with 5 a.m. wake-ups in the summer and bitter cold runs in the winter.

His friend Ben Neely says, ¨He has a winners mentality and is always trying to improve”

When asked about his motivation Shahmeer said, “I’m honestly just motivated by the idea of pushing myself to improve in all aspects of life, whether it’s school, running, or whatever”.

Turk will run his first indoor race of the season on Sat. March 4 at Purdue University.