Carmel (Ind.) swimming coach Chris Plumb remembers
Alex Shackell showing up to practice as a freshman with ink circles drawn on her knuckles.
They were Olympic rings, she explained to him.
"She's always had the dream," Plumb said.
But the longtime coach of perhaps the greatest dynasty in high school sports — 39 girls state championships and counting — has seen plenty of talent pass through the powerhouse program.
"I knew she had the drive, but to see it come to fruition, so few capitalize on their potential," Plumb said. "Talent is everywhere, willingness is rare."
Shackell put in the work and has been named the 2024-25 MaxPreps Female National Athlete of the Year.
Shortly before her senior year at Carmel began, she won two Olympic medals while competing in three events at the 2024 Paris Games. She grabbed gold in the 100-meter medley relay (helping set a world record in the process), silver in the 200-yard freestyle relay and finished sixth in the 200-meter butterfly.
Shackell followed her Olympic exploits with four state titles this year at Carmel, bringing her career total to 15. That included four straight first-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly.
"I'm honestly kind of shocked," Shackell said upon learning she joins a list of exceptional female athletes like fellow Olympian Missy Franklin and WNBA players Alissa Pili and Paige Bueckers. "It's a huge honor."
Shackell said she began doodling on her knuckles as well as having the Olympic rings on her phone background as motivation for her childhood dream.
"I started doing it my freshman year one day in class. I had the rings on my phone and knew I wouldn't change it until I made the team," Shackell said. "I was obsessed with the Olympics when I got to high school in 2021 after the Tokyo Games.
"I knew what age I would be for each of the next Olympics and I kind of thought 17 was young, but when I made my first world team I started gaining confidence."
Alex Shackell showcases her two medals from last summer's Olympics in addition to 15 Indiana state championships. (PHOTO: Shawn Barney)
Beyond her Olympic success, Shackell's high school resume is beyond impressive: four straight 100 fly titles, a 100 back title as a junior and 50 free title as a sophomore along with eight relay championships, including three this year. She was the catalyst of a Carmel team that tallied 448 points at this year's state meet, good for fourth-most in state history.
"Just to be part of the Carmel legacy and dynasty is amazing," Shackell said. "I'm so proud to be a Greyhound. I remember being in eighth grade and I couldn't wait to compete for Carmel at state and be a part of the legacy.
"Looking back on the past four years, it's everything I wanted and it's crazy to think it's over."
Shackell comes from her own dynastic swimming family. Her father, Nick, was an 1996 Olympian for Great Britain and All-American at Auburn. Her mom, Ali (Hansen), also was an All-American at Auburn. Her brother Aaron swam for Carmel and also competed for the United States at the Paris Olympics. Alex's twin Andrew will swim at the University of Texas along with Aaron.
"We've got the competitive gene, for sure," Alex joked, saying they don't hold family game nights any more. "But it's an advantage having a talented family. You have to have the mindset and will to be great and my parents taught me what it takes to be the best."
Born in California, Shackell said she lived in Tennessee and Missouri before moving to the Indianapolis area in eighth grade.
Plumb said Nick and Ali Shackell put their children in a position to be successful but also knew from their own experience that youth success wasn't necessarily their goal.
"They weren't in a hurry to have their children be the best at 10, 12 or 14," Plumb said. "She's proven (the payoff) through her consistency. People only see the highlights and not the work in the dark behind the scenes.
"In many ways, she was able to take what has been done here to another level. We've had a lot of elite swimmers, but the first Olympian is unprecedented. She set the standard and hopefully paves the way for future Olympians."
In and out of the pool, Shackell says she's just a normal teenager who likes to hang out with friends. Her Olympic summer, she said, was also spent going to a Pitbull concert, hanging in the Indiana dunes and having a weekend streak of meeting friends for breakfast or lunch.
"When I'm in the water, I'm focused on what I'm doing," she said. "Out of the pool, I'm laughing, energetic and pretty normal. If you saw me walking on the streets, you wouldn't think 'she's an Olympic swimmer.' "
But it's also something she's proud to say she's accomplished.
"It's hard not to think about it at least once a day," she said of competing for the USA. "But I try to keep it in the back of my mind. I have other goals and don't want to mooch off one moment. I took the time to enjoy it, but once the new year hit, I was refocused."
And that focus was bringing home Carmel's 39th title and then preparing for college. She initially committed to California before opting out to take a gap year. But Shackell recently committed to swim at home for Indiana.
"My college journey is kind of ridiculous and it hasn't even started," she laughed. "I am a family person. I always thought I'd want to go far away but I realized Indiana is perfect."
In addition to swimming for the home-state Hoosiers, Shackell has her eyes on Los Angeles in 2028 and making it to a second Olympics.
"Swimming in SoFi Stadium in a home Olympics keeps me motivated," she said. "It's three years away, but it's already going by quick."
But in May, she was preparing for graduation, a grad party and then getting locked in for the national dhampionships in early June in Indianapolis.
"I think we've really only seen the beginning of what she can do," Plumb said.
OTHER CANDIDATES
The Kentucky basketball commit led the Lions to a hardwood Class 2A title averaging 32.8 points per game. The daughter of former NFL player Chad Greenway has scored 4,454 career points, third on the state's career list. She should break this mark as a senior. Greenway also scored 42 goals on the pitch, helping the Providence Academy soccer team to its first state title. Greenway had 155 career goals and is 48 from breaking the state record. In track and field, she has the second-fastest 300-meter hurdle time this season (43.82 seconds) and the seventh-fastest 100-meter hurdle time. She won the 300 hurdles last year as a sophomore.
A three-sport standout who signed to play softball at Alabama, Griggs led the Red Devils to a 19-0 finish in flag football with a 6A/7A state title. She threw for 3,284 yards and 82 touchdowns while rushing for 13 more scores. She attempted 315 passes and threw only three interceptions. On the diamond, she hit .587 with 32 RBI and 88 hits as Central went 45-5. On the basketball court, she averaged 8.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as the Red Devils went 22-7 and reached the Class 7A state semifinal.
In the fall, Hendengren won the Class 5A cross country title along with Nike Southwest
Regional and Nike Nationals titles. She recently won state titles for
the Timpview track and field team in the 1,600 and 3,200 while finishing
second in the 800. She also ran on the state-title winning 1,600-relay
squad, losing her shoe mid-race while managing to pass three runners and
hand the baton to the anchor runner in first place. Her efforts helped the Thunderbirds win their third consecutive team state title.
The most decorated track and field athlete in Texas history, Nunez is headed to Texas A&M after capping her career with four more gold medals this season. She is 16 for 16 in events at the state meet over her four years. She broke two of her own individual 3A state meet records in the 100-meter dash (11.22) and long jump (20-9 ¼). She also won the 200 and anchored the 1,600 relay.
The Stanford signee led the 25-5 Golden Bears to a Private School title, averaging 22.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 2.4 assists per
game. A McDonald's All American, Swain won gold for USA Basketball in 2023 and 2024 and was a Nike Hoops Summit selection this year. A captain on both the basketball and volleyball teams, she pounded 227 kills with 65 aces as Holy Innocents went 27-16 and reached the Private School state quarterfinals.
Returned from a near-death illness in the spring of 2024 to lead the Yorktown volleyball team to a 33-3 record and Class 4A runner-up finish. The MaxPreps All-American tallied 361 kills in 83 sets after being medically cleared to play in September. Vinson set the school record for career kills with 1,940, passing former MaxPreps National Player of the Year Kenzie Knuckles.
PAST MAXPREPS FEMALE NATIONAL ATHLETES OF THE YEAR2008-09 — Jordan Hasay,
Mission College Prep (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)2009-10 — Chiney Ogwumike, Cy-Fair
2010-11 — Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis,
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)2011-12 — Missy Franklin,
Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.)2012-13 — Missy Franklin, Regis Jesuit
2013-14 — Ariana Washington,
Long Beach Poly (Long Beach, Calif.)2015-16 — Mikayla Pivec,
Lynnwood (Bothell, Wash.)2016-17 — Tara Davis,
Agoura (Calif.)2017-18 — Alissa Pili,
Dimond (Anchorage, Alaska)2018-19 — Alissa Pili, Dimond
2019-20 — Paige Bueckers,
Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minn.)2020-21 — Paige Morningstar,
North Allegheny (Wexford, Pa.)2021-22 — Kiki Rice,
Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.)2022-23 — Joyce Edwards,
Camden (S.C.) 2023-24 — Joyce Edwards, Camden
