Brothers play an important part in the athletic success of Wagoner High School senior Shaun Atkins.

“My older brother Tyreek ran track and has been a role model for me and I’m running on the same team as my younger brother Ryan this year. We’ve always been really competitive. We run races just about everywhere to see who’s fastest,” said Atkins who has qualified for the state track championships the past three years and placed each year as part of either the mile or two-mile relay teams or the 200- and 400-meter sprints.

His new track coach Rob Gilstrap has been impressed with what he’s seen so far.

“He works exceptionally hard and is a good leader for us. He gets the guys where they’re supposed to be and makes sure they’re putting in the work they need to during practice. He’s been a little banged up so far this spring, so he hasn’t gotten to run much,” said Gilstrap.

Atkins is also a member of the Bulldog football team where he played defensive back this season getting 34 tackles and four interceptions and was named to the All-State team in a season that saw Wagoner make it to the state championship game before falling to Blanchard in the finals.

“We had a pretty good year, but we didn’t execute when we needed to in that game.”

As a senior leader Shaun has found that what he does leadership wise differs between track and football.

“In football I think leading by example is really important on our team because they really don’t like to listen to you or respect you unless you’re also showing them how to do something. In track I think I have to be more encouraging for the younger guys.”

One of his goals for this track season is to get under 22 seconds for the 200-meter sprint while getting back to state for a fourth year.

Atkins says when he leaves Wagoner later this spring he would like to be remembered as someone that showed up and got the job done.