Victorious sisters
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
On Oct. 11, four sisters set a new world record in the 4x100-meter relay — making track and field history. One by one they carried the baton around the track, with cheering family members urging them to victory. In those stands was a fifth sister who was unable to join her siblings because she was too young to enter the race.
She is only 78.
The Shippen sisters, originally from Menan, Idaho, and reared on a farm homesteaded by a pioneer grandfather, set the new world record in the 80-to-91-year-old bracket in the 4x100-meter relay during the Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah.
Eighty-year-old Nelda Shippen Reed of Rigby, Idaho, started the race, jogging 100 meters before handing the baton to 82-year-old Ruby Shippen Call of Tucson, Ariz., who fast walked it to 85-year-old Eva Shippen Hessing of Boise, Idaho, who fast walked her 100 meters to pass the baton to Verla Shippen Ball of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Sister Ball, who was approaching her 91st birthday on Oct. 19, jogged across the finish line for the record of three minutes, 51.85 seconds.
Younger sister Twila Shippen Bigler of Provo, Utah, did her part, cheering from the stands. Included in the family is a brother, Robert Shippen of Idaho Falls.
"We were all excited," said Sister Ball of the Idaho Falls 13th Ward. "It was a special day." She married Harold Ball, her late husband, in the Logan temple in 1937.
This wasn't the first time Sister Ball has crossed a finish line. The athlete of the family, she began setting national records in the Huntsman Games when she was 88 in the 60-yard dash, javelin and discus. She has gold medals in all those events.
"I've always loved sports. I've always been athletic. I was always the pitcher on the ball team," she told the Church News during a telephone interview.
So when John Galazin, her son-in-law, challenged the sisters to set a world record in their age group, they said, in essence, 'Why not?"'
"My mother could do anything, so we girls thought we could do anything," Sister Ball said.
When they crossed the finish line, they were greeted with, "Oh, Grandma, it was so wonderfu! We love you!"
That's reward enough to Sister Ball, but she adds that to the bonus of good health. Keeping active, she said, "makes you feel better. It keeps you well. I'm very well at this age. I have no aches or pains, no arthritis. The Word of Wisdom has been a part of our lives, a big part."
Coming from hardy pioneer stock helps also.
The nonagenarian and her octogenarian sisters have a world record in track and field to prove it. Maybe when their younger sister Twila grows a little older, they can set a new record.
E-mail to: julied@desnews.com
