University of Mary Athletics

A North Dakota athlete who reached the pinnacle of college athletics, Shawna (Kern) Kost (2002-05) developed from a standout high school runner from Turtle Lake into a national champion. A seven-time All-American for the University of Mary women's track program, Kost was the 2005 NAIA women's outdoor champion in the 400 meter hurdles.

Kost immediately impacted the Marauders as a freshman, earning indoor and outdoor All-American honors. Her efforts at the 2002 NAIA outdoor national championships helped U-Mary place third in the nation, the Marauders best team finish during Kost's career. She was a two-time All-American at both the 2003 and 2004 national outdoor championships and earned the honor once outdoors in 2005.

The beginnings of a national championship started her junior year when she ran the 400 meter hurdles for the first time. Kost quickly mastered the event and finished second at the 2004 NAIA championships. She would not be denied as a senior, winning the 2005 NAIA 400 meter hurdles national championship.

A co-captain as a senior, Kost was a 16-time conference champion who led her team to four indoor Dakota Athletic Conference championships (2002-5) and three DAC-10 outdoor titles (2002, 2004-05). She earned DAC-10 Athlete of the Meet honors for both indoors and outdoors in 2003 and outdoors in 2004. Kost still owns the school record in the 100 meter dash and the 400 meter hurdles.

A graduate of Turtle Lake-Mercer High School, Shawna is the daughter of Graham and Miriam Kern. The two-time NAIA scholar-athlete graduated summa cum laude from U-Mary with a bachelor of science degree in accounting and business administration and works for Dakota Community Bank & Trust in Bismarck, ND. Married to Derek Kost, the couple has a son named Mason.