Charleston Catholic has a storied history of tremendous athletes who have walked the same hallways that our students travel every day. What you may not know is that one of the greatest athletes to ever hail from these same hallowed halls now calls Charleston Catholic home once again. Ashley Shepler is now one of our highly respected math teachers and former Head Coach of the Charleston Catholic Ladies Irish basketball team. During her tenure as Head Coach, she led the Lady Irish to the Class A tournament every single year with a .725 winning percentage and a State Championship in 2007. She is now an assistant Cross Country and Track coach. This year she was able to uplift the Cross Country Boys team to their first 2025 Class A State Championship. However, every “super athlete” has an origin story and it was my privilege to have a glimpse into her amazing journey to greatness. Ms. Shepler was a four-sport athlete with First Team All-State awards in basketball and cross country. She was also awarded Second Team All-State in soccer and scored 1,000 career points throughout her high school career. In fact, Ms. Shepler was considered the best high school point guard in the state of West Virginia. She went on to be a superstar at John Hopkins University where she was a Co-captain and is currently ranked seventh in career assists with 261, seventh in career three-point field goal percentage at 30.5 percent, and first in career free throw percentage at 80.8 percent. I recently had the opportunity to get to know Ms. Shepler a little better so I asked when she started playing basketball and who taught her how to play. Ms. Shepler said, “Nothing organized until soccer in 2nd grade and basketball in 3rd grade.” She also went on to say, “My dad was my biggest playmate/teacher, but I mostly learned through practice and camps.” When asked how she felt being a mulit-sport athlete helped her as an adult, she said, “I was able to learn from a wider variety of experiences and people. The different sports and teams provided their own unique lessons that have shaped the person I have become.” As athletes, we know that coaches play a vital role in our success so I asked Ms. Shepler throughout her career as an athlete, which coach did she feel positively influenced her the most. She said, “My dad was my youth and high school soccer coach as well as my AAU basketball coach. His presence and support were instrumental in my development. I have been blessed with multiple influential coaches like Frank Scagnelli, Scott Welch, Alan Annie, Beth Kogoy, and Clarence Woody.” With so much success comes tremendous responsibility, so I asked her what she thought the most challenging aspect of being a high school and collegiate athlete was. Ms. Shepler stated, “One of the challenges was having constant expectations to perform at a high level. Expectations of coaches, parents, fans, and myself.” Finally, I asked Ms. Shepler if she would do anything differently if she could. Ms. Shepler looked back and said, “I would have participated in all four of my sports beginning my freshman year. My basketball coach convinced me that I should only play basketball, so that is all I did my freshman year.” It is hard to believe that her athletic career could have been any more successful having competed at the pinnacle of competition as a high school player, a collegiate player, a State-Champion head basketball coach, and now - Cross Country and Track assistant coach here at Charleston Catholic High School. If you spend any time with Ms. Ashley Shepler you will quickly realize that her phenomenal success as a superstar athlete and coach now clearly translates to the same as a superstar teacher. We honor her past accomplishments and celebrate her continued leadership here throughout Charleston Catholic today. Written by: Zaden Ranson