Amara Shields & Thurlee Bowers Named Jersey Mike’s Student-Athletes of the Week

Split-screen graphic featuring College of the Canyons track & field student-athlete Amara Shields and men’s track & field student-athlete Thurlee Bowers against a white background with athletic logos. In the center of the graphic is the Jersey Mike’s and COC Athletics logos set on a blue background, with a Cougar head logo in the background and a text overlay reading student-athletes of the week.
May 1, 2026

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

College of the Canyons student-athletes Amara Shields (women's track & field) and Thurlee Bowers (men's track & field) have been named the Jersey Mike's COC Athletic Department's Women's & Men's Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running April 20-25. Shields and Bowers are the 14th set of honorees for the 2026 winter/spring period.

Amara Shields / Women's Track & Field

Shields played a key role in helping the Cougars claim a pair of Western State Conference (WSC) championships in the women's relay events at last week's conference finals meet.

The sophomore out of Alemany High School ran second leg of the 4x400m relay team which won the event at a time of 3:55.74 to easily outlast the runner-up team from West L.A. College. The 4x400 conference championship was the second straight for the team of Monique Fulling, Shields, Syrai Piper and Hazel Rhodes who also took the top spot in 2025.

In the 4x100 relay, Fulling, Shields, Piper and Rhodes combined for a time of 48.15 to win another WSC championship ahead of runner-up West L.A. Shields ran the second leg in what was the fourth fastest 4x100 time in Canyons track & field program history.

Individually, Shields clocked a time of 59.77 to place third in the women's 400m race. That performance qualified the talented sprinter to compete at the 3C2A Southern California Regional Prelims being hosted by Bakersfield College on May 2.

Thurlee Bowers / Men's Track & Field

Bowers is moving on to the 3C2A Southern California Regional Prelims in three events after winning a conference championship and establishing a new school record during the WSC Championships held April 24, at Moorpark College.

The Hart High School alum posted a time of 10.45 to break his own school record and win a WSC Championship in the 100m race. Bowers had previously set the school record of 10.65 during the Ben Brown Invitational hosted by California State. University, Fullerton in March. 

Bowers' conference title in the 100m was the first for COC in more than a decade. His time is currently the state's No. 3 mark.

Later, Bowers ran the anchor leg of the men's 4x100 relay, joining Josh Smith, Elijah Reid and Antonio Moore in combining for a second-place time of 41.53. That pace represented the No. 2 time in Canyons program history, which also ranks as the state's No. 10 time this season.

Bowers also qualified to compete at the 3C2A SoCal prelims in the men's high jump after placing fifth (1.85m) during the opening round of conference finals events held at Cougar Stadium on April 17.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.