From the Big Apple to the Big Easy

Tulane Track Standouts Sheena Garwood and Carlyne Pradieu Are Leaders for the Wave

By John Sudsbury, Tulane Media Relations

The reputation of New York City as home to the angriest and most rude people in America is taking a beating in New Orleans. Ever since two natives of the Big Apple made the 1,300-mile journey south to Tulane University in 2000, the stereotype has been exposed because Green Wave seniors Sheena Garwood and Carlyne Pradieu are two of the most fun-loving, polite and hard-working leaders on any Tulane Athletics team.

The two Brooklyn natives had barely heard of Tulane five years ago, but their proficiency on the track attracted the attention of Ron Bazil, then the head coach of the Green Wave track and field teams. Opportunities on the track and Tulane’s strong academic reputation pushed Pradieu to the Big Easy, while Garwood followed her former foe to New Orleans a few months later.

Pradieu, a standout middle-distance runner for Tulane, was a three-time qualifier for the New York State Championships in cross country and also earned Most Outstanding Performer honors at the Brooklyn/Queens Indoor Championships while competing for Bishop Loughlin High School.

“I had not even heard of Tulane until I received a questionnaire,” Pradieu said. “When I came for a visit, I liked it a lot. The people were awesome. When I went home, I knew it was here or UNC-Charlotte, and my coaches, my family and counselors all wanted me to come to Tulane, ‘the Harvard of the South.’”

Pradieu, somewhat apprehensively, made the decision in March of 2000 to leave everything she knew behind. However, a few months later, she had a pleasant surprise. She learned that Garwood, a fellow Brooklynite whom she had competed against throughout high school, had committed to the Green Wave program as well.

“Coach Bazil told me someone else from New York was coming and when he told me it was Sheena, I said ‘thank goodness,’” Pradieu said. “I felt a little better [about leaving New York behind].”

Garwood, who had earned high school All-America honors and been part of a national championship 4x800 relay team at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, had been set to go to Temple University on a track scholarship. However, in June, the Temple coach threw her a curve ball.

“He told me he wanted me to pay for room and board,” Garwood said. “Tulane was offering me a full scholarship and it’s a better academic school anyway, so I decided to come here.”

Competitors, but not friends in high school, the two acquaintances quickly grew close at Tulane. Nearly inseparable, the pair has lived together for the last three years and lead the Green Wave, on and off the track.

“I want the team to be a family and support each other through everything,” head track and field coach Heather Van Norman said. “Sheena and Carlyne play a big part in that, not just as seniors, but due to their personalities. They keep everyone together and having fun.”

Whether it is hosting movie nights at their apartment, cooking dinner for the team and friends or enjoying a sunny afternoon at the Reily Center pool, Garwood and Pradieu are at the center of team activities.

“We always get the team together and try to find something for the whole team to do if we don’t have a meet,” Pradieu said.

“My teammates and I are like one big family,” Garwood said. “I think the whole athletic department is like that; all the teams get together, that has been great to have [here at Tulane].”

The duo is far more than social-organizers however. Pradieu has earned All-Conference USA honors eight times in her career, while Garwood is a seven-time all-league selection. Pradieu has scored five times in the 800-meter run at Conference USA Championships, while Garwood posted a personal-best third-place finish at the 2003 Indoor Championships.

“The top three get to go up on the podium, so that was a big deal for me,” Garwood said. “Before that, I had only scored in the relays, so I wanted to have a big individual event.”

But the individual achievements will never match the feelings of team success.

“When we won the conference championship my freshman year, it was just an awesome feeling, it was great to be a part of that,” Pradieu said. “That’s why we’re trying so hard this year, so we can leave with a big bang and we will have that same feeling one more time.”

The Green Wave made strides at the 2004 Indoor Championships in Houston. After finishing in sixth place with 46 points in 2003, the Wave moved up to fourth with 78 points despite missing many key performers due to injuries. Garwood scored in the 800 with Pradieu registering points in the mile run. The pair both ran legs of the third-place distance-medley relay team and Garwood scored in the mile relay as well.

The Outdoor Championships are scheduled for May 13-15 at the University of Louisville. It will be the last chance for Garwood and Pradieu, two of just four seniors on the 2004 team, to capture another title for the Wave.

“I would do it all again,” Garwood said as she thought about finishing her collegiate career. “I have made so many friends and had a lot of fun.”

While not having regrets about their college choice, both admit to struggling with the transition from the hectic lifestyle of New York City to the laid-back attitude of New Orleans.

“It is a different world,” Pradieu said. “We [in New York] are really fast-paced, the weather, the people. It is more laid-back here, more relaxed, more calm; and the food is completely different, but I love it!”

“Transportation was also different; you have to drive everywhere,” Garwood added. “We had the bus and trains up there. I don’t have a car, so I had to find someone to take me everywhere.”

The biggest difference?

“The heat! Our freshman year was the hottest; it has never been hot like that [since then],” Garwood said.

However, that heat is an acceptable trade-off for the climate of New York City.

“I wanted to leave New York; it was too cold there, I couldn’t run,” Pradieu said. “Even now, when we go back to Penn Relays [and other northern meets], I say thank goodness that I am down here, practicing and running meets.”

“When I go back home for Christmas, I just stay in the house all the time,” Garwood said. “I will have to get used to it again.”

Garwood, a psychology major, will take one class this summer to complete her degree requirements, while Pradieu will also graduate following the summer with a degree in exercise science.

Then the two friends will go their separate ways. Pradieu plans to move to Georgia while Garwood is heading home to Brooklyn, before pursuing a graduate degree. Will the two remain friends?

“Oh, of course!” Pradieu said. “Sheena is already planning her wedding and I will be in it. We will always be friends.”