Lancaster Lady Tiger crosses finish line for the final time

by Bill Conrad of of Lancaster TODAY

Beverly Humphrey has seen and dealt with a lot during her legendary coaching career. One thing she had never suffered was the death of one of her girls.

That changed Feb. 2 when Sharla Butler, a 16-year-old who made running the 400-meter dash look easy for Lancaster High School, died of complications from encephalitis.

Butler only competed with the Lady Tigers' track team for one year, but she made an immediate impact. Not only did she make the varsity squad - no small feat in a program that has won eight straight state championships - but she also advanced to the Class 4A Region 2 Finals in her signature event, the 400-meters.

The future looked bright for Butler, who hoped to one day run in the Olympic trials. She also wanted to follow in the footsteps of her older sisters Sha'Ray and Shira, who won state championships at Lancaster and now run collegiate track. Sha'Ray is a senior at Kansas while Shira is a freshman at Jacksonville State (Ala.). People said that Sharla could have been the best out of all of three sisters.

While that won't happen now, Humphrey knows that Butler is in heaven looking down on her teammates and coaches. Humphrey said they hope to make the best out of the tragedy and know that Butler's death will inspire her team this season.

“This is an automatic teaching experience because you would not expect a healthy 16-year-old girl to die like that,” Humphrey said. “You have to let God's perfect will be done, no matter what that is.

“My girls are handling it well. All along the way we got weekly updates on what was going on. In the end when it got very serious we had a team meeting and everybody cried. We basically told them that if we kept God with us we could make it through it.”

Butler first felt ill in December and thought that she had the flu. She was working out at the track and had to leave practice early, but Humphrey said no one was too worried because getting the flu is not uncommon in the winter. She then had a seizure on Christmas Eve and was taken to the hospital and then released. On Jan. 1 she had an eight-minute seizure after working out and was taken to Children's Hospital, where she remained until her death.

Butler was buried Feb. 7, but before the funeral could begin, one more thing had to happen.

The young woman who loved nothing more than running 400-meters, would have one final lap around the track.

With hundreds of mourners gathered at Beverly Humphrey Tiger Stadium, the hearse carrying Butler took its place at the start/finish line. Behind the car were members of the Lancaster High School boys and girls track teams. The girls carried 55 purple balloons. Humphrey said purple was Butler's favorite color and 55 signified the time she thought Butler would be able to run this year.

As the starting gun fired, the hearse carrying Butler left the line and made a final trip around the track. As the hearse made the final turn and headed for the start finish line, all those in attendance begin to cheer for Butler to run through the line and finish the race strong.

The funeral for Butler was held at the Lancaster Middle School auditorium.

Humphrey said that although Butler is gone, she knows that she will be with her team this year. Humphrey said her team will wear something with the color purple on it at each track meet this year. Humphrey said Butler will also be remembered at the Lancaster Meet of Champions held March 13-14 at Tiger Stadium.

Humphrey said there was one final tribute in store to help her girls remember their teammate.

“We are going to have a banner remembering Sharla in our locker room,” she said. “Anytime the girls are having a hard day or dreading a workout, they can look at the banner for inspiration. The banner has a picture of Sharla and says ‘If it requires work, we will get it done. If it require heart, we will beat as one.'”

Humphrey said her team is trying to move on and is working towards winning a ninth state title, because that is what Butler would have wanted them to do.

“It is very sobering and it is tough to focus on track right now,” she said. We are going to have a void because she was going to be a huge part of the team. But things happen and you have to get it together and move on.”

It is her love of the sport of track and her love of the people around her that Humphrey will remember.

“I'll always remember her dedication to the sport of track,” Humphrey said. “She had a very kind heart and to the end, she was trying to run. She ran until she couldn't run anymore.

“If I could give back every championship that we have ever won so that she could live for just one more day, I would gladly do it.”