44. Shelby Baron

Baron was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that has resulted in weakness in her legs. Until the third grade, Shelby walked around school with crutches and sat out of most PE activities. When she was nine years old, Lolly Romano, an adaptive PE specialist with the Department of Education, introduced her to a wheelchair. This allowed her to participate in most sports along with her classmates. She began playing wheelchair basketball with Coach Jeff Sampaga every Thursday as a way to get exercise, and was referred to a Tuesday night wheelchair tennis class. Tennis was frustrating at first, but she felt so good each time she hit a ball back over the net. After a couple of years, Shelby joined a US Tennis Association (USTA) junior team with able-bodied players. Most recently, Shelby represented the U.S. Juniors a second time in the 2012 BNP Paribas World Team Cup, held this year in Seoul, South Korea. An exciting event, the U.S. Juniors took second place, their best finish since 2003, after beating the top seed, Great Britain