Shelia Burrell

Shelia Burrell was an American heptathlete who competed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, just missing a medal in 2004 when she finished fourth. Burrell won a bronze medal in the heptathlon at the 2001 World Championships and won two silver medals at the 1999 Pan American Games – in the heptathlon and 4x100 relay. She was a four-time USA Champion in the heptathlon, winning in 1999 and 2002-04. Her two biggest wins were the 2002 Hypo-Meeting in Götzis, Austria and the 2001 Décastar Meeting in Talence, France. She competed in college at UCLA. She is not related to fellow 2000 Olympians brother and sister Leroy Burrell and Dawn Burrell.

Burrell went into coaching, eventually becoming the head track & field and cross-country coach at San Diego State University in 2010. She started coaching while competing, serving as an assistant at Cal State Northridge from 1998-2000. From 2001-03 she was an assistant coach at Kansas State University. She then coached at Mesa University and Georgetown University before joining the Aztecs. As San Diego State head coach she has been a five-time Mountain West Conference coach of the year.