Steeped in Love: Woodhouse and Jensen’s journey from the track to the altar
Track and field athletes Garrett Woodhouse and Shelby Jensen, the Utah State University steeplechasing duo who recently announced their engagement on April 14, are now preparing for a walk down the aisle this August.
The couple’s journey from training partners to life partners began long before they shared their first conversation. Woodhouse, a junior from Virginia, said that the “meddling” of teammates and coaches acted as the initial catalyst for their romance.
“We were on the team for a while together,” Woodhouse said. “People start meddling around. … My cousin Anna’s starting to talk to both of us, and she’s lying to me, saying, ‘Shelby’s so interested in you. You should totally ask her out,’ and I was like, ‘Really? We’ve never even talked.’”
Jensen, a senior from Salt Lake City, reiterated the sentiment, recalling how the campus community seemed to see the potential for a match before they did.
“So many people were rooting for us before we even thought of each other in that way,” Jensen said.
The turning point occurred during a team flight to California for a meet.
“I don’t know if it was just luck or divine intervention, but we sat next to each other on the plane because we had assigned seats,” Woodhouse said. “I was like, ‘She’s so nice, and she’s so cute.’”
Following the trip, the two began studying together during finals week and bonded over their shared sport. Their first official date took place on April 25 — a date Jensen noted is significant for fans of the movie “Miss Congeniality.”
“I had a bunch of friends text me and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the “Miss Congeniality” date,'” Jensen said.
By the time the conference championships arrived a month later, the relationship was official. Woodhouse asked Jensen to be his girlfriend shortly after both had standout performances on the track.
“We’d both run, and we were both really happy — good day, and then we just made it better,” Woodhouse said, “then we woke up the next morning and ran 10 miles together because it was a long-run day.”
Sharing the same sport, specifically the 3,000-meter steeplechase, has provided a unique foundation for their relationship. Jensen explained that having a partner who understands the “emotional toll” of racing is invaluable.
Woodhouse agreed, noting the physical discipline required of Division I athletes.
“It’s nice to have someone who shares the same physical values,” Woodhouse said. “We’ve been able to understand when we lock in … obviously, no skiing or anything.”
The proposal, which took place on April 14, was a carefully orchestrated surprise involving a stand-up piano and a scenic trip to Green Canyon. Woodhouse, who had recently stained the piano, kept it in the back of his truck under the guise of “touching it up.”
“I wrote her a song, and so I played the song and I sang for her,” Woodhouse said. He then led her to the piano, where he had hidden a message inside the cover. “I told her to go around and lift up the cover… and when she was closing the cover, I hid behind it a little bit, got on my knee, and she saw me.”
Jensen admitted she was completely caught off guard.
“I was like, ‘Bro, we cannot lift this piano out of the truck by ourselves,'” Jensen said. “That’s what I thought … then he asked to marry me, and I said yes.”
The couple is set to wed on August 1, followed by a honeymoon cruise to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. While Jensen is entering her final season of eligibility, Woodhouse will return to the track for another year as the couple continues their graduate studies in Logan.
As for the future, the couple still laughs about an early prediction from director of track and field and cross-country, Artie Gulden.
“The first time we were doing water jumps for steeple was in the middle of March last year,” Jensen said. “Coach Gulden goes, ‘Shelby, if you and Garrett get married, your kids would be really good steeple babies.’”