Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Everything was setting up the way Shelby Gunnells had always imagined.

A second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships this spring was supposed to be the highlight of an already stellar athletic career for the North Dakota State senior thrower.

What initially appeared poised to provide a career peak for Gunnells was quickly turned into an unforgettable moment by concerns of a global pandemic and left the Solon graduate facing one of the most difficult decisions of her life.

“Oh man,” Gunnells said with a sigh. “It was probably the craziest 24 hours of my life.”  

Eight years of throwing success led up to what Gunnells figured would be her best moment yet at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Gunnells was one of the best ever in a Solon program with a long legacy of throwing success.

A four-time state qualifier as a prep Gunnells earned five medals including back-to-back Class 3A shot put titles in 2014 and 2015.

That success immediately translated to the collegiate level.

As a freshman at North Dakota State Gunnells finished in the top seven in three events at the outdoor Summit League Championships.

“Obviously you have the desire to compete at the highest level possible,” Gunnells said. “For me going into college I don’t know if there was a number that I wanted to hit per se for distance but I wanted to compete at the national level and become an all-American that was the goal.”

Gunnells reached that goal as a fourth-year junior in 2019 at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The ninth-place finish in her debut at the national championships was five spots better than her seeding and good for second-team all-American honors.

It was also a source of motivation for Gunnells going forward.

“Last year the goal was just to make nationals so once I qualified the goal was to see if I could make finals and get six throws,” Gunnells said. “I was able to do which was really exciting but I didn’t consider that there is one person that makes finals that doesn’t make the podium and that’s ninth place and so that really hurt. That was a lot of motivation coming into training this year.”

That motivation had helped push Gunnells to the best season of her career.

Gunnells earned Field MVP honors at the Summit League Indoor Championships after winning the shot put and placing third in the weight throw at the conference meet.

She was named Summit League Indoor Field athlete of the year and had the eighth best throw in the nation during the indoor season at 57-2 ¼.

Gunnells was poised to finally reach the podium at the Indoor National Championships on March 13 and 14.

She never got that chance.

The NCAA cancelled the event and all of the ensuing outdoor season in a span of 24 hours over concerns of the global coronavirus pandemic.

“I had my sights set on some big goals for indoor nationals and I think I set myself up really well in terms of the distance I had thrown during the regular season,” Gunnells said. “I thought something special could have happened at nationals this year but it was not meant to be I guess.”

While many watched the sports world come to a halt with word of pandemic-related cancellations beginning to come out Gunnells waited to learn if she would have an opportunity  at reaching her ultimate goal.

Gunnells and her teammates arrived in Albuquerque on Wednesday to learn that spectators were being limited to immediate family and the awards banquet had been cancelled.

At breakfast on Thursday it was announced there would be no spectators allowed.

By Noon, as Gunnells and her teammates arrived at the track conferences were beginning to pull their athletes from competition.

Soon, the official word came of the cancellation.

“It was a domino effect where conferences were pulling their athletes out and within 45 minutes they cancelled the championships as well as the complete outdoor season,” Gunnells said. “They announced over the speakers that the meet was cancelled and people had to leave and you just heard silence and people starting to cry. It was crazy how much changed within 24 hours.”

Not competing was a blow for Gunnells but the cancellation caused additional complications when the NCAA announced it was granting an additional year of eligibility for spring athletes.

A member of the Summit League’s All-Academic team with a 4.0 GPA in geology Gunnells was set to head to graduate school in the fall of 2020.   

Gunnells had spent months lining up her future after college athletics but after having her season end abruptly now had an opportunity for a more positive ending.

The decision itself was grueling.

“In the grand scheme of things compared to what could be wrong obviously I am very fortunate but the past month has been difficult,” Gunnells said. “I think I have realized more than anything during this time how much I like to have control and have security and have a plan and right now there is none of that which has been difficult.”

After speaking with academic advisors at both North Dakota State and her future graduate school Gunnells made the decision to return for her final year of eligibility.

Gunnells will still attend graduate school and is set to start at Texas A&M in the chemical oceanography program in the fall of 2021 hopefully after getting a fitting finale for her athletic career.

“I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to go to grad school in the fall and with the announcement that I could come back for another year I had to decide if I wanted to move on and start this project or do I wait one more year,” Gunnells said. “I wanted to finish out my eligibility and try to finish my track career on my terms.”

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