As someone who loves a routine, Grand Forks Red River senior Shelby Frank has had a challenging spring and summer.
One of the best throwers in North Dakota state high school history, Frank had her senior track and field season wiped out due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many other major national events this summer have been canceled, too.
Although the competitive season has gone off course, the rewards continue to rack up.
On Thursday, Frank was named the North Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year for girls track and field for the third year in a row.
A Grand Forks athlete won the award for the sixth year in a row as Grand Forks Central's Karly Ackley won in 2017 and 2016 and Red River's Ashley Rone won in 2015.
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Frank is the first three-time winner since Fargo South's Laura Roesler, who was a five-time NCAA champion at Oregon and has competed in Olympic Trials with USA Track & Field.
Frank has won four North Dakota Class A girls discus titles and two shot put crowns. She won the 2019 New Balance Nationals Outdoor in the discus with a toss of 155 feet.
At the start of the pandemic, Frank was working with veteran Grand Forks throws coach Lee Baker via FaceTime. She remains in Grand Forks until the end of August, when she joins her new teammates at the University of Minnesota, where she'll likely redshirt her first season.
Frank said she's starting to feel good about her training results.
"For a while, it was the same thing over and over again," Frank said. "But the past two weeks, I feel I've hit that point where I'm hitting a groove and now it's starting to come together."
Although she may attend a national meet in Florida this summer, Frank said she's looking forward to her college career.
"I'm really excited to get out and have a normal practice again and have a normal schedule," Frank said. "It's been so long since I've had that. Everyone who knows me knows I love routine, and I'm excited to finally take that next step."
