Shenandoah's Sells is just getting started
For Shenandoah’s Mason Sells, it was quite the fall season.
Sells is a freshman and he’s off to a great start in his high school sports career, not only joining the Shenandoah cross country program this fall, but leading a Mustang team that was state-ranked for much of the season.
Sells is the Southwest Iowa Herald Fall Sports Male Athlete of the Year after finishing his first high school season with a 20th-place finish at the Class 2A State Cross Country Championships, 26 seconds short of earning a state medal and finishing as the top freshman in the field.
Sells said competing at the level he did all season was not part of what he was expecting of himself.
“I just wanted to compete with my teammates,” Sells said. “We have been running together for a really long time, but I wanted to push myself and my teammates to try to compete as a team.”
He said the second home meet of the season was probably when he realized he could compete with the best in the state.
Shenandoah freshman Mason Sells competes during the early stages of the Shenandoah meet Thursday, Oct. 2. Sells was 10th fastest in the field, leading the Mustangs to a fourth-place team finish.
“I knew this was a lot of Hawkeye 10 competition,” Sells said, “and I was still competing at a high level. So, I thought this is kind of going really well for me.”
Sells finished seventh at the Hawkeye 10 Conference meet, which was also in Shenandoah, and then took fifth at the state qualifying meet to punch his ticket into the state field.
While Sells had a great freshman season, he’s nowhere near content.
“I have a lot of room to build,” Sells said. “Three more years competing in the same kind of competition. We have a lot of guys coming back who will also compete.”
Sells said he had a great freshman season, saying competing and hanging out with his teammates was a lot of fun and they did a great job of pushing him into what he became this season. He also had some great coaches.
Andy Campbell just wrapped up his 27th season as the head boys cross country coach in Shenandoah. At the end-of-season banquet, Campbell called Sells “probably the best freshman I have coached.” Sells wasted no time with his answer when asked what’s going through his mind when Campbell said that.
Shenandoah freshman Mason Sells finished his debut high school cross country season with a 20th-place finish Friday, Oct. 31, at the state meet.
“Be the best sophomore he’s ever had,” Sells said. “Just trying to keep up with the expectations he’ll have for me, which will always be very high as a runner and as a person. He’s very focused on not only making good runners, but good people. I just want to keep being a great teammate and student to him.”
Sells also broke the 17-minute barrier late in the season, an impressive accomplishment for any high school athlete. When asked about doing that as a freshman, Sells again stated there’s more to do.
“I wish I have would put in more work last summer,” Sells said. “There is so much that I can build off into next year. I don’t know what my goal is going to be next year because it’s going to be tough to continue to have jumps like I did last year. Hopefully, I can get it done.”
Sells said his teammates were also a big reason for the success that he had.
Shenandoah freshman Mason Sells (left) and junior Carter Buttry (right) qualified for the State Cross Country Championships Thursday, Oct. 23, at a Class 2A meet at Pella.
“My teammates are very supportive,” Sells said. “Luke Daoust is a great leader and Carter Buttry and Conor O’Hara are really hard workers who naturally push each other. I don’t get to run with a lot of the other guys, but the bus rides and team dinners were always very fun to be a part of.”
Sells said he hasn’t always been a distance runner. There was a while in his childhood that he just wanted to walk after a skiing accident shattered his pelvis and had him completely out of sports for a time. He played football in sixth grade but said he wasn’t very good.
Current assistant cross country coach Brian Daoust led the middle school program until this year, and Sells knew Daoust and decided to give cross country a shot as a seventh grader. He said early on, with the teammates he had and the success that he found in the sport, he realized “this could be my thing.”
“I really enjoyed it from our first practice,” Sells said, “and realized that distance running was something I could do. If you’re a really good cross country runner, you’re really good at track too.”
Sells said he’s excited for his first track season this spring and with all seven varsity cross country runners back plus a good eighth grade class coming in, he’s also already excited for his sophomore season on the cross country course.
Sells was a star on the course for a Mustang team that enjoyed quite a bit of success this fall, but as good as he was this fall, it’s easy to imagine bigger and better things are coming.
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