During the volleyball season in the fall, Shelby Link was one of the best players on the Marauders and also one of the leaders, as one of only three seniors on the team. In the spring, she participated in track and field for the Marauders, focusing on the shot put. At the state meet, Link placed eighth in the event.
Due to the skills and leadership that she showed throughout the season, the Cottonwood Journal Extra is naming Link as the Mingus Female Athlete of the Year for the 2020-21 school year.
A lot of the Marauders’ offense during the volleyball season was centered around getting the ball to Link at the net. With that, her 70 kills led the team. While impressive, her achievements in volleyball were largely expected, as Link was a four-year player at Mingus. Track and field was a different story.
For her first three years at Mingus, Link always had an inkling to try track and field but never got around to it. As a senior, she wasn’t showing at the Verde Valley Fair and decided to follow what she called a “wild hair” and finally tried it. It was a good decision.
“I decided to pick something up that I wanted to do,” Link said. “And I was already close with the coach we had. So, I thought that I might as well do it. It was one of the funnest experiences I had. It’s definitely different as an individual sport and not a team sport that I’m used to. But I still enjoyed it and I got so close with all the people on the team.”
Link went into the state meet seeded 14th in the shot put. But with her distance in the finals [33-08], Link jumped a full six spots to finish eighth.
For Link, though, the greatest memory wasn’t the final result. Rather, it was when she was surrounded by her coaches and family and heard her name called as one of the finalists.
“When they announced that I was going to finals, I felt how proud everyone was of me and how proud I was able to make the school and the other throwers,” Link said. “It was a pretty cool accomplishment.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic is still going and certainly was when the spring sports season was starting, the growing prevalence of vaccines made it far more likely than not that there would be a season — even in the weeks leading up to it. That wasn’t the case for the fall, though.
The Arizona Interscho-lastic Association released a tentative fall schedule in early August but still struggled to lock down some of the particulars over the following weeks, creating doubt that a season would actually occur.
Link was relieved when she found out that she’d get a senior season in volleyball. When she did, she knew that the ongoing pandemic meant that the season could be cut short at any time. With that, she decided to not waste a second.
“I was speechless — I didn’t think I was going to have a senior season,” Link said. Being in it for three years and realizing that I might not have a senior season was tough. When I found out that we were going to have a season I was like, ‘OK, I am going to put everything into this season from Day One,’ because I don’t know when it could be cut early.”
Link’s most cherished memories from volleyball come not from any moment on the court but the time she spent bonding with her teammates. Specifically, she mentioned sneaking into a PetSmart with teammates to buy a fish for her coach and long bus rides that featured ukulele playing and singing.
“The connection that I was able to make with the group of girls that stuck with it through the last four years is absurd,” she said. “I am beyond blessed for being able to play for all four years.”
As far as playing, Link’s senior year in sports was limited to volleyball in the fall and track and field in the spring. She did, though, have a part in the winter sports, as well.
Jazmine Anguiano, the head athletic trainer at Mingus, asked Link if she’d be interested in helping her ice and wrap players during basketball and soccer games. So, she did.
Link also hopes to stay in sports after high school. She’ll be attending Grand Canyon University and studying sports management and marketing. Eventually, she hopes to work in the marketing program for a professional team.
“I want to help promote sports and its importance in the world and how much of an impact it actually makes,” Link said.
Link credited the different teachers she’s had at Mingus for their support in her athletic endeavors. She also thanked her coaches for their help and care they showed her. She added a great deal of thanks for her parents — Joe and Kari — for their support.
Leaving Mingus, Link hopes to be remembered as someone who gave her all in everything she did. She also hopes that her example of trying something new — even as someone nearing the end of her senior year — is one that future students follow.
“Do it and stick with it the whole first week,” Link said. “I was having doubts at the beginning of the week. My mom said, ‘Stick through the end of the week. Stick through it because you might end up enjoying it.’ And of course that was the case.
“If you have that little bug inside of you that says you want to do something, do it,” she added. You never know when your season could get cut short or your high school career could get cut short for any circumstances. You have to take the chance in the moment because you never know what’s coming.”
