I kind of knew from the beginning that Black Hills was interested, and it kind of pushed me throughout the season to be able to fully commit to that.”

Shelby Zickefoose

Running will continue to be a big part of Powell High School senior Shelby Zickefoose’s career, as she signed her letter of intent in early December to continue her track and cross country career at Black Hills State University in the fall in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Following a strong senior cross country season, Zickefoose made the jump to become the fourth best girls’ runner in PHS history, recording a time of 19 minutes, 47 seconds at the Panther’s home meet in October.

“I’ve been reaching out to college coaches throughout the year,” Zickefoose said. “I kind of knew from the beginning that Black Hills was interested, and it kind of pushed me throughout the season to be able to fully commit to that.”

While looking at other colleges, one of the main things that drew Zickefoose was the program she intends to study for her career. She will also see a number of familiar faces attending Black Hills as well as an additional Panther who has already signed to compete in soccer next year.

“I visited it (Spearfish) a couple of times, and something that really made a big difference was the elementary education program,” Zickefoose said. “I think it’s gonna help knowing people there and having that community there too.”

Zickefoose has been a part of a winning program at Powell High School, having been part of a team that has brought home a trophy in cross country all four years, a state title in 2023, competed at state track several times as well helping set the 3A West Regional record in the 4x800 this past season.

That team dynamic with the distance runners in both the cross country and track programs at PHS is what also helped draw her to Black Hills, as her distance coaches at the high school, Ashley Hildebrand, Tracy McArthur and Rachel Carlson also helped her get recruited.

“I really liked the team dynamic (at Black Hills), it kind of reminded me of the team here,” Zickefoose said. “They (my coaches) have helped me so much. They’ve reached out to colleges for me. They have done the hard stuff and made this process really easy.”

In addition to running, Zickefoose has been part of the Panther basketball team all four years of her career, having learned a great deal from her coaches in Chelsea Kistler and Troy Hildebrand.

“They’ve helped me because Buher (Kistler) is always talking about your work ethic, showing up early and putting in the time, and I really have taken that with me along this journey,” Zickefoose said.

Along with those coaches, Zickefoose said she had a number of supporters from her teammates to her family which all joined her for her signing day in the PHS library.

“My parents (Jill and Richard) have always been big supporters of me. They show up to everything that I do, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them,” Zickefoose said. “And my teammates, they push me through every single practice and every single time if I have a hard day or anything, they’ve really made me the person I am today.”

While she continues through the basketball season and into the outdoor track season, Zickefoose just wants to be remembered for her time as a Panther.

“I just want to be remembered. I want my teammates to be looking back and being like ‘oh, remember when Shelby did this.’ Just memorable things, and hopefully I’ve inspired them to be hard working.”

Black Hills State competes at the NCAA Division II level.