MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe senior Chris Ellens was a late bloomer athletically.
He wasn’t really in contention to win cross country races his first two seasons a Mustang.
But after an incredible number of miles on the streets of Prairie City during the summer before his junior year, all of that changed.
Ellens showed his potential that next fall with a trip to the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge and an impressive spring track and field season.
More hard work the following summer put Ellens into a whole new category. That category was much closer to elite than he ever was before.
Ellens culminated his cross country career with conference and state qualifying meet championships and a 16th place finish at the state cross country meet.
All the work work and improvement paid off as Ellens was awarded with a collegiate scholarship, and he will run for Dordt College in Sioux Center.
“It’s a big weight lifted on my shoulders,” Ellens said. “There are still a few financial things to sort out, but it’s nice to know that I will be going to a really good college. I liked it there a lot, and I am glad it worked out.”
Dordt is an NAIA school in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Ellens will run on both the Defenders’ cross country and track and field teams. He chose Dordt over Northwestern College, which is located in the same part of the state just 12.7 miles down the road.
“Those two schools are right next to each other essentially,” Ellens said. “I was looking for a good Christian school that gave me the opportunity to run. Both of those schools provided me with that opportunity.
“The coach at Dordt (Nate Wolf) is very kind and very accommodating. He cares about my athletics but also about my academics. I got a personal feel when I went there. I spent the night with some of the guys on my visit, and they were great, too.”
Wolf is in his second season as Dordt’s cross country coach. He’s also an assistant coach for the Defenders’ track and field team.
Wolf anticipates Ellens, who did not have an official signing ceremony at his high school, will make an immediate impact to the Defenders’ roster next season.
“Chris has a ton of momentum coming off of his senior cross country season. With some high quality races to close out his senior season he showed the ability to run at a high level in college,” Wolf said on Dordt’s athletics website. “I look forward to watching his senior track season unfold and anticipate him having a positive impact on our squad next season.
“In addition to running, Chris has the ability to have a positive impact in a variety of areas on campus. He is a strong student and his faith is very important to him. I believe his impact will be felt in those two areas of campus as well.”
Ellens, who is still undecided on a major, is unsure on where he will fit on the next year’s roster but knows the cross country team will have a lot of new faces.
“The goal is to be top seven,” Ellens said. “Coach is bringing in quite a few new guys so it looks like a pretty fresh team. I am just excited to get started and have some good guys to run with.”
As far as track goes, Ellens will let Wolf and head coach Chris Heynen put him in events that help him and the team the most.
“I will leave that stuff up to the coaches,” Ellens said. “I trust that he will use my skills wherever is best for our team.”