JAMESTOWN — Shawnee Hansen’s career began with an injury in her sophomore year of high school.
“It was an overuse injury because I was a three-sport athlete,” said Hansen, one of Jamestown Regional Medical Center’s (JRMC) athletic trainers. “My athletic trainer was the one who got me back playing again. I am from a very small Class B school so growing up, we didn’t have athletic trainers at our school every single day, but I spent a lot of time with them when they were there and asked them a lot of questions about what they do and that’s why I decided to go into athletic training.”
Hansen and fellow athletic trainer Mason Ankenbauer are both Certified Athletic Trainers through JRMC. The pair provides full-time athletic training services for Jamestown High School and Blue Jay varsity athletics through JRMC. Hansen and Ankenbauer work with athletes on injury prevention protocols and consult with coaches to optimize performance and treat athletic injuries. As trainers, Hansen and Ankenbauer are also responsible for designing and overseeing rehab programs for injured athletes under the guidance of a physician.
“Being from small town North Dakota, I didn’t have an athletic trainer in high school,” Ankenbauer said. “I barely knew what the profession was, but I knew I wanted to help people and I knew I wanted to stay involved in sports and this seemed like the best way to do both.”
Ankenbauer attended North Dakota State University for his undergraduate and graduate schooling.
“They had an accelerated athletic training degree and I was able to get my master’s of athletic training degree in five years,” Ankenbauer said.
Ankenbauer graduated from NDSU in 2018.
“My first true day as a Certified Athletic Trainer was probably at a football camp at NDSU,” Ankenbauer said. “I just remember telling myself that I was not a student anymore and that my schooling set me up to be a great athletic trainer.
“First and foremost, I hope to provide (athletes) great care but I also strive to provide care outside the lines,” he said. “I try to build relationships with the athletes so they’re comfortable talking to me about anything that may be going on in their life. I also want to leave a lasting impact on them.”
Ankenbauer worked for the university for several years before the thought of moving to Jamestown popped in his head.
“My first connection to Jamestown was through head football coach Bill Nelson,” Ankenbauer said. “Before coming to Jamestown, I worked for NDSU football. He was looking for a knee brace for one of his athletes and contacted us. We maintained communication and one day he brought up the job opening. I wasn’t looking to leave NDSU so it took some convincing.
“Talks got more and more serious each time he brought up coming to Jamestown and being the athletic trainer here,” he said. “Things ended up kind of naturally falling into place and now I’m a Jamestown resident.”
Ankenbauer said through his interview process at JRMC, it became very clear that the community of Jamestown, along with the staff at the hospital and Jamestown Public Schools would make the move to the Buffalo City worth it. Ankenbauer has been in Jamestown since 2024.
“I enjoy the people here,” Ankenbauer said. “From the athletes, to the coaches, to the administrators. There’s a wide variety of personalities so every day is something different.
“I enjoy the variety of sports that we have here,” he said. “Given my background and previous job, I have kind of carved out a niche in football. It’s a sport I grew up playing and have been around a lot so I understand what the demands are of the sport are and that can help me make decisions a lot easier and faster. Since being here, I’ve really grown to enjoy covering and being around hockey. But … I enjoy all sports and the variety that JHS offers.”
Contributed / Jamestown Regional Medical Center
Since Ankenbauer has been employed with JRMC, he has not dealt with too many major injuries — at least where athletes are concerned.
“Knock on wood, we have been pretty healthy and nothing stands out too much,” Ankenbauer said. “Probably my most memorable event though was when I responded to a cardiac event in the stands during the region girls basketball tournament held at the Jamestown Civic Center. We had a good outcome so that one really sticks with me.”
Aside from occasionally responding to medical emergencies, Ankenbauer said his days follow a pretty set routine.
“My day is fairly standard,” Ankenbauer said. “Depending on the sports season, I get to the high school around 11 (a.m.) or 12 (p.m.). This is my time to do any documentation that needs to be done, clean the athletic training room, and see any athletes that come in. If there are no events that day, I usually go home around 6 or 7 (p.m.). Where my day varies is if there’s a sporting event going on that night.”
“Athletes really start coming in (to the office) during their lunch or study halls or after school,” Hansen said. “We get them rehab and we do modalities like icing, heating, some massage techniques, cupping, scraping — all that kind of stuff.”
Hansen said during the winter, she and Ankenbauer split time at practices. Hansen typically sticks around Jamestown High School to monitor the JHS basketball, wrestling and swimming teams while Ankenbauer treks out to Wilson Arena to keep an eye on the Blue Jay hockey squads.
Hansen is technically in her third sports season with the Jays. She began working with JHS athletes in the spring of 2024.
“One of my last clinical rotations for my master’s program was at Dickinson State University and we came here to play Valley City State,” Hansen said. “One of the athletic trainers that was on the Valley City sideline was asking me about where I wanted to end up after college. … he told me about this position and I applied for it and now here we are.”
Hansen is a Killdeer High School and University of Mary alumnus.
“Part of the reason why I chose to go to the University of Mary was because I had heard they had really good health science degrees,” Hansen said. “I graduated with my biomechanics undergrad degree in three years and then the master’s athletic training program was two years.”
Hansen graduated with her Master of Science in athletic training in 2024. Since she has been a Certified Athletic Trainer, she has seen a couple of tough injuries befall JHS student athletes.
“One of the worst ones I have seen was a blown Achilles,” Hansen said. “That’s a season-ending injury. It could be way worse but still not fun. In the winter there tends to be more injuries just because there are more contact sports going on. Right now, we deal with a lot of ankle sprains and there has been some knee issues.”
When Hansen and Ankenbauer are not in their athletic training office, they are typically right on the sidelines, hyper-focused on watching the athletes compete in practice and games.
“We cover all home games,” Hansen said. “For the most part, I am just watching everything I can so that, if an injury does happen, I have an idea of what it might be, but I am also cheering for our team and win or lose, hoping for a good outcome for injuries.”
Contributed / Jamestown Regional Medical Center
Ankenbauer and Hansen’s dedication to the Blue Jay athletes have been noticed by those attending JHS sporting events.
“It’s not like we need to be thanked, but it’s been eye opening to see how many people do appreciate what athletic trainers do,” Hansen said. “That has been really cool to see. I’ve even had parents and grandparents come up to me and thank us for what we do. That’s been really cool.”
