By: By Elle Nauta
KENNESAW, Ga. – Most student athletes have been practicing a particular sport since their high school years or earlier.
Jordan Gray, a former homeschooled student from Ball Ground, Ga., did not step foot on a track until her senior year of high school.
As a homeschooled student, Gray had the opportunity to play a variety of sports such as basketball, karate, tennis, and softball. Gray's mom had always wanted her to try track and field, but she didn't have a place to train. According to Gray, "track is the one sport that you really can't find as a homeschooled student."
"I did a lot of different sports in high school, but basketball was my passion," Gray said. "I wanted to go to college on a basketball scholarship."
However, right before Gray's senior year of high school she discovered a summer track and field club team coached by Blane Williams, the father of Olympic team member Kendell Williams.
"Blane said I was really old to start track, but he didn't want to miss an opportunity with me so I got to run with him for a year," Gray said. "I knew that track was something that God had given me a talent for, but I still wanted to be playing basketball."
Gray had sprained both of her ankles in a basketball game right before she started the track and field club team, was in a boot, and brace her first day of training. Regardless, Williams immediately recognized her strength and taught her shot put and javelin while she was in a boot. As soon as Gray got out of her boot, Williams told her he wanted to her to compete as a combined eventer, also called a heptathlete, based on her abilities to run and jump.
"Within three months I went from never setting foot on a track to placing eighth at the Junior Olympics in the heptathlon," Gray said. "My parents were like; yeah you're not playing basketball anymore. But it really wasn't until my first meet at KSU that I really started realizing that I liked track. Once we got into competing, I had been away from basketball for a while and was able to train and see where I was going. I was starting to like it."
Gray began competing in big meets her senior year of high school and met
Josh Campbell, the Kennesaw State hurdles coach and recruiting coordinator at a meet. KSU was just one of the many schools that noticed Gray's incredible talent and asked if she would like to come visit.
"The culture at KSU was very different," Gray explained. "I thought wow this place is amazing. Everything about this team was just 10 times better than everything at any other school I talked to or looked at."
KSU's Director of Track and Field and Cross Country,
Andy Eggerth has been one of Gray's constant motivators and someone who saw her potential from the very beginning.
"When Coach brought me into his office he told me that he was bringing me on to this team because he fully expects me to win conference," stated Gray. "But he wasn't only interested in that, he was interested in developing me as an athlete and making me as good as I could be."
Despite her lack of experience in the sport, Gray's strength and athleticism were evident to everyone that watched her compete. Gray recognized that her technique needed to be established and she was looking for a coach that had the ability to teach her that.
"During the recruiting process I learned of her character and desire to grow as a combined event athlete," said Eggerth. "This character and work ethic, combined with proven ability to score for our team made me want to have Jordan on our team. The fact that Jordan had little experience was appealing to me. For her to already have strong marks but not be over-trained and burned out on the sport indicated to me that there is a lot of career and growth left in her."
Gray's character and work ethic were truly put to the test her freshman year at KSU when she slipped down a flight of stairs at an indoor meet while trying to find one of her teammates for an event. She knocked a few of her ribs out of place, broke one rib, and injured her leg.
"But I was laying down at the end of the staircase telling myself that it was okay and that I wasn't going to mention it to anyone. I was just going to walk back out and not tell anyone. So I walked out and started high jumping."
The incident caused Gray to be redshirted her first year of outdoor track, something she had never planned on. However, Gray admits that the injury pushed her to work even harder and granted her an additional season of eligibility.
"So I walked off and cried for like three minutes because I was upset that my freshman year outdoor season was gone," Gray stated. "But I was like okay, well I'm just going to start working now, I'm not going to think about it again, I'm just going to keep working."
"The biggest change in Jordan is that she's become more self-aware," Eggerth said. "Having gone through some injury situations, she's learned better when to push and when to rest. Initially all she did was push, but it's during the rest that we actually adapt to the training. Jordan has learned this and is adapting faster now."
Since her freshman year, Gray has progressed tremendously and has been a major key for the success of KSU's women track and field team. This season, the women's team scored an ASUN Indoor Championship meet record of 249 points. The team won by 102 points over second-place Jacksonville and 175 points over third-place Lipscomb -- the largest margin of victory in conference history.
"When we got done and we had won, I was so exhausted that I thought I was going to die, but it felt amazing just to feel like I had done everything I could possibly do and it actually paid off."
Gray played a key role in the Owls most recent ASUN Championship, earning the conference's Most Valuable Performer and Most Outstanding Field Performer honors. She totaled 30 points to the team's cause, winning the pentathlon, and reaching the medal stand in both the long jump and high jump.
"Every coach wants to have talented, hard-working, humble athletes that have character and class," said Eggerth. "This is Jordan, and she's a pleasure to work with every day because I know she's going to show up with a good attitude, a desire to work so she'll be the best she can be, and she'll do exactly what's asked of her. Since she has talent and does everything right, she makes me a successful coach…and who doesn't like that?"
Gray reiterated what an impeccable coach and encourager Coach Eggerth has been. She shared that Eggerth always says, "Show me your friends, and I will show you your future," a moral lesson Gray says has influenced her life.
"It is engrained in my brain that if I want to be really good, then I have to hang around people that are really good and figure out why they are really good," Gray said.
The obstacles Gray has overcome since stepping on a track have been difficult, but instrumental in developing her talent and her character. This has been evident through her success and leadership on and off the track.
"I was terrified when I fell down those stairs, or this year when there was a conference record and an ASUN title on the line. But I realize that a lot of success comes from the ability to be courageous and determined, even when you're scared out of your mind."
Keep up with Owls track and field teams by following KSU on Twitter at
@KSUOwlNation and
@KSUTrackFieldXC or by liking Kennesaw State Owls on
Facebook.
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