SE: This is Me Saying I’m Back Now – Njadoe Returns to Form in Arizona

By: Austin Siegel

You've just got to take her word for it.

After helping K-State win the 4x100-meter relay and snagging medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint in Arizona last weekend, Wurrie Njadoe knows how far to push her body.

Three events, three medals and one of the busiest schedules for any Wildcat on the track team?

It's not a problem for Njadoe.

"I don't feel overworked because I'm very competitive," she said. "I 100% trust my coach and whatever he plans for me, I know it's going to be in my best interest… I want to compete, and I want to see my times drop."

That competitiveness has been there since Njadoe arrived in Manhattan, all the way from The Gambia by way of the Seattle suburbs.

She's a senior on the K-State Track team, competing in the outdoor season for the first time in almost three years.

In 2020, COVID-19 happened. In 2019, she missed the season recovering from knee surgery.

And if you ask Njadoe, she hasn't been fully healthy since 2018.

"During my sophomore year, after the NCAA Regionals, we did an MRI and found out there was a hole in the cartilage in my knee," she said. "So, that was six weeks with no weight bearing. It wasn't just a physical recovery. I had to come back mentally too."

Here's the thing about the missing cartilage in Njadoe's knee. This wasn't some offseason injury that happened during training or workouts.

She knew something wasn't right throughout the 2017-18 season, when Njadoe was focused on the long jump. Like most athletes, she figured a little discomfort was normal.

"I didn't know it was serious until later in the season. Every time I would do the long jump, my knee would just swell up and I couldn't even walk," Njadoe said. "Big 12s was when my body just said, 'You know what, we warned you so many times.' I didn't want to listen."

Coming into her final jump at the Big 12 Championships in 2018, Njadoe was sitting in eighth place and knew she would need to come up with her best leap of the day.

She soared into a fourth-place finish, before stepping onto the track for the 100-meter sprint.

"I came out of the blocks and tore my hamstring. All the way, everything, like a full tear," Njadoe said. "But I was walking around limping like, 'I don't think it's that bad.' But there was no hamstring holding that leg."

With NCAA Regionals in two weeks, Njadoe met with her coaches and made a decision. The damage had already been done, so now it was just a matter of whether or not she could push through the pain. Njadoe wanted to go for it.

"At Regionals, I competed with a fully ruptured hamstring. I didn't do as well I could have but I didn't want to give up," she said. "My body was like, 'You just don't like to listen do you.' So, that summer I had two surgeries."

She missed the 2018-19 season, working her way back and "starting from step one." Njadoe learned how to walk, jog and run again as she built the strength back in her leg.

"All the muscles were gone, so my leg just looked like my arm. My calves were bigger than my quads," she said. "It made me rethink how competitive I am because I really wanted to come back, but I knew my body needed that period just to heal and put everything back together."

Even when Njadoe was able to return to the track, she wasn't totally comfortable on her rebuilt leg and developed a hitch in her technique as she learned to trust her body again.

COVID-19 and the loss of another outdoor season meant that Njadoe would have to rebuild away from the spotlight. She lifted in the summer and trained at longer and longer distances.

She finally made it back for the indoor season in December, showcasing the talent that injuries had robbed her of as a junior. But Njadoe has always been at her best in the outdoor season.

With the 'Cats in Arizona for the Jim Click Shootout last weekend, and unable to leave their hotel due to COVID-19 restrictions, Njadoe had plenty of time to think about her K-State career.

The senior is graduating next month with degrees in Operations & Supply Chain Management, Organization Management and a minor in Entrepreneurship. More than anything she's done on the track, Njadoe said her greatest accomplishment is being a role model for her little sister.

Ami Njadoe is a junior on the track team at Eastern Washington.

"I want to show her that we're capable," Njadoe said. "I know she's watching what I'm doing because we both do track, so if I can finish school, she knows that she can do it too."

After relaxing by the hotel pool in Tucson, Wurrie Njadoe went out and won three medals, with a pair of personal best times in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint. Both races also saw her post a top-10 time in K-State history.

"This is me saying I'm back now," Njadoe said. "I'm continuing on where I was sophomore year before the surgery and it's all up from here."

Schedule

SE: This is Me Saying I’m Back Now – Njadoe Returns to Form in Arizona

Players Mentioned

Wurrie Njadoe

Footer

Upcoming Events