Edwards Found What She Needed in K-State

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Jourdin Edwards takes a break from her day for an interview. It's snowing outside. It's dumping snow across Manhattan. On Friday, she'll compete in the KU-KSU-WSU Triangular at Anschutz Pavilion in Lawrence, Kansas. She's about to find out how she's progressing in the 60-meter hurdles against some of the best in-state competition.

But this much is certain.

"I've never seen snow like this before," she says. "I'm from Texas."

Edwards is a sophomore transfer from the University of Louisville, and she performed admirably on the track at Rock Hill High School in Frisco, Texas, where she finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles.

And now she's preparing for her second indoor track & field meet at Kansas State. This comes after she finished third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.70 seconds at the Bob Timmons Classic on December 2 — a performance that came with a twist.

"That was a great start," she says. "We hadn't really been doing hurdles that much. The new indoor practice facility opened just two weeks ago. Pretty much all of November and December we weren't on an indoor track. We weren't really doing the hurdles just because we couldn't. So, this being the first meet, it was a good time to put down.

"I'm really looking forward to Friday and the rest of the season."

It's been a steady path to this point for Edwards, who began running the 100- and 300-meter hurdles at age 12.

"I just remember being super excited because I always knew I wanted to do the hurdles since watching the Olympics," she says. "It was a very successful first meet. I placed first in both of my events."

Her success came with a little bit of an unorthodox form.

"Mechanics? No, I was very wild at first, arms and legs going everywhere, but that's just something that progressed with time and practice," she says. "I just had a passion for running and for the event. I wasn't scared at all."

As a freshman and sophomore, she began contemplating whether she could compete in the hurdles at the Division I level. But she had to overcome a hurdle of a different kind.

"COVID cancelled half of my sophomore year, so I didn't really get a chance to run, and it was really tough for me mentally to get through that sophomore year," she says. "Junior year, I focused in and changed my mentality, changed the way I was taking care of myself psychologically and on the track. I went to state for the first time my junior year and then again in my senior year. I made a personal best in the 300 hurdles by five seconds."

Edwards began emailing potential schools to inquire about participating on their track & field team. She began with Tulsa and North Texas. Then she received a phone call from Louisville, and she committed there in November 2022.

She competed mainly in the 60-, 100-, and 400-meter hurdles. She recorded her 60-meters personal best at the ACC Indoor Championship in a preliminary round at 8.55 seconds. At the Clark Wood Open, she recorded her 100-meter hurdles personal best in 13.81 seconds. During the ACC Outdoor Championship, she recorded a 400-meter hurdles time in 59.80 seconds.

However, she sought a new environment following coaching changes within the Louisville staff.

"That kind of pushed me toward going into the transfer portal," she says.

"I knew what I wanted and knew the vibe I was going for and what I'd been more comfortable in as far as location of the school with a focus on academics and then also the values of the coach himself," she says.

She says that she found that at K-State.

"This is an amazing program, and this program has given me some of the best friendships that I can say I've had in a very long time," she says. "I'm really, really happy to be able to represent this school and be a part of this community."

One day, she hopes to represent K-State on the winner's podium.

"My goal is always to improve," she says. "I want to improve every single week that we run and put down a new time for the season, really get it going. I aspire to go to nationals, and the dream of all dreams is to be on the podium at nationals."

She pauses.

"I think I'll get there," she says, "with a lot of hard work and discipline."

Every day is a new experience, and for Edwards, little things like big snowfalls are a new experience.

But throughout her journey, the hard work and discipline has never changed.

That makes Friday's meet particularly exciting for the Wildcats' latest up-and-comer.

Kansas State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jourdin Edwards

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