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Track and field athlete Kendall Jordan signs her national letter of intent to Kentucky in a curbside ceremony Monday at Cummings High School.
Times-News
Tonya Cope / Cummings High School, Times-News
An investment in herself began roughly three years ago, when Kendall Jordan began competing in track and field on the high school level.
As Cummings High School track and field coach Donnie Davis tells it, her results didn’t catch the eye.
“Looking at her in her first track meet you wouldn’t know,” the longtime Cummings coach said. “She only jumped like 10 feet, 10 inches (in the long jump) in her first track meet. She only ran 1 minute, 7 seconds in the 400 and almost 29 seconds in the 200.”
One thing did stand out to Davis, something that Jordan appears to carry over into all aspects of her life.
“But the one thing that I saw when she was running the 400 was that she didn’t give up,” Davis said. “From that point on, it became evident she was somebody you could put time in and you wouldn’t be wasting your time. She’s grown a lot because every year we added something to her.
“I think one of the biggest things that was holding her back was lack of confidence. She put in the time in practice and because of that, we knew that she had something.”
That investment has generated a return in the form of a scholarship to Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference, after a total of eight NCHSAA state championships (six individual and two in relays), three team state titles and three state meet Most Valuable Performer honors so far. Jordan signed with the Wildcats in a curbside ceremony at Cummings on Monday.
Track and field athlete Kendall Jordan speaks at a curbside signing ceremony Monday at Cummings High School.
Times-News
Tonya Cope / Cummings High School, Times-News
She also considered South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Texas Tech, she said.
Jordan said the coaching staff is what drew her to Kentucky, particularly assistant coach Debbie Ferguson McKenzie.
“It was probably the coaches,” she said. “I think the coaches, especially the ones who recruited me, they are really good people. But not that USC didn't have great coaches too, but with Kentucky, they were all open, they were really nice to me. It was just good vibes across the board from everyone.
“(Ferguson McKenzie) was definitely my favorite. We clicked as soon as we got on the phone, it was good energy. She's a very spiritual woman. I believe in everything she tells me. She was just such a great spirit to be on the phone with.”
Jordan’s individual titles have come three times in the triple jump, once in the 300 hurdles, once in the 100 hurdles and once in the triple jump. She holds school records in the 300 hurdles, sprint medley relay (400 leg) and the 1,600 relay.
“She’s going into the toughest track conference in the world, not just in the U.S,” Davis said. “She’s going into a situation where they have Olympians that she’ll be competing against and they’re not going to wait for her to develop. So it’s up to her to do everything she can prior to getting there so that she can continue to be in that elite group.”
That same dedication on the track is something she’s applied to other aspects of her life, refusing to let coronavirus quarantining slow her down. Since the pandemic began, Jordan started a job and opened her own business, although she said she misses her true love of track and field.
“It's like affected me a lot, mentally, because it was such a big change from track being basically my whole life for all four years of high school to it not being like anything, almost,” Jordan said. “… It's been pretty hard, but I've been maintaining, we recently just started practicing again. I just try to stay in shape as much as I can.
“There's been a couple things I've been doing in my spare time, since we don't have track, but is nowhere near equivalent to running or being on a track.”
Jordan’s company, “bodied.bykendoll” on Instagram, sells homemade jewelry and beads, an idea partially grown out of her time spent at the track. The jewelry is worn around the stomach and waist and can be patterned or in different colors, Jordan said.
“I started making these beads maybe last year,” she said. “And when I competed or when I was at practice, people would see them and be like, ‘Oh, they're just so cute. Can you make me some?’ And with them taking hours to make, I was like, well, maybe I can, maybe I can’t, because they take a long time to make. So I figured maybe I should just start charging people because a lot of people want them because they see me with them.”
The loss of much of her junior season was hard to stomach, especially because she had numerous goals lined up to meet, she said.
“We’re very proud of her because she did everything right to earn this opportunity,” Davis said. “I kind of at the same time feel bad for her because she didn't get a chance to really finish her career. She's gonna end up missing at least one full season, more like a season and a half. She was a cheerleader during indoors of her freshman year and then her junior year, she didn't get a chance to run outdoors and now she's gonna miss indoors, again. For her to accomplish what she has in this abbreviated amount of time, I think that makes it more special.”
Still, there’s one last chance for Jordan to accomplish more, including the surpassing of state records, with outdoor season gearing up in April and state championship meets scheduled for June 25-26 of her senior season.
“In the spring, I plan on breaking the 300 hurdle record and the triple jump record,” Jordan said. “Hopefully, if I've gotten fast enough, I can break the record in the 100 hurdles, also. I kind of just want to end out with a bang, because I've been stripped from my junior season, almost, and that was going to be my breakout season. So I'm just gonna put everything I got into this last space that I get to compete in.”
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