Mclouth ? When it came time for McLouth High senior Courtney Edmonds to choose a college, a couple of calls went a long way.
Calls from Kansas University track coaches, that is.
Edmonds, the Class 2A defending state champion in the 800, signed a national letter of intent Wednesday night in the high school library to run track and cross country at KU. She always had the Jayhawks high on her list, but that extra attention wrapped it up.
“It showed they wanted a small-town kid to run for them, which I wasn’t expecting,” Edmonds said.
Still, the four-time state cross country qualifier and multiple state track medalist was smart enough to visit other schools before settling on KU. After all, Lawrence always would be right down the road.
“It’s always been an option,” she said. “But I didn’t want to jump to KU without seeing other things, too.”
Edmonds visited Coastal Carolina, Wichita State and Benedictine, but she visited Benedictine because of a chance to play basketball — something she hasn’t ruled out at KU.
A four-time All-Delaware Valley League basketball selection and honorable mention All-State, Edmonds holds the school scoring record and surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season. A do-it-all 5-foot-8 forward, she said it would be her dream to play for the KU women’s basketball team, but thought she should focus on track first.
“I wanted to go big-time,” she said. “But I mainly just wanted to concentrate on what I’d always wanted. That’s why I chose KU.”
Edmonds probably will run middle distances in college, though she also will run cross country in the fall. She’s not the biggest fan of long-distance running, but expects to make the transition to major-college sports smoothly because of KU’s coaches and year-round training.
She is leery of too much road-work, though.
“I think so,” Edmonds said. “But if you can make a distance runner out of me, it’s gonna take some work, I can tell you.”
It shouldn’t be too hard for the school-record holder in the 400, 800 and two-mile in cross country. She’ll be able to focus on running and her art education major, and that’s about it. She might continue teaching Sunday school, but that’s if she has time.
Right now, Edmonds just wants to enjoy this.
“I’m so stress free compared to what I was before,” she said. “People asking me, ‘Have you decided where you’re going to school? Have you narrowed your choices?'”
The hometown choice was enough.
