Jade Ford, a 2016 graduate of Marshall County High School, saw her collegiate athletic career cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled all remaining spring events. The team competed on March 7 in their first meet of the spring season before the American Midwest Conference canceled all remaining intercollegiate activities on March 13.
Ford is a senior on the Freed-Hardeman Track and Field team as well as the Cross Country team that competed in the fall.
A member of the Marshall County cross country and track and field teams, Ford specialized in the 400 meters, 800 meters and mile as well as a key member of several relay teams. She joined the FHU track and field team in its very first season of competition.
Ford completed her cross country career at FHU in the fall. A top finish coming her junior season in the Freed Speed Open where she finished with the third best 5K time for the Lady Lions in 24.56. Ford earned a selection this past fall to the American Midwest Conference All-Academic Team for cross country.
A highlight of her track and field career at FHU came in her junior season last year when at Austin Peay State University, Ford set a new Freed-Hardeman record in the javelin with a throw of 28.50 meters (93.50 feet).
Ford will graduate with a degree in Nursing.
Like many senior student-athletes who saw their collegiate careers come to a sudden end, Ford also used social media to express her thoughts – “My heart breaks for everyone who’s last season ever, ended sooner than expected.”
Ford thanked coaches that started and continued to fuel her love for track from Marshall County’s Cory Westerfield in eighth grade to her current FHU coach Derrick Spradling saying, “I’m so thankful for everything track has given me.”