Former Whiteland runner Will Jefferson, front, competes for Liberty in the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite last fall.
Submitted photo
One of the worst moments in Will Jefferson’s running career might have steered him in a different direction emotionally. Maybe even physically, given the turnstile college athletes have had placed in front of them since the advent of the transfer portal.
It could have, but it didn’t.
Jefferson, a Whiteland graduate now competing for Liberty University, sustained a break in the neck of his left femur (the area just below the hip joint) after stepping in a hole in his second race as a collegian, a 12th-place performance at the 2022 Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.
Fifteen days earlier, he had been named the ASUN freshman runner of the week after finishing second at the Liberty Challenge, his 6K time being 18 minutes, 49.2 seconds.
Jefferson redshirted as a freshman in 2021, making his desire to make an impact on the Flames that much more powerful. Now this.
However, down time became up time for Jefferson, who in the midst of his recovery gradually began the reprioritization process.
“I love it here,” said Jefferson of Liberty, a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. “I’ve said this many times, it’s just the culture of the team, and the way everything at Liberty is aligned. I have a really good perspective of how I view competition.
“It’s about putting a lot less pressure on myself, and more of a team focus. Even if I didn’t love running the way I do now, I’m still in the right place.”
Seems his coaches and teammates concur. Despite having competed only twice in his collegiate cross country career, Jefferson was named the Flames’ captain for the 2023 season, which starts Friday at South Carolina Upstate.
In other words, even when Jefferson isn’t running, he’s making an impact.
“If we had a bunch of Will Jeffersons, we would have no trouble recruiting. Just a great kid,” said Liberty cross country coach Isaac Wendland, a former Flames runner himself. “I think the most impressive thing about Will is just his joy. He just has a lot of joy, and a lot of care for other people. He’s not only involved in the classroom, but in the community. Will reads books to elementary school kids, has helped us do can drives, and things like that.”
In terms of athletic eligibility, Jefferson is all over the map.
This cross country season, he’s a freshman due to the two redshirts. Once Liberty’s indoor track and field season commences, Jefferson will be a redshirt sophomore and he’s going to be listed as a junior for the Flames’ outdoor track season in the spring.
Jefferson’s greatest athletic success to date at Liberty came during his freshman outdoor track campaign, twice nabbing men’s conference freshman of the week honors and establishing a program freshman standard in the 1,500-meter run (3:45.28).
A sport administration major, Jefferson, who aspires to one day be employed as an athletic director at a college or university, has twice been named to the conference academic honor roll for outdoor track.
Wendland and Jefferson agree the weeks ahead could be special.
Given the number of talented runners returning, and the seamless blending in of some impressive transfers, the 2023 season could shape up to be one of the best for Liberty men’s cross country.
Jefferson, expected to be a top-five performer for his team, maintains some lofty goals for the weeks ahead.
It’s what captains do, after all.
“We are really deep,” Jefferson said. “My goal, and I’m not putting any times out there, is to try to help us place in the top 15 at nationals. It’s what we all want.
“As a team, we want to build a strong foundation.”
