Jan. 11, 2012
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By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - She is a seven-time Conference USA champion. A 10-time all-conference selection. A two-time indoor All-American. The first two-time outdoor All-American in school history. An NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships medalist.
In the words of UCF track and field head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, she is the one who started it all.
"Jackie Coward went out on a limb when there were no All-Americans on the team. No one had really gone to nationals - maybe one person in school history," Smith Gilbert said. "She took a really big chance on me and UCF, and other people saw her do it, and it made them less afraid."
Smith Gilbert is among those whose doubts were quelled by Coward's presence and spirituality.
Smith Gilbert left Tennessee to take over UCF's program in the summer of 2007, and she experienced the inevitable growing pains that come along with the journey of building a successful team.
"It was a tough time. Through everything great, there's always trouble in the middle, and it's that trouble in the middle that makes you second guess yourself," Smith Gilbert said. "She told me, 'I didn't come here for you to quit on me. We're going to make this great. We're going to be great and we're going to win. Nothing is going to stop us.'
"Jackie Coward strengthens my faith."
Coming out of Knoxville West High School in 2009 as a 12-time state champion sprinter and hurdler, Coward had her pick of schools in the country. She was supposed to take her last official visit to UCLA when Smith Gilbert asked if she could visit with Coward in her home. Coward didn't see the harm in hearing out Smith Gilbert, so she agreed.
Based on that living room meeting, Coward decided to visit UCF instead.
"I went on a lot of visits but something was always missing," Coward said. "If I could show you the book I had from my visits - I had lists for dorm rooms, the team chemistry, the coaches, the coaches' attitude, the campus. I had it all. The main thing that I was missing from the list was the feeling I got. When I came here I knew this was it. I just felt at peace."
Coward secluded herself from everyone she knew for a week and a half before she finally made her decision to commit to UCF. Even though she was confident in her decision, others were incredulous that someone of Coward's caliber would sign with a school yet to have put itself on the map.
"A lot of people who are good in high school, when they get recruited they go to these big name schools and you never hear from them ever again because they get caught up in peer pressure or the hype of the school," Coward said. "My mom said, 'Jac, when you feel a peace about certain things, that's God talking to you.' When it came to UCF, I had peace."
That peace would be tested during her freshman year when she lost a race for the first time in two years. Coward describes that whole season as a humbling experience.
"I was 18 years old, so I had all these emotions. I had a lot of people in my ear, telling me oh you should be running fast, you should be running this time by now, you should have gone to a bigger school," Coward said. "I cried almost every other day and I was like I can't do this. This is too much."
Coward had not been communicating her feelings with Smith Gilbert during this period. Finally, she decided to go visit her head coach. It was at that meeting that the pair restored their faith in each other and the program.
"I wasn't putting my trust in her," Coward said. "Once I let all that stuff go and I said, 'Alright you're the coach, you know what's best for me,' everything changed around."
Coward emerged as both the indoor and outdoor C-USA Female Track Athlete of the Year last season. She heads into this year's indoor season with the fourth-fastest 60 Hurdles time (8.06) in the country.
She hopes for the ultimate ending to her collegiate experience as she aims to qualify for the Olympics this year. Now, as UCF gears up for its most anticipated season in school history, the Knights will look to the one who started it all to lead them.
"She takes accountability for her team. They listen to her and respect her," Smith Gilbert said. "She's trying to live the example that she preaches."