MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Later this year, it may appear that Josh Edwards is racing by himself.
“You sort of get used to how the race is going to go,” the University High distance runner said. “There are going to be some races where I know I’m going to be by myself the whole time. That’s OK. You take it for what it is. Sometimes it can be pretty peaceful running by myself.”
The truth, though, is much different.
Heading into his senior year with the Hawks’ cross-country and track teams, Edwards will have plenty of company in the form of time, history and maybe even a couple of ghosts of running past.
That’s the company kept by any athlete once they’ve entered the best-ever
conversation.
Edwards has the records and awards to back up his inclusion.
The state’s Gatorade Player of the Year? He’s won it twice in cross-country and once in track.
He enters this cross-country season as the two-time defending champ (he finished second as a freshman).
Last month, he set the state track record for the 3,200-meter (two miles) run with a time of 8:52.82. In terms of national rankings, Edwards finished last cross-country season ranked No. 8 in the country, according to MileSplit.com.
“He’s the best right now,” Preston High cross-country coach Paul Martin said. “In terms of West Virginia high school distance running, he’s the best this state has had, and that’s before he’s even run a race as a senior.”
What’s left to accomplish? In Edwards’ mind, plenty. His plan for a senior year has nothing to do with sticking it in cruise control and simply moving on to college.
“There’s still more records to go down,” he said. “There’s some more cross-country stuff I want to accomplish. At the same time, I’m having a great time doing what I’m doing. There’s no need to rush anything.”
Surprisingly well
Growing up as a kid and entering middle school, Edwards was all about soccer.
Signing up for track was really nothing more than curiosity, possibly stemming from his older brother Nathaniel having success as a distance runner at UHS.
“I look back now and I don’t know why I didn’t sign up as a sprinter, because it’s so much easier,” Edwards joked. “My first race was a 3,200-meter and I did surprisingly well.”
Surprisingly well eventually turned into giving up soccer and focusing on running.
“My freshman year, I had gone from 10 minutes down to a low nine minutes in my 3,200, which at the time was a decent time nationally,” Edwards said. “So, I ended up going to the New Balance nationals (in New York) and I made it to the championship race as a freshman.
“I was the only underclassmen there. That was the most nervous I had ever been. I was just a little 5-foot-4 freshman and everyone else was so much bigger than me. After that, I sort of realized I had some sort of talent and I could go pretty big in this sport.”
By his own admission, Edwards has exceeded his own expectations, but he never came out and said, “I’m going to be the best ever.”
But his times kept getting lower. His margins of victory kept getting larger and records began to fall.
“I’ve honestly kind of exceeded my own expectations, but to some extent, you have to envision yourself being there or you’ll never get there,” he said.
Defining the best runner
For the most part, Edwards has his eye on the nation while racing in the state.
Maybe no high school athlete in West Virginia can beat him, but Edwards knows his times will also be compared to those around the country.
“The national level runs far faster and greater than what you see in the state of West Virginia, and that’s something I look to,” he said.
And then there is the topic of carving out Edwards’ place in state running history, and there is a source of motivation behind it.
In terms of distance running, the conversation of the best ever is likely between Edwards and former Cabell Midland standout Jacob Burcham, who also won three individual state cross-country titles, set state track records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 before moving on to Oklahoma University.
“I didn’t really like having Burcham regarded as the best,” Edwards said. “He’s basically gone on the record saying that he didn’t really like distance running. There’s a video of him talking about how he always considered himself a football player.
“That rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. I mean, this is the best distance runner in West Virginia and he’s talking about playing football. That’s kind of the reason I want to be the best.”
Burcham still holds the state record in the 800 and 1,600. Edwards said his focus was on the 3,200 last track season, but has his sights set on the 1,600 next spring.
Not just the record, but also history.
In 1954, Roger Bannister became the first to run the one-mile race in under four minutes.
It’s been duplicated and exceeded many times since, but never by a West Virginia high school athlete.
Burcham’s state meet record is 4:08.80. Edwards won the event in June with a 4:12.02.
Can he shave off four more seconds for the record and 12 more to go below four minutes?
“I think I have the fitness to go after the 1,600 record,” Edwards said. “It’s more about finding the right style to run it.
“A sub-four has been thrown into the equation. I knew I wasn’t going to go for that last year, because I was focused on the 3,200, but I think I have the ability. Once next spring rolls around, there’s definitely
a possibility it could happen.”
What then would the conversation be? Is it possible that this one-time soccer kid from Morgantown could simply become the best runner, regardless of distance?
Since the late 1980s, that title has been held by James Jett, who set state records as a sprinter in the 100, 200 and 400 meters while at Jefferson (Wheeling Park’s Torrence Walker broke Jett’s 100 record in June).
Jett added to his lore by becoming a seven-time All-American sprinter at WVU and earning a spot on the 1992 4×100 U.S. Olympic relay team that won the gold medal.
It’s a question Edwards will leave for others to answer.
“I guess I would think of it just as a distance runner,” he said. “In an overall sense, I don’t know how I could ever outdo James Jett’s legacy. I mean, he competed in the Olympics. Not that I can’t do that some day, but I’m more focused on becoming the best distance runner in this state’s history.”
One final question
Edwards says he has no idea where he will run in college and isn’t much of a fan in even listing publicly the schools he is looking at the most.
“I’m still trying to narrow down where I’m going to take my visits,” said Edwards, who estimated there are at least 20 schools after him. “I get five official visits and probably the bulk of them I’ll take out West.
“It’s not something I take lightly, because without running, there wouldn’t even be an opportunity for me to be at some of those schools. Not that I’m dumb, but some of the schools I’m looking at have some crazy standards for regular students to be accepted.”
The only thing for sure is Edwards won’t be enrolling at WVU, which discontinued it’s men’s track and cross-country programs in 2004.
Had that not been the case, Edwards admits he still would have been tempted to run elsewhere.
“Sean Cleary is a phenomenal coach and he’d be somebody I’d love to train under,” Edwards said. “At the same time, I think everybody needs the opportunity to leave home at least once. I’d probably fall into the category of someone who wants to expand their horizons, just to see what else is out there.”
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