Jordan Todd is one of few Central Athletes that double dip. Todd is not only a standout on the gridiron, but also is a sprinter on the track team.

Todd is a junior dual-sport athlete and law and justice major. He plays running back for the football team and is a sprinter for the track squad, which is very rare in D-2 college sports. When signing his letter of intent to play football, he was undecided on whether or not he would run track.

“I knew that I could run if I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to or not,” Todd said.

He decided to compete in track & field, and so far it has looked like a great decision. It is difficult to participate in two sports and work towards a degree, but a determined Todd has pushed through it.

“It’s the hardest thing, man… After a season, you’re kind of just like; ‘okay it’s offseason, I can kind of rest a little bit’ but doing two sports its going from one season to the next,” Todd said.

Football is widely known as a sport that “never ends,” which Todd confirmed.

“Track and football both overlap, so it’s pretty tough,” Todd said.

Although it gets tough to be a dual-sport athlete, Todd finds definite benefits to it.

“You get connected to more of the athletic community… doing two sports you get to meet all of the other athletes,” Todd said. “It keeps you in shape. During football in the winter, our main priority is getting stronger; and we will get our speed back in the spring.”

Todd has an advantage over other athletes because of his ability to do both football and track.

“With track you can get stronger, but you never lose your speed; and you get back into shape faster,” Todd said, adding “that staying in shape was the biggest benefit of being a dual-sport athlete.”

Todd had a record-breaking senior season playing running back at Interlake High School in Bellevue, Wash. He had several schools interested in his talents, but Central was a no-brainer decision for him.

“When I came here, everyone was really close, and just seemed like a family whereas in Western Oregon, for example, they seemed disorganized and against each other,” Todd said.

The display of family and having his desired major were the two big reasons that Todd decided to become a Wildcat.

Todd is one of the top running backs in the nation, while also running the 100m dash, 200m dash and the 4×1 relay race for Central’s track team. He has shown the ability and motivation to be a big part of both squads moving forward.

While being named to a number of GNAC All-Conference teams over the past few years, Todd attributes his success to his work ethic and his teammates.

“We’re grinding out here all year… not just me but we’re all grinding. Especially when I came in as a freshman, they welcomed me in and played with me as if I had been playing with them all year,” Todd said. “Everybody is just playing for everybody, everyone is out here ready to work.”

Motivation has never been a problem for Todd. He points to his competitive attitude as a reason.

“I’m trying to be the best. I’m really competitive, whether it’s tic-tac-toe or football. Every time I’m like ‘I don’t want to work out,’ I think ‘what if that dude is going harder than you, or what if a teammate is going harder than you,’ that’s what keeps me going,” Todd said.

Todd said that he did not have personal goals for football. His focus wasn’t on individual stats; but rather team success as a whole.

“I never really had personal goals,” Todd said. It’s always cool to get mentioned in first team and stuff like that, but I’m just trying to make a postseason run, you know, that’s my main want and focus right now. Not just me, but all the coaches and my teammates want it too.”

As far as his goals in track and field, Todd would like to stay under 11 seconds in the 100m, and hit 21 seconds in the 200m. He also sees some true potential in the 4×1 relay group.

“We’ve had injuries and haven’t really gotten to focus on handoffs,” Todd said. The more you practice, the better you’re going to be. You can take off half of a second just by having good handoffs. I think we can make it to nationals if we get our squad together.”

That’s some high praise from one of the fastest men on campus. Hopefully we can see Todd and the rest of the track team continue to do well, and perhaps satisfy Todd’s goal of getting to nationals.

Todd believes he wouldn’t be able to do anything he has done without his teammates. He is appreciated by his peers, and he appreciates them.

Jordan Todd had one more thing he wanted to make sure everyone on campus would know.

“Get more fans out here, come show support at the games and get us hyped up,” Todd said.