Brittney Hourd, a native of University City, Mo., has signed a national letter of intent to continue her academic and athletic career at Illinois State as a member of the Redbird track and field under new head coach Elvis Forde.
I heard about Brittney through an alumni at my alma mater, Southern Illinois, who is actually her coach at the high school level, Forde said. She is a very talented individual who hasnt been in the sport very long. She played basketball in high school, thought she would play in college, but everything happens for a reason and she focused on her speed and is coming here.
Hourd will run the 400-meter-dash and compete in the long jump for the Birds. At University City High School, she set the school record in both events with a time of 56.9 seconds in the 400 and a mark of 184 in the long jump. Hourd also was a member of the state champion 4x400 team that set a school-record time of 3:54.
I expect Brittney to turn into a blue-chip athlete before the end of her career at Illinois State, Forde said. She will bring a good work ethic to this team and her raw talent impressed me.
In addition to her success in track and field, Hourd was also a first-team all-conference selection in basketball and volleyball at UCHS. She graduated with a 3.1 cumulative grade-point average.
Hourd joins 13 other track and field recruits that have signed letters of intent with Illinois State for the 2002-2003 season.
