Greenville Senior Hurdler Edgar Townsend Repeats NCAA National Championship

Published: April 13, 2021

For the second straight year, Greenville College senior Edgar Townsend has become the NCAA Division III national champion in the 110-meter hurdles. At the NCAA outdoor championships Saturday at Baldwin-Wallace in Ohio, Townsend ran a school record and NCAA2010 season-best14.05 seconds toearn Greenville's third NCAA Division III outdoor national championship.Townsend's performance allowed the Panthers to earn 10 points, placing 26th overall in the standings.

"I have to thank God for everything He has given me," said Townsend. "I really am blessed to have my coach, my dad, [and] everyone from my school.They all helped me get to where I am at today. I have to thank everybody. A lot of hard work went into it, and all that dedication made me work harder for both indoor and outdoor."

Townsend earned the 55-meter hurdles national championship in the NCAA indoor championships in March and repeated his national championship in the outdoor event. This marks the third consecutive year that a Greenville track and field student-athlete was the national champion in the event. Former teammate Jarod Renford earned the national championship in 2008 prior to Townsend's championships in 2009 and 2010.

"It is hot outside, so I didn't want to drain myself right off the bat," said Townsend. "I usually would go out and hit the hurdles before the starter called us, but today I just went out, ran a few sprints, and just prepared myself mentally. I really just focused on each hurdle as they came up and didn't try to get ahead of myself throughout the race."

A multi-talented student-athlete, Townsend was multiple-time all-conference award recipient in football at Greenville College in addition to his numerous All-American honors on the track.