MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — About a week before her distinguished high school career came to a close, GMC Prep’s Abigail Kirkland signed a scholarship offer to run track for the University of North Georgia Nighthawks next year.

“It’s a great day for Abi, a great day for our program and our school,” said GMC Prep athletic director Steven Simpson, who has also served as Kirkland’s track coach in the past. “As I tell all of our athletes that are going off to college, we want to thank you for what you’ve given to our program and your family for what y’all have given to our program and our school.”

At last year’s state meet, Kirkland was the GHSA A-Public state champion in the 300-meter hurdles as she blew away the competition finishing 2.5 seconds before second place. She also brought the 4×100 relay team back from behind to win as she did what her coaches described as “reeled in” the competition during her anchoring leg. The swift senior has been a part of the back-to-back state championship winning girls’ track teams at GMC Prep the last two seasons and had both trophies as well as a few medals prominently displayed during her signing ceremony in the school’s Usery Conference Room.

Distance running isn’t for everyone, and Simpson went on to share one of his favorite “Abi stories” where she illustrated she might not be the right choice for the 3200-meter run.

“When I first asked her to run some different events for us we put her in the two-mile,” said Simpson. “About halfway through it she said, ‘Coach Simpson, can I turn and run the other way? It’s boring running in circles.’“

Abi said after making her commitment official that she’s grateful for the opportunity to run at college and looks forward to inspiring others with her performance. She said she had offers from larger schools, but ultimately decided the NCAA Division II program was the right one for her.

“I had a few D-I offers, but I just really felt a connection to North Georgia and after I met the coach I just really loved it,” Kirkland said. “My dad went to North Georgia, so I felt comfortable there and I just love the atmosphere.”

The future college runner said it took an incredible amount of hard work to get where she is today, adding it takes a lot more than just the required practice sessions prescribed by the coaching staff.

Abi is a bit of a character, and if you couldn’t tell from the stories shared by her coaches you would certainly see it out on the track. Every runner has his or her own pre-race routine. Many jump around, do some last minute stretching, or shake off any nervous energy as they prepare to try and leave opponents in the rearview mirror. Kirkland takes a bit of a more acrobatic approach where she instead chooses to do cartwheels.

“I feel kind of heavy on my feet whenever I get nervous, so doing a cartwheel makes me feel lighter and more energetic,” she said. “I normally don’t do it unless I have a good feeling that I’m about to win the race because then I would just look like I’m a loony person.”

Kirkland is getting ready to try and defend her titles at the state meet in Albany this weekend, but no matter how she performs she knows she’ll have a home at the next level.

“It’s great for her and great for her family,” track coach Shawn Dennis said. “We’re all really proud of her. She started playing soccer first and we kind of just had to pull her arm a little bit to get her to run track. She started to love it, and she works really hard at it. She’s one of the best athletes in [GHSA Class A] and she deserves all the success she’s earned.”