By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Kelsea Schafer
The healthiest version of oneself is the one who chases her dreams relentlessly, hurdling over life’s obstacles in a never-ending pursuit of happiness. Happiness for Calera High School senior Jordon Bray is best found on the track, where she is able to do what she does best–defy all odds faster than the speed of light.
Jordon’s innate athletic ability proved true on the softball field, when she first dipped her toe into the world of sports at just 6 years old, flying like a bullet around the bases. Jordon’s father, Jayson Bray, noticed his daughter’s athleticism–especially her speed–and decided to sign her up to run track.
“My husband works with her every day,” Marketta Bray, Jordon’s mother, says. “We told her that if she stuck with it, one day she would be able to go to college with it. We are so lucky that she has been able to take her talents to the next level.”
Jordon’s first hurdle, she says, was finding a team that would coach someone so young. Enter stage right, Alabama Heat Head Coach Jeff Jackson.
At the time, Alabama Heat’s athletes would practice at Spain Park High School, training for local meets. Jordon began practicing with Jeff twice a week from the time she was 6 to age 11.
In her time with Alabama Heat, Jordon competed in the Junior Olympics and became a seven-time Junior Olympian, and now, a 26-time All American. Student-athletes under 18 years old from all over the world compete in these events, so for Jordon to take home the gold seven times is incredible.
“Making it to the Junior Olympics for the first time in 2013 was really when I knew this was something that I would want to continue to do,” Jordon says. “Being on the big stage at such a young age made me realize just how cool track was in general. With it being an individual sport, no one can say they did it for me.”
Jordon was eventually recruited to run for Athletic Maximum Performance in Atlanta, Georgia, which she competed with until she was yet again recruited to run varsity track and field for Calera High School in her seventh-grade year at Calera Middle School.
“Jeff still reaches out daily,” Marketta says. “He wants to make sure she is on track and is doing what she should be doing.
Even if Jeff does not have any athletes competing, if he knows Jordon will be competing in a local meet, he will come to support her, Marketta says. The Bray family credits Jeff for helping build Jordon’s foundation in her athletic career.
Jordon says having wonderful supporters such as Jeff and her parents in her corner is why she has been able to be so successful.
When Jordon was 8, Marketta registered her to compete for an Under Armour ambassadorship through Hibbett Sports in Alabaster. Not only was Jordon selected from her audition videos, but she was also the youngest-ever Under Armour ambassador selected at that time and has gone on to film three commercials for the company.
With as much success as Jordon had as a child athlete, it would be miniscule compared to the milestones she would hurdle over in her high school career. Jordon won her first-ever AHSAA 6A state championship in the four-by-four relay as a seventh grader–the only one competing on the varsity level for her school.
While the COVID-19 pandemic postponed all of the athletic events during her eighth-grade year, Jordon returned unwavered as a freshman and won her second 6A state championship in the 400-meter dash.
This event would become her niche, prompting her to win this event nearly every year in both indoor and outdoor track. As of March 2024, Jordon has won eight 6A state championships (six of which are in the 400-meter dash) and has earned seven individual state titles.
With college on the horizon, it is no surprise that some of the most elite track and field schools in the nation scouted Jordon–beginning when she was just a freshman. Jordon toured the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Tennessee, Louisiana State University, the University of Kentucky and more before eventually deciding to run for the Crimson Tide–the school, she says, which was the most intentional in recruiting her.
“No matter what time of day, whether it was a text or a call, Coach Nick [Stenuf] himself was making sure that he reached out to me unlike a few others,” Jordon says. “They were really consistent, and I really like that.”
Jordon plans to study kinesiology, in order to attend physical therapy school after college. Despite what she may pursue career-wise, the Olympics is her endgame.
While she may never have been an underdog, Jordon says there was a time when she thought her track career may be over. On Oct. 16, 2021, while training in the off-season with friends, Jordon collapsed during a sprint, resulting in a grade-2 tear in her right hamstring.
“It felt like a little mouse trap closed over me,” Jordon says. “I felt something pop and immediately hit the ground. I started laughing because I just fell in front of everyone, but when I tried to get up, I couldn’t move. I knew it could possibly be over.”
Jordon was a sophomore at the time. Having such an injury postponed her ability to train for the winter 2021 and spring 2022 events, but Jayson and Marketta never gave up on her.
Jordon and Jayson spent four months doing aerobic exercises, focusing on strengthening her hamstring. Jordon never ran, much less put too much weight on her right leg, before her comeback season in February 2022.
A mere four months after having torn her hamstring, Jordon came back with a vengeance and won her fourth 6A state championship in the 400-meter dash for indoor track.
“That was my toughest one because I knew things could go really wrong,” Jordon says. “The main reason I was scared was because you can’t get an X-ray to see if it’s healed or not. You just have to assume by how you feel if it’s okay enough to run on. It was really nerve-wracking, not knowing if I was 100-percent or not. I was just going off of what I could do at practice.”
What altered her mentality, however, was Jayson’s persistence in helping her shift mind over matter–enabling her to believe in the innate ability she has always had.
“She went to physical therapy twice a week, and my husband took her to the gym,” Marketta says. “They did pool workouts. She got massages a lot. We were trying to help get her back on that track. The worst thing we had to deal with was mentality because she was afraid, and she didn’t want to be in that pain again.”
Cleverly, Jayson suggested she shift from running her additional event, the 200-meter, to the 800-meter, when she returned for the spring 2022 season. Jordon never enjoyed running the 800-meter because two laps around the track is a lot for a sprinter, she says.
Nonetheless, she trusted her father’s intuition and gave it her all when she was cleared to run again.
“After I tore my hamstring, I had to lean on a little longer event, and it ended up being my strong suit,” Jordon says. “After I embraced the 800, it was straight downhill from there.”
Jordon went on to slowly improve in this event, eventually taking home the gold for both the 400-meter and 800-meter dashes at the 2022-23 6A outdoor state championship.
Now approaching the spring 2024 outdoor track season, Jordon is a strong candidate to win the 400-meter and 800-meter dashes in the 2023-24 6A state championship, having come off a near-perfect season. Whether she wins, Jordon says she will be a different athlete going into these events.
“[Running track] has taught me discipline and how to sacrifice over that 12-year span,” Jordon says of her athletic career so far. “Track is a lifestyle, and this is just the beginning.”
A Timeline of Jordon Bray’s High School Track Career
May 2019
Jordon wins her first 6A state championship in the four-by-four relay as a seventh grader for Calera High School’s varsity outdoor track and field team.
Feb. 2021
Jordon wins her second 6A state championship and her first individual title in the 400-meter dash in indoor track as a freshman.
May 2021
Jordon wins her third 6A state championship and second individual title in the 400-meter dash in outdoor track as a freshman.
Oct. 16, 2021
Jordon tears her right hamstring two months before starting her sophomore track season.
Feb. 2022
Four months after tearing her hamstring, Jordon wins her fourth 6A state championship and third individual title in the 400-meter dash in indoor track as a sophomore. This race is also what she considers the hardest of her career due to her not being able to train beforehand while in recovery.
May 2022
Jordon wins her fifth 6A state championship and fourth individual title in the 400-meter dash in outdoor track as a sophomore.
Feb. 2023
In the 2022-23 6A state championship, which is the only state championship Jordon has not won in the 400-meter dash, Jordon takes second-place due to another runner coming over into her lane, causing them to crash.
May 2023
Jordon wins her sixth and seventh 6A state championships in both the 400-meter dash and 800-meter dash in outdoor track as a junior, earning her fifth and sixth individual titles.
Feb. 2024
Jordon wins her eighth 6A state championship and seventh individual title in the 400-meter dash in indoor track as a senior.
