The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Back in action from an injury that prevented her from competing outdoors last year, women's 100m hurdles national record holder Pedrya Seymour will resume her final season as a collegiate under a new coach and a new school.

The 22-year-old graduate of St Anne's High School will be wearing a University of Texas at Austin's Longhorns uniform after graduating from the University of Illinois last year and will be coached by one of her idols who competed for the Fighting Illini.

As a result of sitting out the outdoor season last year due to a hamstring injury to her trail left leg, Seymour said she had plenty of time to contemplate the future and she's eager to see what the new year brings under assistant coach Tonya Buford-Bailey, one of the most decorated track student-athletes in the history of the University of Illinois where she was inducted into their inaugural class of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame in June.

"You can look for the return of the beast," said Seymour of a nickname that she had acquired during her tenure at Illinois where she performed exceptionally well. "Going into the season, I am going to be open minded and ready. I'm just going to take it one meet at a time."

The season opener for the Longhorns is the Texas Tech Corky Classic in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday, January 13. But Seymour is not sure whether or not coach Buford-Bailey will let her compete or if she will wait until another meet.

In any event, Seymour said she will be ready because she has some personal goals that she wants to achieve, even though she declined to reveal any of them.

Seymour, however, has indicated that she plans to represent the Bahamas at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, March 2-4, although it comes smack in the middle of the Big 12 Conference Championships, February 23-24 in Ames, Iowa and the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 9-10 in College Station, Texas.

"That's the plan for now, but if the schedule doesn't allow it, then I won't be able to compete at the World Indoors," said Seymour, who last represented the Bahamas at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she had an impressive sixth place in the final of the women's 100m hurdles. "But it's not the agenda."

And while she would also like to compete at the Commonwealth Games, set for April 4-15 in the Gold Coast, Carrera, Australia, Seymour said she may have to miss the trip down under as she has some obligations to compete for Texas at the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio, Texas from March 16-17.

"I can't give a definite answer for Commonwealth because it's at the beginning of the outdoor season," she reflected. "If it was in the summer, I would definitely run, but it all depends on what my coach says."

Now that she's back at full strength, coming from the injury that sidelined her, Seymour said she's eager to regain her progression to the sport, having made a remarkable transition in just one year from running the 400 hurdles to the higher 100m hurdles after competing for the Bahamas in the one-lap race at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain.w

"When you're injured, you have a lot of down time to think. It gives you a better appreciation of what you are doing because you see people doing it and you want to be able to do it," she insisted.

"I ran with injuries before, but not this severe, so not being able to push through this injury really hurt, but I've grown a lot from it," she proclaimed. "Now I can take advantage of each opportunity."

During that time of recuperation, Seymour had a chance to look at the field of competitors as they participated in the IAAF World Championships in London, England in August. She said she got even whungrier to return to competition this year.

"After watching the World Champs, it shows that people from the past can come up and take over the throne and people who were predicted to win, don't show up or show out, so you have to be ready at all times because anyone can take the gold," she pointed out.

"With this being my last year of eligibility for college, I definitely have to show up and show out. If I want to run professionally after I'm done, I really have to do well at the collegiate level this year. The plan is for me to go pro after I finish with college."

Although she graduated from Illinois in August, Seymour is pursuing her Master's degree at Texas in Advertising and Public Relations, which will take her through 2019 if she maintains her classes during her track programme.

Under coach Buford-Bailey, a decorated three-time American Olympian, who is now in her fifth season as associate head coach for Texas Track and Field, Seymour said she's adjusting very well, especially to the weather.

"The coaching is definitely different. The foundation off season is also deferent," she stated. "I feel stronger and just being able to train outside all year round is a plus as well.

"At Illinois, it was really cold, sometimes it got into the negative, but being in Texas, it's hot all year round. So it's good running hurdles outside in December."

Seymour, who holds the Bahamian national record at 12.64 seconds, is coming of a 2017 USTFCCA First-Team All-America in the 60m hurdles indoors after making the 2016 USTFCCA Second-Team All-America and was both a 2017 and 2016 USTDCCA All-Academic Team. In addition to that, she was a 2016 Academic All-Big Ten at Illinois.

She is the daughter of Pedro and Cecily Seymour.