BY IVAN SANDERS

STAR STAFF

ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com

MILLIGAN COLLEGE— Just as being able to multi-skill is an essential asset on the job, for an athlete to have the ability to do multiple things often brings unexpected opportunities.

Jessica Earp found that out in a surprising way as the Happy Valley Lady Warrior track and field competitor took on whatever her track coach Matt Estep asked her to do which paid huge dividends on Thursday at the Steve Lacy Fieldhouse when Earp inked a National Letter of Intent to join Coach Chris Layne and the Milligan College Lady Buff track team.

“When I was first offered a scholarship at Milligan, I wasn’t really expecting it so it was kind of a head-on thing to think about and we came and visited and the campus was really nice,” said Earp after her signing.

“I talked to Coach (Chris) Layne a few weeks after that and I really liked him as a coach. I still had to think about it more and so I just chose Milligan because it’s close to home and has a good track team to be able to further my career.”

For Estep, Earp’s ability to be flexible and participate in several events was something that helped her in obtaining the scholarship.

“Jessica is very versatile,” said Estep. “She competed in a lot of different events for us. She was in both sets of hurdles, she was in the 4×100 and 4×200 relay and was a high jumper.

“She had a pretty good shot of making it to state this year in the high jump but her foot happened to be bothering her at the sectional meet.

“She has only done that for one year so that may be something that they will look at having her do while she is here,” continued Estep. “Overall, she is a great athlete and is going to be good at whatever they put her in.

“She is a great kid with a great attitude. Milligan’s going to be getting a very good athlete. She has a good work ethic and a good personality and is willing to do whatever you ask her to do.”

Earp said it was Estep’s pushing and prodding her into different events that helped her land the offer.

“I never thought that participating in track at Happy Valley would lead to this happening,” Earp said. “I wasn’t expecting any scholarships to come, so it was very unexpected but with Coach Estep being my coach, he pushed me forward to do more things like the high jump.

“He was really good at helping me with everything.”

Milligan College’s Layne said he realized what he was getting in Earp because of the athleticism possessed by her family.

“First of all, we love kids that come from Happy Valley next door,” Layne said. “They understand who we are as an institution and fortunately, I knew the family on the front end of it. There is a lot of talent and athleticism in that family.

“You just watch her and she is so young in the sport and is doing some things that indicate to us that she has some upside. She is our kind of girl.”

The bar hasn’t been set too high for the incoming freshman as Layne has a team that has enough depth that there isn’t any need for undue pressure on Earp in the early stages.

“We will want to go slow. That is one of the things that we sell here is that we want to go at the pace that you want to go, so this isn’t going to be a situation for any kid that comes to Milligan where we are going to throw them into the fire and expect them to shoot out the other side right away,” Layne stated.

“We will learn a lot in the fall and get a feel from there in what she can handle and which direction we want to go. We have some depth in the program where we don’t have to push kids along.”

Earp won’t be the only Lady Warrior participating in track and field as she will be joined by Natalie Newsome who recently became a state champion in the pole vault.

Having a friendly face should help calm Earp in the early going.

“I know two people on the track team right now and with Natalie being here after we competed together for two years at Happy Valley will help as we bond closer as teammates,” stated Earp.