Perhaps you’ve noticed how Mississippi State’s track and field teams have been highlighted so well online and across MSU’s social media channels of late. It’s no accident, because the one behind it all has a strong connection to the program.

Jhordyn Stallworth has been a fellow in State’s athletic communications department since last summer. Stallworth handles all communication activities for MSU track and field, ranging from social media management to stat keeping and public relations. 

It’s an ideal role for Stallworth, who herself starred for the Bulldog track team for four years before graduating from MSU.

“It’s been really special for me to do what I love to do and to benefit those that I care about,” Stallworth said. “There’s a level of all this being personal for me. The coaches I work with are the ones that recruited me. They helped me get this job. The athletes I work with—it’s only been about eight months or so since I was in their position. All of this has been really cool to do.”

It's funny how life works out. Stallworth, a Tallahassee, Florida native, never had MSU on her radar at all as a high schooler until State head track coach Chris Woods and associate head coach April Thomas reached out. It didn’t take long for maroon to get in Stallworth’s blood.

“They made it known they wanted me to be a part of their program,” Stallworth said. “I knew from the second I took my visit here that Mississippi State is where I was supposed to be.”

When Stallworth got to Starkville, she excelled on the track and in the classroom. As an athlete, she holds multiple MSU program records in shotput and discus. She was on the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team for shotput and discus in 2021 and was a multi-time finalist at the SEC Championships throughout her career. She also earned the right to compete for a national title at the NCAA Championships in 2024 and completed her career as an All-American.

As a student, Stallworth was a constant on the Bulldog Honor Roll with grade point averages above 3.0. She was also last year’s H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete nominee for MSU.

Yet all good things must come to an end they say, and when it was time for Stallworth to close one chapter of her life and move on to another, she didn’t have to move very far.

Stallworth knew that she wanted a career working in sports. Turns out, she’d actually gotten a jumpstart on her future before her athletic career had even wrapped up.

“I started running a social media account highlighting the throwers on the track team,” Stallworth said. “It gained a lot of traction, and I realized that might be my niche. Then I realized this fellowship position was open after graduation and worked to get to where I am now.”

It’s been a win-win for both Stallworth and Mississippi State track and field. Stallworth gets to live out her dream of working in sports and the Bulldogs get to benefit from the great content Stallworth produces and oversees.

Stallworth never saw any of this coming a half-decade ago. Now, she’s so thankful it all worked out.

“Mississippi State has become such a very special place to me,” Stallworth said. “Starkville just won an award for being the ‘Best Small Town in the South’ again. There’s a lot of truth to that because you come here and it feels like home.”