Story by Bryan Edwards, Staff writer

Being a student-athlete brings a big challenge. Not only do you have to make sure you perform at your top ability on the field, but you also have to make sure you can maintain the grades to be able to suit up every weekend.

Jordon Gandy is a junior wide receiver for the Racer football team and has had a year to remember both on and off the field.

After being recruited by Murray State from East Limestone High School in Athens, Alabama, Gandy spent two years waiting patiently for his spot, and when his junior year rolled around, he made the best of it.

After recording eight catches for 135 yards in his first two seasons as a Racer, Gandy had a breakout season in his junior campaign.

Gandy caught 62 passes for 976 yards and 11 touchdowns, leading the OVC in receiving yards and in yards per game with 88.7. Gandy’s 11 touchdowns ranked ninth in the country for the year.

Gandy was also given the honor of being named to the 2016-17 All-OVC First Team.

“I was happy that I was named to the team.” Gandy said. “I was glad to see that all the hard work finally paid off. I sat and waited for my chance to play and when I got that chance, I made the most of it.”

Gandy said that the team had a good season and is ready to head to work for next year.

“I think overall we played well this season,” Gandy said. “Going forward, I think we have something really special and I’m really excited to see what next season will hold.”

Gandy credits some of his personal success to his relationship with senior quarterback KD Humphries.

Now that Humphries will be graduating, Gandy is excited to start building a relationship with the quarterbacks on the roster next season.

“It’s going to take some time,” Gandy said. “We have all offseason to build a relationship with them and we will go forward with the process when we find out who will be starting for us next season.”

With all of the accomplishments that Gandy received on the field, he also finished with a 3.0 grade point average for the fall semester.

“It’s a tough thing to do,” Gandy said. “It’s something that you have to get through as a student-athlete. If you have down time, you have to do what you have to do to pass your classes and if you don’t have a lot of time, you have to make time to get all of your homework done.”

Last season, the Racers didn’t have enough players to have a spring scrimmage game, but this year they will have the numbers to do so. Gandy is excited to get back on the field this spring and start working to make his senior season the best one yet.

“I will like it this year,” Gandy said. “We will have a lot of bodies coming back and I’m excited to see what we’re going to look like that early in the year.”