CONNORVILLE — Skylar Langford is a testament to hardwork paying off.

The Buckeye Local senior has made steady progress throughout her track career for the Panthers.

Now, she’ll have the opportunity to compete at the collegiate level.

Langford recently announced her intentions to continue her academic and athletic careers at Wheeling Jesuit University.

“There have been some good days and bad days throughout high school, but overall it’s been a great experience and I’m ready to see what the future holds for me,” Langford said.

Langford has developed into one of the area’s premier long jumpers. She’s actually the best long jumper in Buckeye Local’s history as she set the school record this season with a mark of 16-9 that is the second-best jump posted in the OVAC this season. Langford was the Division II Eastern District runnerup and took part at Saturday’s regional meet.

“With all of the help from my coaches, family and support of my friends, I’ve been able to push myself past my goals to ultimately se the school record,” Langford said. “I put in a lot of hard work to achieve this goal.”

Langford credits the bulk of her success to things just clicking for her.

“The challenge really clicked and long jump challenges me to push myself to do better,” Langford said. “I’ve dreamed of this day when I would be able to participate in college and be part of a team as great as WJU. I feel honored.”

Along with her long jumping exploits, Langford also shined this season in the short sprints, which is another area she plans to pursue in college.

Langford placed in the OVAC in all three of her specialties and was a district finalist in the 100.

When Jesuit coaches began expressing interest in Langford, joining the Cardinals’ program, which just won the Mountain East Conference title earlier this month, she took notice.

“I wanted to be away from home, but close enough to go home when I needed to,” Langford said. “I felt I would get the best education there and the track and field (program) seems like a great fit. It was pretty tough deciding which college to attend at first, but when I thought about how big of an opportunity this is to run track at Wheeling Jesuit, so I thought it would definitely be something I regretted if I didn’t at least try.”

On top of track, Langford also earned letters in basketball and a single letter in cross country. She was also part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the highly regarded Panthers’ band.

Skylar, who isn’t decided on her major, is the daughter of Lesa and Thomas Arnett and Kevin Langford.