Athletic ability will carry Batavia's Edmondson to a hockey future

The Batavia girls track and field team has grand expectations as the sport transitions to the outdoor portion of the schedule.

Darby Edmondson is a central reason for the Bulldogs' optimism.

The senior teams with classmate Hannah Schlaman and junior Tori Oritz to form one of the best Class 3A sprint-relay quartets in the state at 400 and 800 meters.

"I think our expectations are getting faster and faster," Edmondson said.

The triumvirate, with junior transfer Symone Houston-Davis rounding out the foursome at 800 meters, ran the second-fastest time in the state during indoor season.

Edmondson, Schlaman and Ortiz were all-state in the event last May at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

But track and field is not in the cards for Edmondson for her collegiate aspirations.

Edmondson was barely walking and talking when she learned to ice skate.

"I was two or three," Edmondson said. "(Hockey) became part of my identity."

The Batavia senior has been playing the sport for well more than a decade.

Years later, Edmondson has accepted a scholarship to play hockey at Miami of Ohio University in Oxford.

"I don't remember a female athlete at Batavia with that skill set," Batavia girls track coach Justin Allison said. "It speaks to her athleticism. She is one of the best athletes I have ever been around."

"I think (Edmondson) has that kind of ability to have an opportunity to be an impact player right away," Miami hockey coach Scott Hicks said. "We recruit Chicago very heavily. We don't see a lot of track athletes (in our program)."

The chance to see playing time as a freshman certainly appealed to Edmondson.

"That was one of the main selling points of choosing Miami," said Edmondson, who also considered similar offers from Michigan and Connecticut College. "I didn't want to be riding the bench for two years until I was an upperclassman."

Edmondson, a right wing, honed her skills playing travel hockey for a Madison, Wisconsin-based club team.

Hicks made Edmondson a top priority after the Batavia senior went through the tryout process for the U.S. Junior Olympic team.

"It was a very long process," Edmondson said of her attempt to make the national team.

"The easy answer is that she is a very good hockey player," Hicks said of his interest in Edmondson. "The more complex answer is that she is a really good person. She has a bubbly personality."

"She is not a bombastic person," Allison said of his star sprinter, who will be prominently featured in the Bulldogs' 400, 800 and 1,600 relays.

No matter what sport Edmondson is engaged in, her work ethic stands out.

"Darby is probably one of the hardest workers I know," Ortiz said. "I love her to death. She pushes me harder as an athlete every day."

Before Edmondson begins her career at the next level in hockey rinks, she has unfinished business in her spring specialty for her last track and field campaign.

"I am so excited about the mile relay," said Edmondson, who plans to run sprint relays exclusively this spring at major invites.