Keith Hudson was looking for something to do last spring. He didn't want to get a job. He knew he was pretty athletic and thought that maybe he would go out for the Northwood track & field team and see if he was good enough to attract the attention of a college coach.

"I didn't expect this football season to bring me exposure to a lot of colleges. I thought track was going to be the [sport] to do that."

A college scholarship seemed farfetched when he first attempted to run the hurdles.

"I could not even hurdle at the beginning of the season. I used to jump the hurdles."

He knew right away that he didn't have the raw speed to run the short sprints. He chose to focus on the 300-meter hurdles, along with the 400 and an occasional 800 because those events allowed him time to build up to top speed and be more competitive.

As the season progressed, so did his technique. His times in the 300-meter hurdles rapidly dropped each week. He went from running 43 seconds in the first week of April to 40.5 seconds in the third week of April.

In the final week of April, he found himself matched up against Richard Montgomery's Tyler Jackson, who at that time was the dominant hurdler in Montgomery County. It was a low-key tri meet. Jackson did not expect to have any challengers but found that he had to give everything he had to stay ahead of Hudson. Both runners were clocked in under 40 seconds.

"Who was that guy from Northwood?" Jackson asked.

It's a question that has been asked of Hudson a lot this year. Whether it was when he won the county and region 300-meter hurdle titles, or when he helped his 4x800 relay run 8:12, or when he was catching touchdown passes this past football season, it seems that everyone is always surprised when Northwood has a standout athlete.

Hudson experienced success from the 4x200 up to the 4x800 and every hurdle race in between, but as successful as his junior campaign on the track was, he still came up short of the ultimate goal. He was leading the field in the 300-meter hurdle race at the state championship when he hit a hurdle and lost ground on his opponents. He finished a disappointing 7th.

Though the memory of his final hurdle race stuck with him throughout the track & field offseason, he has been excelling in his other sport, football. Last year he played a role on the Northwood football team's defense. This year he moved to offense and became the most productive wide receiver in the state. He racked up 1,216 yards and 13 touchdowns in the regular season.

"I became the top wide receiver in Moco and in the State of Maryland...another shocker to people that didn't know who I was."

After a long wait, Hudson is finally back on the track, ready to run indoor track for the first time. He plans to continue surprising the skeptics until people have no choice but to take notice.

"I started to do indoor track this season to stay in shape and make it back to states and win a gold medal because I lost last year," says Hudson. He adds, "During indoor I will be focusing on 55-meter hurdles, the 500, and the 300...I would like to be a state champ for 3 events during indoor season and also surprise many other people that still don't know who I am."

Along with his individual success comes the responsibility of leading a rebuilding team. Northwood loses Giovanni Reumante and Derrick Powell who combined for three state titles at last year's indoor state championship meet. Reumante describes Hudson as the energetic teammate who gets hyped up when everyone else on the team is quiet and nervous.

Hudson says, "If I sit down, I'm going to be out of the race and not focused."

"To be a good leader...you have to always have good sportsmanship no matter what. Give good advice to others that need it. Don't disrespect other teammates because they lost."

Athletics and good sportsmanship runs in his family. His mother used to run track and play basketball in high school. His younger sister, Le'Quisha Parker, is also a bit of a track star herself, but that is another story for another day.

Off the track, Hudson is described as very laid back. He says that he likes watching football, and hanging out with friends and family in his free time.