Kentucky’s Most Versatile Track Star Is chasing another 3-event state sweep

Walden’s Natalie Svidal multi-event state champion blends family pedigree, technical precision and a mature mental approach to chase consistency in the hurdles and horizontal jumps — and a third straight winter title sweep.

Walden School track and field athlete, Natalie Svidal, seeks to continue her dominance this season in the 1A horizontal jumps and short hurdle races. / Chris Adams

Sports can be complicated. You know, skill set development, commitment and attitude. Athletes have to fit the right profile.

Natalie Svidal Has Demonstrated Determination and Drive

Walden School track coach Chris Svidal knows the type, referring to a specific female student athlete in her program.

“There have been many situations that demonstrate her determination and drive,” Svidal explained. “One that comes to mind was her first track practice when she was in fifth grade. I'm not sure where the middle school track team was that day, but she jumped in with the high school workout. She insisted upon doing every single rep the most experienced seniors had to run.”

That sounds like the right profile.

Technical difficulties are kind of an ongoing, accepted learning curve in the sport of track and field, at least, for several of the sport’s events. It could even be argued that each event is a sport unto itself.

High school senior Natalie Svidal can relate. She understands this well. The standout athlete, who attends the Walden School in Louisville, Kentucky, competes in the 100-meter hurdles, triple jump and long jump; all technique-intensive events.

Natalie provided an example.

“I've had a lot more work on my form (hurdles) in the past year and a half. I've been working with some different coaches. When looking at my races from a couple of years ago, I realized my arms are kind of crazy. I was definitely treating it more like a leap. I was a gymnast, so that's definitely how it started. But now, I'm able to come off the hurdles a lot more compact so I can optimize the run in between. I think that's definitely helped my time go down.”

Apparently.

Dominating Indoors and Out

Natalie showed out at last year’s state meets. She claimed the state 1A indoor 55-meter hurdle (8.28) and state 1A outdoor 100-meter hurdle (14.57) titles. Her indoor time was the fastest in all classifications, and her outdoor effort was second best.

Natalie Svidal races in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2025 KHSAA 1A State Track and Field Championships. Svidal looks to claim the indoor 55-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles in 2026. / Chris Svidal Walden School

All In from an Early Age

But reverse the years to fifth grade, and you’ll see how Natalie was already all in, displaying zero ambivalence.

“When I look back on Natalie as a young child, she has always had determination,” Chris said. “Once she sets her mind on something, whether it be learning to read, learning a new gymnastics skill, or building her own ballet barre, she just gets to work and gets it done.”

Family Pedigree

Pedigree can also be a significant factor in the creation of the right profile. There’s a healthy dose of it in the Svidal family. Natalie has leaned into it.

“My older sister is also a track athlete,” Natalie said. “She's a jumper. She used to be a hurdler. So I've always looked up to her performance. I was in fourth grade, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want to do that next year. I want to be like her.’”

Her sister, Amelia Svidal, is a horizontal jumper at Bellarmine University in Louisville. Amelia won the triple jump at the 2025 Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Championships, leaping 39-2.

“Also, my mom, who coaches me, was a jumper and hurdler. So I guess it kind of runs in the family.”

Her mom and sister have been a constant influence in Natalie’s life.

“They're the reason I got into the sport and stayed with the sport. I remember starting track as a fifth grader. I was really scared. I was with the big middle school kids. And so I would always ask my sister, ‘Can I run the warm-up lap with you?’ And I think just watching how much she's grown in track has helped me stay in the sport, especially through middle school when we were dealing with the pandemic.”

Building a Foundation in Jumps and Expanding to Hurdles

The jumps came first, and then the hurdles, when height and length matched interest.

“I started doing hurdles in eighth grade. When you're younger and shorter, the hurdles are a lot more difficult. I think those events I liked because they were, in my mind, a little more interesting than just running for me.”

That right profile.

Yes, Natalie is also a jumper. And a stellar one. She is the reigning 1A state champion in the long and triple jumps. Her 2025 state indoor meet marks of 17-3.25 (long jump) and 36-3.75 (triple jump) were No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, in all classifications. Outdoor-wise, her combined marks/places of 17-11.5 (long jump) and 37-3.75 (triple) at the state meet were only bested by the top female athlete in the state, Teigh Yeast of 3A George Rogers Clark High School.

Natalie Svidal jumping at the Eastern Indoor meet in Louisville in early February. Natalie is one of the top three high school horizontal jumpers in Kentucky. / Chris Svidal Walden School

Jumping Goals

Of course, Natalie has jumping goals. And not ones that are strictly measured by the tape or laser.

“For long jump, I would love to hit 18 more consistently,” she said. “I was able to get that once or twice last season, but I'm really hoping I can get that more consistently. And then for triple jump (hop, step and jump), specifically, it's less of a numeric goal. I'm working really hard on my second phase because that's definitely been a point where I think I can get a lot more in my jump.”

She approaches the hurdles the same way as the triple jump. It’s not the time, but what can she do to achieve a quality performance? In a sense, the philosophy and training strategy will take care of the clock.

“I think that, at least for me, the specific time should not be a goal, but the different things I can do to achieve that time are a lot more important for me. Because if you're having good habits, it's a lot easier to speed that (time) up."

Natalie would prefer to be running sub-14 in the 100 hurdles, but plug in the training and the clock will basically run itself.

“I would love to hit 13s, but I try to focus on the different steps I can take to achieve that. More than just the number.”

Training simultaneously for three technically demanding events can present impediments and obstacles, no pun intended. However, Natalie has overcome the adversity that particular situation can bring.

“Well, the events do definitely complement each other in some ways, like with the sprinting,” she said. “Sure, it can be a little bit challenging sometimes. Even though long jump and triple jump do share a lot of similarities, their take-offs are very different, and that requires different drills. Planning out a week of practice can be difficult, but it's something I want to do. It's something I'll prioritize."

More profile affirmation.

The KHSAA State Indoor Meet Starts Tuesday

Natalie will compete in Tuesday’s KHSAA 1A State Indoor Meet in Louisville. In all three events, no doubt. Her reign shouldn’t even be remotely threatened in either three. A lock, if you will.

Much of Natalie’s ability to excel stems from mastering the mental and emotional side of competition and training. Ask any elite wrestler, and they’ll affirm that it’s the most beneficial and challenging aspect of their sport. When the macro isn’t containable, roll with the granular. That’s how Natalie proceeds. Whether that’s learned or intuitive is kind of irrelevant. It’s a mark of an athlete staking a claim in maturity’s domain.

“I just think you don't have to be perfect, because there are going to be days when you're tired, when you don't feel as good on the track,” she thoughtfully disclosed. “And just realizing that even if something's not perfect, there are still little things you can change, little improvements you can make, even if it's not completely revolutionary. Just focusing on the small things you can control.”

Anxiety is the bane of any athlete’s existence; any person’s, really. But the mature athlete with the right profile will admit that it can be a formidable stronghold to battle against. They find a solution.

“I think the biggest challenge that I have had to work on, and I'm still working on, is just race day anxiety,” Natalie admitted. “I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself. I'm very serious about the sport, but that sometimes leads to me getting way too wrapped up in how one singular event goes. So that's definitely gotten better over the years, and it's still something I continue to work on, but I just tend to get really nervous before my races and jumps.”

Natalie said the nervousness tends to greet her the night before a competition, so she counters that by focusing on other things. On meet day, she’ll attend to her hair and hone in on her dynamic warm-up routine.

“I definitely try to channel that nervous energy into energy I can use for warm-ups and getting fast reps and stuff, and just getting as ready and prepared as I can, whether that's just doing my hair before a meet, or stretching the night before. I think all those little things help me feel like I'm doing something to prepare myself.”

Stepping away from the track also helps with controlling anxiety and nervousness and allows for some emotional and mental breathing room. The circle of people she spends time with assists in that.

“I think just the people I'm around, whether that's the people I surround myself with at school, or on the track, or in other areas of my life, no matter what, if I stop doing track or something, having that circle of people there for me is the most important,” Natalie said.

Her track and field events aren’t the only weight-shifting, precision-heavy physical activities she engages in. Natalie has developed an affinity for ballet.

“I really like dance. I do ballet. I started a couple years ago. I joined an adult ballet class and just fell in love with that. So I take classes like four or five times a week now. A lot of times I'll be headed from track and quick to get home, get changed, and then go to dance. It's been a really fun thing because it is very different from track, because I don't do it competitively. I just do it for fun. I think it's a good mental break from other things.”

Natalie says, in certain ways, ballet complements her track events.

“There's a lot of balance and core strength that definitely transfers over to when you're going over a hurdle. You can't be completely twisting and falling apart. I think a lot of the exercises we do in dance help that.”

Perhaps, it’s Natalie’s perspective on competition that quantifies her ability to continually succeed—Yes, a shoutout to talent is appropriate here.

“Something I've done a lot of times is just talk with the other girls before a hurdles race. A lot of times, we're all super nervous, especially at the beginning of the season. Just talking with the other girls and all of us realizing even though we're competing against each other, it doesn't have to be scary. We don't have to see each other as competition, but just as people doing the same sport, doing the same event.”

The right profile.