In each of the past few seasons, Goodland coach Bill Biermann has watched one of his players take the role of what Biermann calls a “mother figure” for the Cowgirl basketball team. 

“It started kind of with Kerrigan Rudolph four years ago, then my daughter (Mikayla Biermann), then last year Emma Lehman  … taking that role of making sure everybody was happy and everybody was getting along,” Biermann said. 

There was no question who served as team mom this year. 

Biermann lauded senior Jordin Owens for helping create great chemistry among the Cowgirls, who just completed a 26-0 season en route to a second straight Class 3A state championship. 

“My most desired part I tried to do was make sure that the underclassmen felt appreciated,” said Owens, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week. “You never know how anybody’s day is going.”

When this year’s group of seniors came into the program as freshmen for the 2019-20 season, Owens said the seniors on that squad helped change the culture and taught the newcomers how to win. Goodland had won just four games the year before.

Owens said she and her fellow seniors – Olivia Lehman, Lindsey Cure and Talexa Weeter – did their best to pay it forward by making sure everyone felt welcome, no matter how big of role they played on the court. 

“High fives were my biggest thing,” Owens said. “High fives in the locker room, high fives on the floor. Everybody makes contact after practice, just to know you’re appreciated. It feels like it helps with bonding with the freshmen and sophomores. 

“Us seniors are very close to the juniors because we’ve played with them so long, but we really hadn’t had time to build those connections with the sophomores, and I felt like this year the leadership was all there and we got to definitely make a difference in their opinion of the sport.”

On the court, Owens settled into an important role off the bench this seasson, helping bolster the Cowgirls’ depth in the post. 

“I don’t think we win it this year without her,” Biermann said. 

After winning the title last year, the Cowgirls embraced the target on their back and took everybody’s best shot. They secured the repeat with a 59-37 win over Cheney in the championship at Hutchinson Sports Arena. 

“It was an amazing feeling,” said Owens, who was also a member of the Goodland volleyball team that reached state three times in a row. “Us four seniors have been playing together since we were in the third grade, so just going out with that big of a bang was amazing. Getting to play with a team like that where we were so close and everything was just unmatched. The emotion, the adrenaline rush and everything, it was just cloud nine. There’s no feeling you can match to win a state championship, let alone two times in a row.”

Owens’ athletic career got off to a rocky start with injuries that forced her to miss the start of her freshman and sophomore basketball seasons. She suffered a torn labrum in her hip as a freshman, then tore her meniscus in a freak injury her sophomore year. 

“It’s so hard to watch your team play with you not (out there),” Owens said. “Sitting on the bench is a struggle. For me, the hardest part was getting to see the underclassmen play and know, ‘Dang, I should be playing right now.’ But overall, (overcoming the injuries) made me who I am today.”

And capping her career as a two-time state champion made sticking it out through the setbacks well worth it. 

“I had a blast. Just getting to play the game is amazing, getting to push this long in a game that you love,” Owens said. “A lot of people don’t get a chance to play with such an amazing team, and just a coach that loves you relentlessly.”

Biermann praised Owens’ perseverance. 

“She represents what high school athletics should be about,” Bill Biermann said. “(Through the injuries) I always just kept believing in her. She would always come to all of the workouts. She worked extremely hard. She put in the time and was a great teammate. I always told her, ‘You’re going to be there at the end, you’re going to be there at the end.’ 

“Too many kids don’t put the time and the effort in to reap the rewards at the end. Staying committed, staying dedicated and doing the best that you can, and reaping some of the benefits at the end, Jordin speaks to that.”

Owens is also heavily involved in the school outside of athletics. She is the president of Goodland’s Future Farmers of America program and is also part of Junior Farm Bureau, STUCO and the Girls Athletic Association. 

“Our FFA program has grown so much. (Farming) is a big part of me. I’m definitely a farm kid,” Owens said. “Doing all that and also being involved in a lot of other things in the school is just amazing. I’m super thankful that we have the opportunity to do that.”

She plans to attend Kansas State University to study Animal Science and then will look to come back home and work in a vet office or help run her family’s ranch. 

“I don’t know if (being a senior) has necessarily set in yet,” Owens said. “We have to turn in our research paper and turn in our senior pictures, so it’s kind of getting to the part where it’s like ‘Oh, shoot, I’m actually a senior this year.’

“You just try to soak it all up as you can and try to make a positive influence.”