If track and field still had a place for her, Allanah McCorkle was ready to return to the sport that had no room in her life after graduating high school.

She had put in her time, participating since she was 9 years old. She excelled, too, as a prep athlete at Davenport Central in Iowa, finishing second in the long jump as a junior and senior at the Class 4A State Championships and adding a silver medal in the 200-meter dash her final season.

When she recites the message she told her mom and grandma several years ago concerning her future in the sport, she still speaks with a reassuring tone.

“Don’t think I’m going to do this [in college]” McCorkle told them. “It’s over after senior year. I’m going to do it until senior year, but after that, I don’t want to do it anymore.”

But it only took a year away from track and field for McCorkle to realize something was missing.

“I thought I didn’t want anymore, and then sitting and going without it, you kind of realize how much you miss something when you actually do go without it,” McCorkle said. “… I think just losing it for that whole year kind of made me realize how much I missed it.”

Her return to the sport was welcomed with success. As she began improving in the long jump from 17 feet to 19 feet to 19 feet and 7 inches during her first two years at Iowa Western Community College, recruiting offers began pouring in from Iowa State, Kansas, Georgia and Kentucky.

She verbally committed to the Cyclones but ended up a Jayhawk after falling in love with Kansas after her first visit there.

“I loved everything about [Kansas], and then when I got there, it was totally different,” McCorkle said. I was really unhappy. I didn’t like the way things were going, and from a track standpoint, I was probably miserable.

“After indoor season, I knew I was done. After Big 12s here at Iowa State last year, I knew I was leaving, and I didn’t want to go back.”

McCorkle had natural talent but technique issues held her back.

She said her coach didn’t work on the aspects of the sport she felt she needed improvement most in.

Of the 30 jumps she attempted during the 2016 indoor season, she fouled 19 times.

“I’m a natural athlete,” McCorkle said. “I can go out there and run, I can go out there and jump, but there was stuff that I lacked that wasn’t getting me as far as I know I could go.

“Me jumping 20 feet, I knew it was in me, but I knew there was more that had to be done for it to come out of me.”

McCorkle had reached a low point in track and field, but she wasn’t ready to give up on the sport a second time.

She decided to turn to the coach she had verbally committed to before deciding to go to Kansas — Fletcher Brooks, Iowa State associate head coach.

“I was a little nervous about coach Brooks bringing me back in obviously after I verbally committed here,” McCorkle said. “… But coach Brooks is a really nice person and open arms, so I kind of had a feeling I could, and I did.”

The Davenport, Iowa, native’s first year at Iowa State hasn’t been absent of any bumps in the road. She fouled on every jump at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships but is now beginning to see the transfer pay off.

She recorded a personal record in the long jump at the outdoor opener, leaping 19 feet and 11.5 inches to Big 12 Female Athlete of the Week honors.

Two weeks later, she finally cleared 20 feet, jumping 20 feet and 1.5 inches at the Stanford Invitational on Friday.

And the fouling problem?

That’s not a non-issue now after she fouled only twice through the first two meets of the outdoor season.

McCorkle has a coach now who works with her on what she struggled most with a season ago — fouling — and she has the “the best training partner ever.”

“As thankful as I am for coach Brooks, I’m just as thankful for [Jhoanmy Luque],” McCorkle said. “If I didn’t have her, I think I would be as successful, but when you have someone else who you’re doing almost as good as and you can work together, it really helps your confidence.”

McCorkle, however, isn’t the only one benefiting from her transition to Iowa State.

Luque, who earned her first Big 12 Championships during the indoor season with first-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump, said McCorkle’s presence has had an impact.

“[McCorkle’s] an amazing training partner,” Luque said. “I love her as a teammate and a friend. “I think that has been helping me a lot. We have fun at practice and during travels. I’m really happy that I have her as a teammate.”

Now that McCorkle has reached 20 feet, she has adjusted her goals to 21 feet, and she’ll get a chance to reach that mark this weekend at the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe, Arizona.

“A year ago today, I was probably at my worst,” McCorkle said. “And right now, I’m at my best. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”