By Ken Hansard
Wichita Southeast’s Tiana Hardwell, like many athletes, began competing as an active child with lots of encouragement, “My love for sports came at a young age when my mom put me in different sports to see what I liked. I was in gymnastics, soccer, swimming, basketball, track, and much more, but basketball and track stuck with me. I love how competitive basketball is, and I love how track is an individual sport, and you get to set your own goals. I love how it keeps me in shape, the bonds you can create with other athletes, and it’s just something positive to do with my life.”
Hardwell, a junior-to-be, plays point guard for the Buffaloes basketball team and is a sprinter and long jumper for the track squad in the spring. Even though she was only a sophomore this past season, Hardwell feels a responsibility to step up as a leader next year. “A lot of our basketball players were seniors, which leaves spots to be filled; I believe I have the leadership skills to step up! My role on the track team will be to encourage my teammates. In track, you have to be mentally strong, since it’s mostly an individual sport. I love being that person my teammates can rely on to push them and challenge them!”
Despite her active sporting schedule, Hardwell still finds time to compete in a different arena. “I’m involved in a lot more activities. I’ve competed in the Miss Kansas Teen competition three times and the Miss Juneteenth ICT competition twice. These pageants give me job skills, scholarship opportunities, networking connections, and sisterhood!” Hardwell has received several awards and scholarships as a result of her participation in pageantry, including winning first runner-up for Miss Juneteenth ICT last year, where she also won the essay contest and was awarded Miss Congeniality and Miss Dockum Sit-In. Even more impressively, on June 13th, 2024, Tiana earned the honor and the name of 2024’s Miss Juneteenth ICT.
Like most students entering their junior year of high school, Hardwell is still undecided on her plan for the future, but she hopes to continue to play sports in college, preferably at an HBCU (Historically Black College University). Tiana has tentative plans to study communications.
