GRAVETTE -- Gravette may not be where most expect to find an athlete competing on a global stage, but maybe that's just because Madie Edwards knows how to keep a low profile.

"She's done a really good job of existing here without anybody knowing," Gravette Middle School Assistant Principal Cory Briggs said of Edwards, a physical education teacher and the school's head track coach.

Edwards was recently ranked the No. 1 Fittest Educator in the U.S. and No. 2 worldwide in the 2025 CrossFit Service Cup, an has earned a spot among the top 1% of athletes in the world.

"She doesn't want people to know," Briggs said. "But I told her, 'I'm telling people. This is too cool.'"

For Edwards, recognition has never been the point. She's focused on the work at hand, helping students grow in strength,

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