Garner survives a major setback; looks forward to a promising college track and field career

Emily Garner was named the Pacific Coast League female athlete of the year. (Photo Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone)

It wasn’t quite the senior season that Woodbridge High’s Emily Garner was expecting.

But it ended on a memorable note when Garner was named the Pacific Coast League’s female athlete of the year by the Orange County Athletic Directors Association.

Garner, who had a stellar track and field career for the Warriors in her first three years, had to deal with a serious injury she sustained while playing for the Woodbridge soccer team this past season which sidelined her for her entire track and field season.

Still, she had done so much in her career to warrant the athlete of the year award.

“I am so honored, I have a lot of pride for everything I’ve been able to do and I’m so grateful I can get this award,” said Garner, who was also Woodbridge’s female scholar athlete of the year. “There are so many other amazing athletes.”

Garner had played soccer in her freshman year before devoting her energy to track and field and she wanted to give soccer one more shot this year, knowing it would be her last chance to play it.

“I think the third league game I tore my ACL in like the first 20 minutes of it,” Garner said. “And I knew right when it happened it was a torn ACL.

“Basically at that point, that meant I was out for the season, which was the biggest bummer ever because I had a lot of big goals for the season and I wanted to win state in the high jump, which I wasn’t able to do this year.

“But it’s OK, it’s taught me a lot. I’ve never really had any big injuries before this, I’ve always been really healthy.”

While she was injured Garner spent time observing the other jumpers and the competition and keep learning. She attended league prelims and league finals and said she was impressed with how the Warriors did.

She admits it was a challenge to get through the tough times.

“I’m a pretty positive person and there’s not much you can do when you’re injured,” she said. “You just have to look at the positive side. It was really, really hard to be in my bed for two weeks straight and not be able to walk because I’m a very active person, so I watched a lot of movies.

“But it was really, really hard mentally. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to get through mentally because my life before this had been track and I always defined myself as an athlete. So I had to find other hobbies and other interests because I couldn’t train for four hours a a day any more.”

Garner said her friends helped her get through the tough times.

“I got to hang out with friends a lot more which was really fun and I’m so grateful for them that they were there for me through the entire thing,” she said.

Garner began her track and field career at Woodbridge as a freshman and went on to place fourth in the state in the triple jump. In her sophomore year, she began high jumping and won the CIF Division Division 2 championship in the event and wound up fifth in the state.

In her junior year, Garner won the CIF DIvision 1 title for the triple jump and place second in the high jump. She also holds two PCL records.

With the injury behind her, Garner said life is looking up again. She’s healthy now and looking forward to competing for four years in track and field at Princeton University, where she will study criminal and social psychology.

“I’m really, really excited for those and not being able to compete this year made the fire in me really big to compete next year,” she said.

Garner said she has been cleared to run and will be getting physical therapy this summer to get stronger.

“I’ll be 100 percent right when I leave for college,” said Garner, who wants to compete in the heptathlon, high jump and triple jump.”

Garner said she wants to be remembered by how she treated people and not just by what she accomplished in track and field.

“Probably as someone who was really kind to everyone, not just defined by my accomplishments in athletics, but just as a person and super humble, something that I pride myself a lot and having good sportsmanship on the field but what I’ve done off the field in terms of making relationships with everyone at my school and my grades were really important to me,” she said.

Garner said she wants to give hope to those athletes who don’t have a lot of private coaches or trainers. She said she basically trained herself by watching videos.

“You can do it on your own,” she said. “I would go to Uni High School and watch videos on the triple jump and that’s how I taught myself and ended up being top five in the state every single year.”

-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com