ALBANY — Whether it proves a fairytale or not, there is no doubt that Jenna Gearing will forever remember her last trip to Albany.
After recovering and rehabbing from a broken leg, the tantalizing vision of her last GHSA girls track and field championship is finally real for the White County senior.
"It was the only thing I looked forward to when I was in that cast for months," said Gearing, who will compete in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters to complete an extraordinary four-year journey. "It just hit me that this will be my last meet for White County, so that's just extra motivation."
Not that the Lady Warriors' standout ever needed exterior motives to excel.
A state cross country champion as a freshman and sophomore, Gearing also claimed three gold medals at the state track and field finale -- the 3,200 meters as a freshman and both 1,600 and 3,200 as a sophomore.
Now she's hoping to strike gold once again in her final Albany appearance -- even though circumstances will make that extraordinarily tough.
Not only will Gearing face a brutally deep and talented Class AAAA field, she will do so just weeks removed from her first true competition of the spring following full recovery from the broken leg that robbed her of a third cross country title in November.
"She was just 40 meters from winning the whole thing, and then she slipped. ... It was devastating," Warriors track and field coach Jake Cantrell said.
It was the type of injury that would have curtailed most athletes from even considering spring competition -- but, like her athletic abilities, Gearing's determination and focus are also exceptional, and the senior embarked on a measured and consistent rehab program designed to get her in shape for the end of the track season -- even if only just.
"I knew I'd be fortunate just to run at Albany," Gearing said. "I only started running competitively a month ago. But my times started getting good again right around the region meet -- which was a good timing."
It was also sweet reward after the restrictions and constrictions of weeks spent in a cast.
"I was in a full leg cast for about a month-and-a-half," Gearing said. "Then I was in a soft cast for about another month-and-a-half. It was not fun."
Then there was the rehab.
"We had a conservative plan but we attacked it aggressively," Cantrell said. "We eased her back in. And she showed up ready to work every time. But that's the way she's been all her life. ... Most kids would not have done what she has done."
It did not take long for Gearing, a finely-tuned athlete accustomed to playing multiple sports. In a typical spring she competed in three-five events for the track team while also playing for the varsity soccer team. She also played basketball in the winter.
"She's the total package. Look at all the things she's done over her career," Cantrell said. "And as good of an athlete as she is she's just as good of a person. If I could surround myself with Jenna Gearings my coaching would go really easy.
"She's all about the team and making everyone around her better. She'd do anything for the team. She even wanted to do pole vault when we needed someone but we wouldn't let her."
Now, Cantrell and the Warriors coaches hope to let Gearing go one more time in Albany -- even if she's not quite at her peak.
"I'm just going to go with how I feel," said Gearing, who has signed to run for Clemson following her prep career. "It's going to be tough. But if I run a good race I feel I can win. If I have a bad day I could finish back in the pack and have to fight to podium.
"But I've done everything I could have done in the time I had. This is also my last chance in a White County jersey, so I want to give it everything."
Marist's Josie Wirtz owns Class AAAA's best qualification times and best recorded times this season in both the 1,600 (5:07 overall -- 5:10 at sectionals) and 3,200 (11:10 overall -- 11:37 at sectionals) and heads a pack that Gearing believes is as talented as she's ever competed against. Gearing enters the championships with sectionals times of 5:17 (1,600) and 11:44 (3,200).
As Cantrell says, however, if there is any athlete who could pluck a victory from the current challenge, it is Gearing.
"If it comes down to the will to win and heart of a champion, I know who I've got my money on," Cantrell said.
-- NOTE: Gearing will compete in the 1,600 finals on Thursday and 3,200 finals on Friday. ... For a look at each area competitor qualified for events in Albany, as well as schedules and live scoring information, click here.
