Poteau Junior Brooklyn Garner is striving to end the year with a 4.0 GPA and setting her sights on the year to come. Garner aims to “visit my top 5 college choices, save up enough from my summer job to put a down payment on a car, apply for colleges, and raise my ACT score to a 24.”

Goals she’s sure to meet with a little help from her friends namely, Gracyn Soehlman. The teammate Garner says “has left the biggest impression” on her. Sharing that “she’s been a mid- distance runner since middle school, in the beginning of the track season we were still trying to figure out our sprint relays, so our coach asked her if she would like to be in the 4×100 relay, she stepped up, did the sprint workouts, learned to do handoffs, and overall just took the challenge of going from running miles for a workout to running 100 to 50 meters at top speed.”

Of course, let’s not forget how far Garner has come as she shared her favorite athletic memory with VYPE recalling her journey at this year’s state championships. “My favorite athletic memory is from this year at state, I finished 2nd in the 100 & 200, broke my school record for the 200-meter dash, and won the state championship in the 4×100 relay. This is my favorite memory because it showed me all the hard work and sacrifices I had to make to get where I wanted to be. I had a goal of breaking the school record for the 200 and placing top 3 at the state meet, and I did. The amount of work you put in is what the outcome will be.”

Also sharing with us that her “favorite part of being on this team is the determination and dedication everyone has for each other and themselves. Everyone pushes each other to be their best, we lift each other up and have such a positive attitude and atmosphere at track practices and meets.”