Akala Garret, a sophomore at Harding University High School, is making her mark in the track and field world, including being ranked top 5 in the nation.
Garrett knew at an early age that she wanted to be involved in track and field and thanks to her mother LaSonja Collins, who also happens to be her coach, she has found a way to train and compete at the highest level even during the pandemic.
"Being a student-athlete is a whole obstacle that I've got to face, but I know that I have to stay on top of my stuff and my work to get to where I want to go on a college level and go on an Olympic level as well," Garrett explained.
Although Akala is still in high school, she already has her sights set on the future.
"I see myself training with the best of the best to be the best of the best," Garrett said.
Akala and her mother both hope that they can be one more example of women making a difference in sports and inspire others to strive to accomplish their goals, despite any obstacles that may stand in their way.
"To see a female in sports. To show her that you have to go through adversity, you have to be able to find a way to make it happen is just a point for me to teach her a lesson not only right now, but for life in general," Collins explained.
"We will work hard through anything, that goes for me and my mom, females, our team. We'll work hard through anything, we'll practice in the rain, it doesn't matter,” Garrett said. “We work really hard and we just want females or anybody that feels like they can't do it to know they can."
Coach Collins also hopes that others will take notice of what the Harding University High School track and field team is accomplishing and help find a way to provide the team with the resources other schools have so that they not only have the best resources to train but will also have the capabilities to host track meets.