Following an ankle injury and a lengthy recovery last year, Maren E. Garnett (BA ’25) wondered if she’d ever pole vault again. But after missing most of the last season, Garnett stunned in the first meet of 2025, shattering the all-time BYU record for women’s indoor pole vault. And after being recognized as a Big 12 track and field athlete of the week, she broke the record again at the conference championships. Now gearing up for the outdoor season, Garnett believes her success is thanks to the power of diligence.
Despite Garnett’s injury, says pole vaulting coach Richard D. McWhorter (BS ’94), she “came to practice every day and did anything that didn’t require being on her foot….She was the first one to practice and the last one to leave.” Because of that, McWhorter says, “she’s the only athlete I’ve ever coached that came back from an injury stronger and faster than she was before.” Now fully recovered, Garnett’s training regimen requires constant discipline. “It’s a process,” says Garnett. “It’s been years of consistently doing things to get incrementally stronger, physically or mentally or spiritually.”
And as she considers a future in pole vaulting, it’s that spirituality that keeps Garnett going. “If you find a purpose, especially being a disciple of Christ, . . . you [can] find fulfillment,” Garnett affirms. “It goes a lot further than just representing BYU. We’re representing Jesus Christ and His gospel. I think that makes all the difference.”
