Emma Rodgers enjoyed an outstanding athletic freshman season at Montgomery County High School.

First, she qualified for state in cross country. Then, she earned all-Eastern Missouri Conference honors in basketball. On May 24, she ended her freshman year in style by becoming an all-state medalist in track.

Rodgers finished eighth in the 800-meter run with a season-best time of 2:25.74 at the Class 3 state track meet at Jefferson City, joining a large group of MCHS athletes with the last five years to earn an all-state track medal in their freshman season. Tyler Erwin, Samantha Turner, El Reagan, Jadrian Thurmon and Malia Rodgers (Emma’s sister) are among the athletes in that group.

Rodgers was in 10th place after the first lap, then edged Kristen Ely of Houston by a half of a second for eighth place to earn a trip to the awards podium.

“I was really getting nervous and I knew that I was going to regret it later if I sat here in 10th place, so I sprinted as hard as I could,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers was part of a competitive field that included state champion Brie Massmann of Fatima, four-time all-state medalist Kale Clements of Ste. Genevieve and two-time all-state medalist Lydia Bonderer of Chillicothe.

“We have one of the toughest classes in the state, so it was more of a mindset thing,” Rodgers said. “I knew my start for the 800 was never good, so I knew if I wanted to place, then I had to get a good start doing this, so it’s kind of what I thought.”

Rodgers qualified for state in the 800 by finishing fourth in the sectional meet at Jim Blacklock Field on May 17. She won the race three times this season.
Rodgers also competed in the 1,600-meter relay at state. The squad, which also included sophomores Aubrey Janes and Austyn Robinson and freshman Mieka Ray-Wise, finished 10th in preliminaries with a 4:13.35.

Rodgers said she enjoyed her first trip to Jefferson City.

“I loved it a lot,” the freshman said. “You can ask my mom. I had lots of questions and I asked her questions like I never did at a track meet before. It’s really cool coming to state.”

Rodgers was a solid addition to the MCHS girls track team this spring. In addition to her all-state medal, she also had seven first-place finishes and helped the Wildcats win their sixth straight Eastern Missouri Conference championship.

Six months ago, Rodgers competed in the Class 3 state cross country meet. She was one of two MCHS athletes – the other was senior Jadrian Thurmon – who competed in two state events in the 2024-25 school year.

“Cross country mainly helped me with (track) because I knew cross country was giant,” Rodgers said. “It made me come to state knowing that there was going to be a bunch of people and I had to prepare for that.”