Welcome back, Montia
Gardner returns with a little help from her friends

      Montia Gardner is back where she would like to be: competing. Just two months after being hospitalized in the wake of a serious accident, Gardner is not only back at school, but she is also competing at her former level and breaking school records again.

     “There isn’t a word in the English dictionary to explain how happy I am,” Gardner said.

     Gardner, a transfer from the University of Memphis, wasted no time making an impact for the DePaul women’s track team. In the first meet of the season she broke both the shot put and weight throw indoor school records in the Blue Demon Open on Jan. 16.

     But less than a week later, on a snowy Saturday morning, Gardner’s indoor season was cut short by a tragic accident. On Jan. 22 Gardner was traveling with coaches and teammates on their way to compete in the Stan Lyons Invitational at Butler University, in Indianapolis, but a slick, icy path appeared on Interstate 65, which spun the van they were riding out of control, and caused it roll over.

     Gardner was listed in critical condition immediately following the accident, was later upgraded to serious condition and spent five days in a hospital before being sent home.

     “My recovery process was very fast,” Gardner said.

     Despite major adversity, Gardner would not lower any of the high goals she set for herself before the season started, and she was ready to return right away. “I was kind of anxious for this meet.”

     But being the first outdoor meet of the season, Gardner still wanted to put it into perspective: “You have to look at this as a marker.”

     “My goal for Florida was to finish where I finished my season last year,” Gardner said.

     Gardner was not too far away from that goal. She finished last year throwing 147 feet. At the Florida Relays she tossed a 139-7.

     Gardner has been getting a lot of help from trainers, coaches and team members. 

     “Julie DeJarlais helped me a lot to rehabilitate my knee,” Gardner said.

Also, some of the most important help Gardner is experiencing is coming from her teammates—particularly from freshman Sue Stoffel, who placed right behind her in the discus at the Florida Relays.

     “If Sue wasn’t around I would not be in the condition that I am in,” Gardner said. “Her mental support is very important.”

     In practice and competition Gardner and Stoffel are constantly making each other better.

     Each time either one of them hits a personal record it will be a new school record in the discus because both surpassed the school record at the Florida Relays.

     “She pushes me to make me better,” Gardner said.

     The work ethic Gardner shows rubs off on Stoffel. Stoffel has not had much experience throwing hammer, since the event was not offered at the high school level, so training with Gardner really helps the learning process.

     “She really has been a great influence on me at DePaul,” Stoffel said.

     When Stoffel found out Gardner was going to be fine after the accident, she had no doubt that Gardner would be competing at a high level.

     “As soon as I found out that she was OK from the hospital, I knew she would be back,” she said.