News

The story of Ethan Trombly is still being written. He is still a teenager with more ahead of him than behind, after all. But on Wednesday, April 20 at Claxton High School’s Region 3-A track & field meet, the 15-year-old standout speedster for Bryan County added an incredible chapter to the Trombly tale, even if it’s still early.

Just nine months and six days removed from having surgery on a torn right ACL sustained during a 7-on-7 football event at Portal High School, Trombly won the region championship in the 1600 meter, finishing with a personal best time while leaving the 15 other runners in the event in the dust. The sophomore ran the 1600 in 5:14.02.

His victory qualified him for sectionals on May 7 at Montgomery County before, he hopes, advancing to the three-day state championships in Albany scheduled for May 12-14. It also put a finishing touch on a remarkable comeback story that not many could have predicted.

“It feels like I just had surgery yesterday, but it has been a hard process that took a lot of work,” Trombly said in a phone call with Prep Sports Report an hour after his win in Claxton. “I knew I could make it back because I had people pushing me, but I didn’t know when that would be.”

Turns out, it was Wednesday. Early in the rehab process, it wasn’t always so evident that Trombly would get back to competing at the 2022 region championships. It would’ve been absurd to think he’d be besting the region’s second-place finisher (5:23.81) in the 1600 meter by over 10 full seconds.

“At first, it was hard to believe (the injury) happened to me,” said Trombly. “I had to cope with it and come to terms with it before I could start trying to get back.”

The injury happened when Trombly was catching a pass during a routine slant route at the July 15, 2021 7-on-7 football session. He underwent surgery on August 31, 2021 in Reidsville and was forced to accept the difficult road ahead if he hoped to return to the football field and track team.

“(The rehab) process was way more challenging mentally for me. It wasn’t anything physically that I couldn’t handle,” he said of the low points during his comeback. “It kind of plays tricks on you, so one day you think it’s going well and the next day you feel like it’ll never actually happen.

“You have to stay realistic, but stay positive too.”

A member of Bryan County’s 4X100 relay team last season as a freshman, Trombly helped the Redskins qualify for the GHSA state championships while also qualifying for the 800 meter and 1600 meter portions as an individual. He was routinely running the 1600 meter with times under six minutes as a freshman, but when he first returned from his injury, the times were creeping closer 6:20.00-6:30.00.

“No matter what, I had to keep believing in myself,” Trombly said. “I talked daily with my trainer Lauren and my coaches were there from the start, but you have to believe in yourself first.”

His track coach, Tim Adams, also coaches defense for the Redskins’ football team. Adams says Trombly was slated to be the starting free safety and wide receiver for Bryan County as a sophomore before the injury. Trombly credits Adams and assistant track coach Sean Coburn for motivating him to keep working.

“You aren’t ever sure about these things when it’s a knee injury,” said Adams, who said he has seen many knee injuries in his years as a head football coach at schools like Jenkins before Bryan County. “We knew he had it in him to come back from it. We knew that. So we stayed on him pretty good and he got to the point where he hit that wall, and he had a choice. It was rough at the beginning, I’m not going to lie, it was a tough thing for him to go through.

“He made the choice to keep grinding and now he has the chance to be a really good winner if he wants to be.”

Considering it took him just 280 days to recover from a torn ACL and win a track title with his best time ever, it’s safe to assume Trombly wants to be more than just really good. And, at this pace, his will be a story worth waiting for.

Follow Ethan on Twitter @Ethan_Trombly.

FOLLOW Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram @JaudonSports. Email him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.