Sophomore distance-runner Erin O’Grady said she was just happy she could start track workouts again.

This was two days after she ran a personal best in the mile at the Wabash Open on Saturday.

For a while, O’Grady was only able to run outside until her knee was able to hold up to workouts again. Track workouts, stretches and lifting weights were things she was unable to do while her knee healed.

This weekend, her knee looked like it was back where she wanted it to be.

The sophomore came out strong, maybe too strong she said, and she took an early lead. O’Grady then calmed herself down, found the right pace and was able to run a time of 5 minutes, 8.68 seconds.

The time was good enough for second place at the event, and was the third fastest time in the Ohio Valley Conference this year. Eastern Kentucky’s Katy Ankrom’s time of 4:49.14 is the best in the conference.

But O’Grady is not the only Eastern Illinois track athlete to be plagued by injury this season.

Senior sprinter Brenton Emmanuel spent a majority of the season on injured reserve. Because of the injury, Emmanuel has only been able to compete in two meets in the indoor season.

The senior, who was used to running his 200-meter dash in the low 22 seconds his entire career at Eastern, failed to break 23 seconds in his first two meets.

But Emmanuel kept working and training while recuperating from his injury, and this weekend the senior was able to break that mark by running the 200-meter dash in 22.95 seconds.

This just shows that athletes can recover through hard work and persistence. They do not need needles or steroids to get them back to where they want to be.

We are about to be inundated by the national sports media with stories about Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Andy Pettitte and the alleged steroid use of these athletes to recuperate from injuries they sustained during their careers. Trainers and athletes will appear before Congress and answer questions and tell their side of the story.

When we hear these stories and wonder if these athletes cheated or not we have to remember athletes like O’Grady and Emmanuel are some of the millions of athletes that are still doing it the right way. The honest way.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].