By Derrick Smith

High school student-athletes work hard to be the best they can be on the field and a great representation of their school. Along the way, their life can be influenced by a number of people, such as celebrities, a pro athlete, or maybe someone a little closer to home.
Mangum’s Emma Gerlads says that there are a couple of people she looks up to, each for their own reason.
“Sadie Robertson is probably my biggest influence,” she said. “I love how her attitude about life is. She is a great spiritual role model. I love the way she loves Jesus. My biggest role model is my sister, Victoria. She is my role model because no matter what life throws at her, and there have been a few curveballs thrown at her, she never lets it get the best of her.”
Geralds is a senior at Mangum High School, where she is a multisport athlete. She plays fastpitch and slowpitch softball, basketball, and cheer teams. She says that the success that she has experienced during her career has been earned.

“In order to be successful, the main thing is that you have to practice,” she said. “I had to practice so many times on certain things that I wasn’t getting. It took me going out to the softball field with my dad pitching to me multiple times to get my swing right. I’m sporting, you can’t be closed off to constructive criticism and I think that is something that has really helped me all of these years.”
Emma says that one of her top moments as an athlete happened recently as her team entered the postseason.
“We had our bi-district play-in game to advance to Regionals,” she said. “We had to win the best two out of three games to keep our season alive. This season has had its ups and downs but we all came together as a team and worked hard. We played for 7 and a half hours consecutively and are advancing to Regionals. We don’t know how many games we have left this season and I don’t know how many games I have left in my fastpitch career, but I can say confidently that my team has my back.”