Jones is the lone upperclassman on a Rudder girls gymnastics team chock full of talented freshmen and sophomores, and while taking on the primary leadership role, she helped the Lady Rangers reach the Texas High School Gymnastics State Championships as a team for the first time since 2013.
She did all this while dealing with the sudden loss of her older brother, Taylor Pastorek, who died in September.
After getting a taste of the state tournament competing as an individual last season, Jones began her junior year determined to help Rudder get there as a team. That all took a backseat upon news of Pastorek’s death.
Jones took off three weeks from school to attend funeral services and be with her mother’s family in Louisiana.
“It’s been a difficult year for me,” Jones said. “It really broke me. It really hurt.”
Rudder coach Cali Currie said the Lady Rangers weren’t sure they would be getting their leader back. What was originally supposed to be a week-long sabbatical extended several weeks while Jones and her family mourned Pastorek, who was a junior at LSU.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Currie said. “That’s important, and your family comes first, but she found that she needed to get back here and finish school and be with her team.”
Jones hit the ground running when she returned to Rudder, determined to help her team reach its goal of competing in the state tournament. Jones put much of her energy into practice, both in making individual improvement and pushing her teammates.
Jones said dealing with her brother’s death helped her grow both personally and as a leader, describing herself as “a new person.” With Rudder fielding an inexperienced squad competing in a difficult Region II, her leadership was vital.
“[Jones] supports everybody; she doesn’t just choose one or two people,” said sophomore Madison Miller, Rudder’s top all-around gymnast. “She encourages everybody and pushes them to be as good as she is and wants us to all win.”
Currie said that Jones has grown admirably into her new role this season.
“She can definitely shoulder a lot,” Currie added. “She doesn’t show her stress a lot, but she definitely wears her heart on her sleeve, so when something is bothering her, you definitely know. When something needs to be addressed on the team, she doesn’t have any qualms about saying, ‘Hey, get your act together.’ Being that leader but putting people in their place, she doesn’t always do it in the most tactful way, but that’s Emma. That’s what we love about her. She calls it like she sees it. She’s got lots of heart and is a super hard worker.”
Three teams from each region qualify for the state tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Bryan. The Lady Rangers entered the season ranked third in Region II, and Currie said she felt good about Rudder’s chances of finishing in that spot. The key was going to be reaching the minimum two-day team score to qualify — 215.
Reaching that number was going to require nearly every gymnast to have a good meet, something Currie and Jones harped on throughout the season. In the one-day, optional routines district meet on March 27, Rudder scored 105.95, good enough to advance to regionals but off the pace for the state qualifying score.
“Every day in the gym it was, ‘Is this good enough for 215?’” Currie said. “We’ve had a lot of bumps and bruises and aches and pains along the way, and without everyone feeling their best we were wondering if we were going to be able to do this. In our minds, the goal was there, and it’s obtainable, but can we really pull it off?”
A week later, Rudder put it all together at regionals, scoring 217.80 to finish third and qualify for state, led by a fifth-place finish from Miller and 11th-place showing by Jones in the all-around.
“I’m just so happy that we did that,” Jones said. “I’ve been wanting this since freshman year. It’s a moment I will remember forever.”
Jones’ ability to help mold a team of inexperienced but talented gymnasts played a hand in Rudder being able to end its six-year state skid. She may have received an even greater gift from her team, though, as her teammates were there for her when she needed them most.
“It’s been really hard since I lost my brother,” Jones said, “but the team, they were real supportive. They helped me push through. I have bad days, too, and they help me be ha... Click here to read full article
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