By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Lauren Jones does not like to sit still.

She never has.

As a youngster growing up in Garrettsville, if there was a sport or activity available, you can bet she was involved in some way.

To the point that her parents, Bruce and Sherry used to wonder if the hectic schedule was too much for their daughter.

They were concerned that maybe she would get burned out.

Then, they would sit at the kitchen table for dinner and Lauren would burst out, “That was the best day of my life!”

They decided they would wait until the enthusiasm started to show signs of fading before they would pull the reins back on their active daughter.

They are still waiting.

Jones, now 26, living in Dayton and working in medical sales, is still active in CrossFit and everything else she has time for.

For the ultimate competitor, who won three state championships as a member of the Garfield G-Men track and field team and also became an All-American at Oklahoma University, it’s her newest way to stay active and happy.

She’s still searching to fill every minute inside her 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. day.

GROWING UP IN GARRETTSVILLE

Jones first fell in love with sports while watching her older sister Lindsey compete.

Lauren Jones stands with Garfield throws coach Jim Pfleger after winning her third state championship in the discus during her senior season with the Garfield G-Men.

“I wanted to do everything she did.”

And she did, but Jones’ athletic career began in gymnastics. First in a mommy and me class and then a deeper commitment with competitive meets.

Eventually, other sports joined the calendar of events, including softball, basketball, volleyball and golf, with marching band fitting in, too.

The family was all in and all for it.

“My dad was monumental in my athletic success,” Jones said. “He was our coach, and he pushed me and set the bar high, but he never made me do anything I didn’t want to do. He wanted me to want to play sports.

“I don’t remember a time, ever, that when I asked, ‘Hey, dad, want to play catch, want to shoot hoops, want to go to the batting cages,’ that he ever said anything other than, ‘Yes, we will go’.”

And they would go, go, go.

When Jones was picked up from one practice, she would oftentimes eat her dinner during the car ride to the next practice.

“At the end of summer, I remember a lot of days when I would walk nine holes of golf at 7 in the morning, then go directly to band camp after that. I would lift weights during my lunch break, then go back to band camp. I would leave band camp to get to volleyball practice, then eat a quick dinner and finish back at band camp until 9 at night.

“Most people would have worn out from that, but all I could think about was that I wish I could do that every day,” Jones said. “I remember being exhausted, but also excited to have the chance to wake up and do it again.”

By the time Jones graduated from Garfield, she not only set a new standard for work ethic, but also a legacy of success.

She was the Valedictorian of her graduating class, with a 4.2 grade-point average, she earned 18 varsity letters in six different sports (soccer, softball, golf, basketball, volleyball and track and field) and in addition to playing in the marching band, she was also the captain of the flag line.

She won three consecutive Division II state championships in the discus, with her third of the three-peat coming during her senior season with a throw of 157 feet, 9 inches, and was a nine-time state qualifier (shot put, discus and long jump).

HOW OKLAHOMA STOLE HER HEART

Basketball was Jones’ favorite sport, but it was track and field that picked her.

“I was fortunate to be very good at it and it took off,” she said.

So much so that she began to receive attention from Division-I schools.

As she worked her way through the recruiting process, it was Oklahoma which went from not even being on her radar to winning over her heart.

And it almost didn’t happen.

On a summer day when Jones was in the middle of band camp, her phone rang and the call was identified as an unknown caller.

“I had no idea who it was,” Jones said.

Only because it was close to a break in the camp, Jones decided to answer the call and it was Oklahoma throws coach Colin Boevers.

Jones, who said she had all but made up her mind that she was going to go to Louisiana State University, decided to listen about the Oklahoma opportunity.

She traveled to Norman, Okla., for an Ohio State-Oklahoma football game and she unexpectedly felt like she was at a home away from home.

“I could feel the family atmosphere almost immediately,” she said. “The coaching staff, the athletes, it was night and day different from any of the other campus visits I had. It felt like a small college town. Everything was close and the campus size was small.

“They didn’t prioritize basketball and football like it felt like at other schools and even my parents felt like it could be a good fit for me,” Jones said. 

Soon after, Jones committed and became a Sooner in what she called “one of the easiest decisions I have ever made.”

“I really feel like it was a blessing in disguise that Oklahoma snuck in at the last minute,” Jones said. “The culture of the program and the family atmosphere was a perfect fit for me.”

SUCCESS WITH THE SOONERS

One of the things that caught Jones’ attention through her recruiting discussions with Oklahoma was that the program’s coaching staff was focused on letting her be herself.

“Before I ever competed at OU, the coaching staff had said to me, ‘Mark our words, you are going to be one of the best hammer throwers in the country.’ They believed in me from day one and it is easy to believe in yourself when your coaches are your biggest fans.”

Jones went to work, like she always does, and began to work herself into a position to deliver on those expectations.

Even during her freshman year, she was a scorer at the Big 12 Championships, and she continued to climb up the college ranks.

As a junior, she won the Big 12 championship in the hammer throw, then repeated the accomplishment as a senior.

She holds the OU record for the hammer throw at 228 feet, 6 inches and became a two-time All-American in the event, as well as in the discus.

She even had an opportunity to compete in the 2021 Olympic Trials, finishing 18th overall in the hammer throw.

“In college, it was the people around me who made me love the sport,” Jones said. “They made the sport easy to come to practice. When you are around the people who you love, it is easier to work hard. It is easier to be sore when you know you are doing it for people who care about you. And I was lucky to have that. OU set an expectation of what my experience was going to be like, then they completely over delivered. It was everything and more than I could have ever expected.”

FORCED INTO RETIREMENT

An injury to her left knee stopped any Olympic dreams Jones had, but, ironically, the same injury strengthened the legacy she left at Oklahoma.

During Jones’ senior year with the Sooners, she was power cleaning when the bar slipped out of her hands and landed on her.

About 250 pounds hit the same knee that she had torn her ACL in during middle school.

It was the start of a senior year that was filled with pain.

“I had a pinching feeling in the knee the entire year. I modified everything I did to try to lessen the pain, but I was sore every day,” Jones said. “My coaches were awesome in helping me along the way, but I never felt like I was quite myself when I was competing.”

At the end of her senior year, she went to the doctor to get her knee looked at and it was discovered that she had a fractured tibia.

When the bar had fallen onto her leg, it pushed her knee cap down with such force that it caused the fracture.

She recently had her third knee surgery to try to help with her pain, which included stem cell and bone marrow transplants.

Still, her doctor told her that she has “the knee of an 80 year old.”

“When they went in for the surgery, it was way worse than the MRI led on, so I was told that I would never run, jump or lift heavy weights ever again — and that I would need a full knee replacement at some point,” Jones said.

Of course, for Jones, that was not an answer that fit.

She had her surgery in November and by December, against the post-op timeline she was given, she had joined a CrossFit gym.

It became part of her recovery, along with six months of rehabbing with a physical therapist and she was cleared about two months ago for full activity.

“Just recently, it was the first time that I could squat, jump or run for the first time in two or three years,” Jones said. “I had almost forgotten what it felt like. The first time I did it, I was at PT, and I said, ‘I have to take a video of this and send it to my dad.’

“I had forgotten what it was like to live without pain, then all of a sudden the pain was gone,” Jones said. “I know that I pushed the limits of what the doctors wanted me to do or that I went against the timelines, but I didn’t want to limit myself. I did not want to slow down because of my knee. At the age I am, I shouldn’ have to slow down. It is why I sought out additional surgeons to help fix my knee, because I didn’t want to just get by. I wanted to be myself again.”

The same Lauren Jones that is used to going 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., who will wake up with enthusiasm to do all over again the next day.

She is not worried if you keep up with her or not.