LA CROSSE — The sixth-place medal that hung around the neck of Melrose-Mindoro High School junior Bristol Coats on Friday was a special one.
It represented much more than the 17 feet, 6 inches of ground she covered in the Division 3 long jump at the WIAA state track and field meet.
Coats was certainly good to compete at the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex as a sophomore, but a torn meniscus in her left knee ended her season and wiped out an entire volleyball season and chunk of a basketball season for recovery time.
“I did not expect to make it this far after last year’s injury,” she said. “It feel great. It feels awesome.”
Coats tore her meniscus on her final jump at a sectional hosted by Luther last spring.
It led to a very long recovery that stopped her from competing from the date of the injury — May 27, 2025 — until Dec. 15, 2025.
“I was slowly tearing it throughout the (track) season,” Coats said. “And then it just tore fully in half when I launched off the board (at the regional).”
Coats was able to see a doctor the following week, and MRI led them to a meeting with a surgeon and schedule procedure that took place roughly a month after the injury.
She was non-weight bearing for the next three months before embarking on a three-month physical recovery.
“I had to re-learn how to walk, and I had to gain all muscle again because I lost muscle in my legs,” Coats said. “I couldn’t play volleyball, and was able to have a partial basketball season.”
She cried during team pictures for volleyball and was grateful for the support she had upon returning to basketball. That support helped the mental side of recovery.
“I was a little scared with basketball,” she said. “I was scared about re-tearing it.”
It took some time to trust that the recovery time worked when she began jumping again at the beginning of track and field, but she had gained that by the middle of the season.
By then, Coats was all in on competing in the 100 and 200 meters, the 300 hurdles and the long jump.
She qualified for state in the long jump, the 300 hurdles and the 200. Coats hit the 17-6 on her third attempt and was 1 1/4 inches out of fifth place.
Coats also fought her way through prelims for the 300 hurdles and 200 and qualified for Saturday finals.
She was second in her heat during the 300 hurdles and is seeded fourth after running a 45.67-second race.
Coats didn’t get to run her 200 prelim due to thunderstorms rolling into La Crosse. The meet was suspended at 7:30 p.m. and never resumed, pushing some of Friday night’s events back to Saturday morning.
