Warner Robins senior perseveres despite disappointment

Abigail Cranford’s senior year didn’t go according to plan, but she’s tried to make the best of it.

A three-year starter on the Warner Robins High School soccer team, Cranford tore her ACL, MCL and meniscus in her right knee in a scrimmage just days before the Demons’ season was set to start Feb. 13.

“It took a few days to really hit me,” she said. “It all just hit me that it was actually gone. It was a lot to deal with.”

It was difficult to watch her teammates playing without her, but she still came to all the home games and even went to some road games.

“I did what I could, like getting the stuff together and just pumping up the team,” Cranford said.

Head coach Bryan Watts is in his first year as the Demons’ head coach, but he’s known Cranford since she was in the ninth grade. Working without his center back defender was a challenge for the whole team, he said.

“When she got hurt, we had to readjust our defensive scheme,” Watts said.

Describing Cranford as a competitive person with a “strong faith in God,” he said her willingness to attend games and encourage teammates when she couldn’t participate showed her character.

“To me, that says she is the ultimate team player, that she put the team before herself,” he said.

The injury may have derailed her senior season at Warner Robins, but Cranford isn’t done on the soccer pitch. She’s planning to attend Middle Georgia State University, and she said she intends to contact the soccer coach there, Vinny Gill.

Even if Cranford has to sit out a year to finish her recovery, Watts said he’d be glad to put in a good word with Gill.

“He’s getting a fantastic player and fantastic person,” Watts said.

Cranford said she looks forward to the “incredible feeling” of getting back on the field after learning not to take things — like playing the sport she loves — for granted.

“You just really learn to treasure what you have,” she said.

The senior, who no longer requires crutches but hasn’t started running yet, also noted that whenever she gets back on the field, it will be emotional for her.

“I might cry at that first game.” she said.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Warner Robins senior perseveres despite disappointment."