No matter what the season, Winona senior Garrett Ables can be found competing for the Tigers. It was football in the fall, soccer in the winter and with spring he is playing baseball.
Ables was a three year starter at safety in football who was named to the Region 5-3A all-star team in the fall, helping the Tigers to a region championship and a 13-1 record. He was the also the holder for placekicks and saw some action on offense as a blocker.
“He got better every year,” said football coach Joey Tompkins. “By his senior year he was a guy we relied on week in and week out as one of our best defensive players. He was an all-around good football player who would do what you asked him to do.”
As a senior, Ables had 58 tackles and two interceptions.
“He's a great leader, a great kid. He does anything you ask” said Mark Austin, coach of the soccer and baseball teams. “He's not the most talented kid we have, but he gives you everything he has day in and day out in the weight room and on the field.”
Austin convinced Ables to try soccer his junior year. “By effort, he became one of our best defenders. Then I moved him up (to midfield) and he was one of our main scorers this year.”
Ables decided to play soccer because “I love doing stuff. Why not try something new? When I first started playing, I had no idea how to play soccer, but my teammates and him (Austin) explained it to me all through the year and finally I caught on.”
He is a shortstop and pitcher in baseball.
Ables said it can be difficult balancing sports with class work, especially for a three sport athlete. “School comes first. You have to keep your grades up. I knew if I didn't have the grades, I couldn't play.”
Ables is undecided about the future. Although football is his favorite sport because it has the most contact, he said if he plays a sport at the next level it will probably be baseball. “I have played it my whole life. I believe it would be my best sport.”
