Perseverance Reward: Bacilla Is Back Throwing
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Considering her circumstances, it would have been easy for Emma Bacilla to avoid a final season of collegiate track.
After all, it might have seemed appropriate if the fifth-year senior javelin-event athlete for Louisiana and former three-sport standout from Westminster Christian Academy had said farewell to college track and focused on a medical career.
Instead the 2026 NCAA outdoor track and field season has been one of recovery and triumph for Bacilla, who is scheduled to compete next week in the NCAA East First Round hosted at the University of Kentucky.
Qualifiers from the East and West final rounds will be eligible to compete in the NCAA Track And Field championships next month in Eugene, Oregon.
Cajuns’ head track coach Tommy Badon expressed admiration for the perseverance that Bacilla has exhibited this outdoor season, especially after she experienced a potentially catastrophic arm injury that prevented her from throwing in 2025.
“Emma qualified for the NCAA’s two years ago, but she developed a MCL tear, which is a serious issue for someone using a throwing motion. Her injury is similar to what pitchers have in baseball when they undergo a Tommy John surgery,” Badon said on Thursday afternoon.
Due to the seriousness of the injury, Bacilla, Badon said, was able to request and acquire a medical exemption from the NCAA, enabling her to complete the corrective surgical procedure and rehabilitate.
Badon thinks that as the window has begun closing on her college athletic Bacilla seems to be reaching her peak.
“Emma did her rehab last year and this is her first year back. Anyone who knows about Tommy John injuries realizes how long it takes. It seems that over the last month or so, things are coming together for her,” Badon explained.
At the Sun Belt Conference championship meet a week ago, Bacilla marked 157-7-feet in the javelin. That throw was the third best at the meet, but it qualified her for competition in Lexington, Ky. on May 27-30.
The SBC performance followed a first place in the Jaguar Invitational where Bacilla tossed the javelin 137-2.
In April Bacilla had one throw of 134-5 followed by her 146-1 at the Crimson Tide Meet.
Badon said it’s obvious that her attitude towards recovery has helped Baton through a difficult stretch.
“What has helped mold her comeback from such a serious injury is her commitment, which is also a testimony to her character and upbringing. She is going to probably become a doctor, so track may not have seemed necessary. However Emma wanted to do it again and overcome an injury that is more difficult than overcoming an ACL,” said Badon.
The Cajuns’ female javelin competitors in the past, Badon said, have normally come from Class 1A schools like Westminster, Sacred Heart of Ville Platte and St. Edmund.
“Emma decided that she was going to come here to compete and she’s worked real hard and become pretty good in her event. In addition to that she’s worked back from an injury that severely affects her throwing motion. Her story is a real good one and I’m proud of her,” said Badon.
