It might not be the journey Brenna Karnish expected or envisioned.

But it’s one that she has embraced.

Through starts and stops and some sudden changes, Karnish has been steadfast in her approach.

And she has seized every opportunity along the way.

The Marian graduate and Misericordia standout recently concluded her season at the NCAA Division 3 Track and Field Championships.

She finished 11th in the hammer throw with a toss of 50.62m. Her personal best in the event throw is 52.24m (171-5).

During the indoor season, Karnish finished 16th in the weight throw at the NCAA D-3 Championships with a toss of 15.74m.

She threw 14.65m on her first attempt, and ended with a toss of 14.69m. Karnish owns a personal best of 17.32m (56-10) in the weight throw.

It was the first appearance at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA D-3 Championships for Karnish.

“Previously, I was closer in shot put than I was in weight,” Karnish said. “I was maybe .4 or .5 meters off, and obviously that was my goal last year as well, to make it there, but I didn’t. I used that as motivation for this year, and it really helped me to train a lot harder and to train a lot more specifically.

“So coming into this season, that was my goal. And it turned out to be more so for weight and hammer, and I could see that at the beginning of the season, so that’s where I started to dedicate a lot more of my training to, those specific events.”

At Marian, Karnish was a district champion in discus and a four-year state qualifier. She was also a member of the District 11 championship basketball team for the Fillies.

“Coming out of high school, I never even heard of weight or hammer until I came here,” Karnish laughed. “Coming in, I thought it was going to be discus, like that was going to be my big event. And then I was introduced into weight and hammer, and then over the past few years, with all of my training and drilling, it just kind of worked out that hammer ended up being my better event.

“It was really challenging, because the footwork by itself is completely different. But again it was kind of nice, because I didn’t have any bad habits already developed for that event coming out of high school to college. So I was able to kind of get a better base, and focus more on the footwork and be more technically sound than I think if I would have had it in high school and coming to college.”

Karnish also played basketball as a freshman at Misericordia.

She is working toward her doctorate in physical therapy, and is set to graduate in December of 2023.

Karnish is currently doing her first full clinical rotation at Geisinger Wyoming Valley, which includes four 10-hour shifts a week, though she still makes time for lifting, training and drills.

Due to time lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic and playing basketball her freshman season, Karnish will return next year for both indoor and outdoor competition.

Karnish plans to continue competing beyond college, with her sights set on even bigger goals.

“My goal one day is to make it to the Olympics,” she said. “That’s my end goal. So I guess it’s just learning to embrace the grind, and being able to embrace the journey and know that it’s not always easy, and sometimes it does get very difficult and it makes you second guess why you’re doing what you’re doing.

“But it’s within those moments that when you push through those things it helps you to come out on the other side a lot better of an athlete, and also a lot better of a person. I’m very dedicated and very ambitious, so I have no doubt that one day I will be able to make it there. For this season, my goal is just to try to be the best that I absolutely can be, and wherever that puts me, that’s where it puts me.”