P.E.I. squash star makes All-American before pandemic forces her home

It has been a year of triumph for P.E.I.'s Emma Jinks, but it hasn't ended the way she hoped.

Jinks had a big year at the University of Virginia, making All-American for the first time.

"It was a big goal for me," said Jinks, adding it was that much more exciting as she shares that achievement with P.E.I., Canada and her school.

"Being able to earn that success is awesome for me, but also it just makes you really proud to be representative of so many other things."

The squash was over when the university went on spring break March 7, and Jinks was in Maine when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11. It was clear she needed to make plans to go home. She flew back to Charlottesville, packed up her room and drove back up to Maine.

Getting over the border required some coordination, because the person she was with couldn't cross into Canada.

"My older brother had to meet me at the border," she said. "I had to get out of the car, walk across the border and then get picked up by my brother."

Self-isolating at family cottage

Her spring semester is continuing online, but she is missing her friends and the university campus — which she says is beautiful in the spring.

She said she was lucky to be able to finish the varsity season. Training for her sport would, of course, be best with access to a gym, she said, but there is a lot of strength and conditioning training she can do at home.

She is in self-isolation at her family's cottage.

Jinks is hopeful the fall term will begin on-time, and she will have the opportunity to work her way up the All-American rankings in squash.

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