Turner spent one season at NCAA II Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) and pieced together an impressive freshman campaign that saw her qualify for the NCAA Central Region Championships after finishing 12th at the Great American Conference championships with a time of 19:17. Over her four 5,000-meter races on the season, she averaged a time of 20:15.

Turner was a four-year letterwinner under head coach Mike Wilson at Coweta. While leading the Tigers to a conference title as a senior, she also set a new program record with a time of 19:06 en route to finishing her career as a three-time All-State selection and a four-time state qualifier. Turner finished third at the 5A state meet as a senior after a fourth-place finish in her junior campaign.

Emerson is the daughter of Dawn Turner and majors in biology.