Sexson-Lyle Recovered and Back on the Court

Tri-State Media reports:

Sara Sexson-Lyle never expected to play for the Tecumseh girls basketball team again.

After tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee twice in 2011, the senior thought that her days as a Tecumseh Brave were over. With a proposed eight months recovery from surgery in September, Sexson-Lyle could not possibly make it back in time for Tecumseh's season.

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But Sexson-Lyle defied those long odds, shortening her recovery time from eight months to three months. She is once again starting for the Braves and has been since early January.

"It feels really good," Sexson-Lyle said. "I wasn't expecting to come with what the doctor said, but it ended up working out. It feels really good to be back."

Sexson-Lyle first tore her ACL in the last regular season game of 2011 against South Knox. The Braves won that game then went on to win a sectional championship for the second time in school history, but Sexson-Lyle was forced to watch from the bench.

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Two Athletes Overcome Injuries

The Battle Creek Inquirer reports:

A knee brace. It can be a friend or a foe.

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The knee brace can be a friend, because it is a much-needed device that lends support and allows an athlete to get back on the court or field of play.

But it is also a foe, as it serves as a constant reminder that the same athlete isn't completely 100 percent.
Two of the better city girls' basketball players live with the good and the bad every day as they pull on their knee braces, allowing them to continue stepping on to the court to play a game they love.

Battle Creek Central's Kayla Freeman and Lakeview's Lydia Drikakis are both thriving this season after suffering severe knee injuries that slowed or interrupted their high school careers previously.

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Lindsey Jacobellis tears her ACL during X Games

ESPN reports:

Snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis tore the ACL in her left knee during Winter X Games Aspen 2012 practice Wednesday at Buttermilk Mountain, crashing on the final landing on the Snowboarder X course.

Winter X Games medical staff confirmed she will miss Friday's qualifying round, thwarting her chances to become the first female athlete in Winter X Games history to claim a five-peat victory after topping the podium from 2008 to 2011.


"It's with great disappointment that I had to pull out of this year's Winter X Games due to a tear of the ACL of my left knee during practice today after over shooting the last jump," Jacobellis said in a statement. "I am bummed I will not be able to defend my title, and am determined more than ever to take the necessary steps to rehabilitate my knee and come back even stronger next year."

The injury also interrupts her streak on the 2012 FIS World Cup, where she's the current leader after wins in Telluride, Colo. and Veysonnaz, Switzerland.

Jacobellis is a seven-time Winter X Games gold medalist and has been a perennial favorite in the women's Snowboarder X competition since her victories from 2003 to 2005.

"I'm constantly trying to progress the sport of boardercross and raise the level for women," she told ESPN in an interview earlier this month.

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Robin Wenzel gets good news

The Woodstock Independent reports:

Just before Christmas break, the Marian Central Catholic High School girls basketball team lost an integral member of its roster for the season. Junior point guard Robin Wenzel injured her right knee against Woodstock in the Northern Illinois Holiday Classic Dec. 17. Wenzel was concerned she had torn her ACL but, after surgery was completed Jan. 19, doctors informed her she had only torn her meniscus and sprained her ACL. Rehabilitation will take four to weeks.

“I feel pretty good,” Wenzel said. “I was happy it wasn’t my ACL. We weren’t sure going into the surgery.”

Marian head coach Jackie Budmayr said the team misses its point guard.

“You really miss her speed,” Budmayr said. “She makes everybody better on the floor.”

Senior Amanda Salvi has taken over at point guard, and Budmayr is happy with her performance.

“Amy has stepped in and done really well,” Budmayr said.

Besides her basketball prowess, Wenzel is a standout on the soccer field. She played a big role at forward and center midfield for the Lady ’Canes soccer team that finished second in state last spring. The prognosis for her knee means she should be back for most, if not all, of the soccer season which starts at the end of March.

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Ali Krieger likely to miss Olympics

Inside Nova reports:

Ali Krieger will be sidelined six to eight months after sustaining tears to the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in her right knee Friday in the United States’ first game of the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Women's Qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada.

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As a result, the Forest Park High School graduate will more than likely miss the London Olympic Games if the U.S. qualifies. U.S. Soccer said a date for Krieger’s surgery has not been set.

A right defender, Krieger suffered the injury following a reckless tackle by a Dominican Republic player late in the first half of the United States’ eventual 14-0 win.

Since teams are unable to make roster changes after the tournament has begun, the U.S. will not be able to replace her on the Olympic Qualifying roster.

“I feel so unfortunate and I wouldn't wish this on anyone, especially to have it happen in a match where we were in control,” said Krieger. “Soccer is a funny game and this is part of being an athlete. It's unfortunate that the timing is really bad, but this team is about way more than one player and I know with all the support from my teammates, my family and friends and from U.S. Soccer, I will come back stronger than ever. It's going to be a fun year and I'll be with the team in spirit the whole way, even if I have to be a vocal leader, just sitting and watching.”

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Katie Jenson back in action and leading her gymnastics team

The Bemidji Pioneer reports:

A year ago Katie Jensen was looking forward to leading the Bemidji gymnasts at the section meet.

Jensen and the Lumberjacks had improved each week and they were eager to test themselves against the section’s best competition.

“In our sport you have to perfect the skills you have and that takes a long time,” Jensen said shortly before last winter’s section meet. “Once you perfect a skill, right away you have to work on getting a new one. Right now we have many girls who are ready to put in some new skills. We’re going to have them perfected by the section meet and we’re going to be good,” Jensen predicted a year ago.

Jensen, unfortunately, discovered a few weeks later that fate can be cruel. During a floor exercise practice session Jensen landed awkwardly on her knee and the result was a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Instead of leading the Jacks to the section meet, Jensen would be on crutches and would be facing a long rehabilitation process before she could return to the sport she loves.

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Ashley Santos out for the year

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Geneva senior Ashley Santos is likely out for the season with a torn ACL in her right knee, Vikings coach Sarah Meadows said Wednesday.

Santos, a Marquette recruit, went down with the injury Saturday while playing defense during a victory against Lincoln-Way East. She has not had an MRI because doctors are waiting for the swelling in her knee to go down, but Meadows said doctors were "99 percent sure" it was a torn ACL.

Santos' sister, sophomore Sidney Santos, suffered ACL tears at the beginning of each of the last two seasons.

"(Ashley's) basketball career is just starting," Meadows said. "She has four years at Marquette, and she's just a determined kid. This is a little setback. Like she said, 'I'll be stronger.' "

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Jacki Gemelos won't let injuries hold her back

The Los Angeles Times reports:

That first night, she awoke startled. Just a bad dream, she thought.

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Then Jacki Gemelos came to. "This was real," she told herself, "It happened."

Earlier that day, Dec. 18, she lay crumpled on a court, crying, the ligament that provides stability in a knee was torn, again, her life unstable, again, and her USC basketball career over.

"It's a shame people really didn't see this kid play at her peak," said former USC coach Mark Trakh, who recruited her. "She was really something."

In 2006, Gemelos was the No. 1 girls' basketball recruit in the nation, a guard who averaged 39.2 points per game and was considered a blend of Magic Johnson and Pete Maravich.

USC Coach Michael Cooper thought she was good enough to bypass college and play in the WNBA.

Unfortunately, she played just 57 games in three seasons for the Trojans because of four torn anterior cruciate ligaments, two in each knee.

"Maybe I wasn't even meant to play college basketball," Gemelos said.
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Kelsey Serwa out for the season

The Kelownacap News reports:

After proving she was one of the best female ski cross racers in the world during the season-opening events, Kelowna's Kelsey Serwa will have to watch the rest of the season from the sidelines.

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Serwa confirmed Wednesday she has a torn ACL, suffered in a crash in France last week, and will need surgery to repair the damage.

On her Facebook account, Serwa explained the results of the MRI this week in Vancouver.

"It's confirmed, I'm out for the season with a blown ACL and will need surgery in the next month or so," she said online. "I have some bone bruising, meniscus damage, and a first degree tear of my MCL but those should heal themselves. Best of luck to all the competitors on the ski cross circuit for the remainder of the season."

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UVM Women's Basketball best player out with ACL injury

The Burlington Free Press reports:

The University of Vermont women’s basketball team was dealt a huge blow when it learned its best player will miss the rest of the season.

Junior forward Lauren Buschmann tore her anterior cruciate ligament, a severe knee injury that athletic medicine services director Allison Shepherd said on Tuesday was confirmed after diagnostic imaging.

The 6-foot-2 Buschmann averaged 15 points and 8.6 rebounds in 18 games this season, UVM’s leader in both categories. She is the only Catamount averaging double-digit scoring and is considered one of the best post players in the America East Conference.

“I was so disappointed and sad for Lauren because she was having such a phenomenal season,” UVM coach Lori McBride said. “She had hit her stride in conference play. Our other players had really figured out how to get her the ball, we had figured out a how to put her in a position to be successful, and the rest of the team was feeding off that.”

Buschmann injured her knee in overtime of Vermont’s loss against New Hampshire on Saturday at Patrick Gym. With less than a day to prepare with her out of the lineup, the Catamounts fell at Maine on Monday night.

“It definitely hurt us when we went to Maine,” McBride said. “The first half we looked a little lost and out of sorts. .. It’s going to take a little time to regroup. We are never going to replace her, but we need everyone to step up and do a couple of things better and for all of us to play harder so we can be successful without her.

“It happens, it’s part of the game and we have to figure out a way to move forward.”

The Catamounts (8-11 overall, 2-4 America East) return to action Thursday when they play at second-place Albany.

Recovery is an important part of training

The New York Times Well blog reports:

At the gym last week I saw a guy lifting weights, working out his shoulders while two friends urged him on. He alternated two similar exercises with heavy weights, repeating one exercise 10 times and then the other one 10 times, never resting between sets.

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“We want to burn out his shoulders,” one of the man’s friends explained to me.

Exercise researchers would be appalled.

While public health officials bemoan the tendency of most people to do little exercise, if any, physiologists are fretting over the opposite trend: an increasing focus on extreme exercise among some recreational athletes. Weight lifting with no rest between sets and with no days off. Endurance training with no easy days or days off. Competitions that encourage excess.

To enter a recent race, my friend Joel Wilbur had to sign a waiver acknowledging he could die. Still, Joel was disappointed to find the race wasn’t all that dangerous. After signing a death waiver, he said, he expects some serious risks.

My workout partner Jen Davis once signed a race consent form that said: “There are sections of the trail that travel along cliffs. If you’re not careful you could fall to your death. Very few runners go the distance without taking one painful spill. Most runners take lots of them.”

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Athletes back in action after ACL tears

The Examiner.com reports:

This week brought the incredible story of Ireland's Kieran Behan, who qualified to the Olympics in spite of tearing both his ACLs within the past few years (not to mention a host of other problems, but that's another post). 

 

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The last month has shown what Aliya Mustafina was capable of eight months after tearing her ACL at the European Championships.

Now Canada's Jessica Savona, who tore her ACL vaulting at the Japan Cup in July, has posted a video of herself tumbling on soft surfaces five months to the day after her surgery.

Savona, who finished second all-around at the Canadian Championships last May, showed a double layout, Arabian double pike and other impressive work.  Her knee, operated on in August, is 100 percent.

 

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Bucking the ACL trend

NorthJersey.com reports:

MarQuette Burgess unfortunately has seen his fair share of ACLs.

Throughout the years, the Kennedy girls basketball coach has had several of his top players go down with the devastating knee injury, including his daughter, Ashlee, in the 2003-04 season.

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This season, the list grew longer when Erika Brown heard a pop in her left knee as she was going up for a layup during an AAU game in July.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had to deal with injuries before,” Burgess said. “This is part of the game and we have to deal with it.”

Still, Burgess said he wasn’t expecting to experience life without the 5-foot-8 junior point guard until after she graduates in 2013.

But there’s a chance Brown could shock everyone by making it back onto the court this season.

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Sato, back on skis

WhitefishBay Patch reports:

Last January, Ellie Sato, then a junior at Whitefish Bay High School and reigning MVP, was shooting downhill in a high school slalom race, crouching and leaning in around a gate when her ski got caught and her leg twisted backward as she tumbled. She was escorted off to learn she had torn her knee's anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) — on the side opposite the one she tore the previous winter — and would be out the rest of the season.

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After reconstructive surgery and eight months of recovery away from her favorite sport, Sato is back on skis and hoping to help lead a bright new Whitefish Bay ski team to state.

"I definitely learned that it takes a lot of effort to get back to where you want to go, and you have to keep at it to get something you want," Sato said.

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Sato had some catching up to do, she said, because many serious skiers don't stop practicing in the off-season. There are camps out west, and dryland training at home.

Madison Richmond out for the season

The Beacon News reports:

Rosary’s basketball team is having a hard time catching a break when it comes to injuries.

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The Royals recently got leading scorer Karly Tate back from having her appendix removed, but last week’s 55-40 nonconference win over Plano marked the first without point guard Madison Richmond.

Richmond tore her ACL in a loss to Neuqua Valley over the holiday break and will be lost for the season. Luckily, some other players have gotten experience with Tate out. Against Plano, Taylor Gibson provided a spark in the backcourt with 10 first-quarter points and Maddie Kombrink was extremely effective down low with 18 points and nine rebounds.

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Huskies Lose Sophomore for the Season

HeraldNet reports:

By all accounts, Marjorie Heard's sophomore season as a University of Washington women's basketball player was just about to turn the corner.

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After a slow start to the season left her scratching for whatever scraps of playing time she could find, Heard put together two of her most productive games in back-to-back outings against Colorado and Utah. She was almost the hero of Saturday's loss to Utah when the 6-foot-1 post player blocked two 3-point attempts in the final 32 seconds to help UW preserve a three-point lead ... until Utah's Janita Badon finally hit a desperation 3 over another UW player at the buzzer. And an injury to senior teammate Regina Rogers left the possibility that Heard might actually be back in the starting lineup this Saturday at Washington State.

But all of that looks like a eulogy on Heard's season now. The former Glacier Peak High School star twisted her left knee during a Monday evening practice, and on Tuesday her season was pronounced over because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

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Erin Fenningham back after third ACL injury

Montgomery Media reports:

Erin Fenningham is all too familiar with watching from the sidelines. However, the St. Basil guard is back on the floor after a third ACL injury and, though she’s not at full-strength, she sure played as if she was on Thursday night against Merion Mercy.

“She might be the happiest kid in the world right now,” St. Basil coach Terry Mancini said. “She loves to be on the floor and with her back, it gives our young players a very calming influence.”

Fenningham was held to two points in the first half, but went off in the final three quarters to finish with 24 points as the Panthers defeated Merion Mercy, 43-35, in Athletic Association of Catholic Academies action

Both teams started out running a full-court press which brought out a lot of sloppy play, including numerous turnovers. Merion Mercy guard Sam Siegfried was pick-pocketed by Fenningham after the opening tip and Fenningham was fouled on her layup and made one out of two free throws.

The Panthers also suffered from costly turnovers early on and found themselves down 9-4 in the first quarter. St. Basil shot one of 11 from the field including five turnovers—the youth on the Panthers roster was evident.

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Torn ACL Club is hardly exclusive

Madison.com reports:

Even before they became University of Wisconsin women's basketball teammates, Lindsay Smith and AnnMarie Brown were members of another group.

That would be the Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament Club — hardly an exclusive sorority and one that nobody really wants to join.

Smith and Brown had their final prep seasons ended and their first college seasons thrown into doubt when they fell victim to torn ACLs.

Brown suffered her injury just over a year ago while playing in a holiday tournament, while Smith went down during the opening game of the Iowa state tournament in March.

Months later, they are trying to carve out roles on a struggling team under first-year coach Bobbie Kelsey, a two-time torn ACL sufferer.

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Kamiko Williams Returns to the Lady Vols

Go Vols Xtra reports:

Ariel Massengale hit all six of her shots and scored a career-high 19 points for Tennessee on Tuesday night.

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Still, she shared the spotlight with a fellow guard who had but two points.

No problem. All of the Lady Vols were glad to make room for Kamiko Williams, who returned less than six months after major surgery on her left knee.

On a chilly night, her appearance added a warm touch to Tennessee's 90-47 women's basketball victory over Chattanooga before an announced crowd of 11,754 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

"I had kind of the jitterbugs at the beginning," Williams said. "I don't know if my team noticed, but I was bouncing off the wall. It's great to be back."

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Another ACL injury for Oregon City

Oregonlive.com reports:

Oregon City felt a sense of déjà vu when senior wing Jade Lowery went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the semifinals of the Nike Interstate Shootout girls basketball tournament last week.

Last season, senior wing Ashleigh Anderson suffered a torn ACL. In the summer of 2009, it was senior point guard Taylor Ward and senior wing Brittany Knighton. In 2007, it was senior point guard Sarah Boyd.

Each time, the injuries threw a wrench in the team’s bid for a state championship.

The 5-foot-6 Lowery, who transferred from Arizona as a junior and became a captain this year, is second on the team in scoring with an 11.5 average. Without her in the Shootout final against top-ranked South Medford (10-0), second-ranked Oregon City (10-2) lost 69-50, its first defeat against an Oregon team this season.

“Jade getting hurt really hurt us,” coach Kurt Guelsdorf said after the game.

Guelsdorf said the Pioneers will miss the toughness and slashing ability of Lowery, who was scheduled to undergo surgery Wednesday.

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Plainfield Central and Providence best players back after ACL injuries

The Herald-News reports:

With their best players back in the lineup after ACL injuries last season, Plainfield Central and Providence aren’t hurting for victories.

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Providence forward Cassidy Glenn and Plainfield Central guard Brigid Hanley have led their teams’ resurgence this season, and Monday night they showcased their talents in a closely contested nonconference game at Central.

Glenn, a 5-foot-11 senior, scored a game-high 32 points to give her 1,013 points for her career and she grabbed 14 rebounds in the Celtics’ 60-55 victory.

“I didn’t know I was so close to 1,000,’’ Glenn said with a smile. “When my coach told me, I was really happy. The game had to continue, but I’m still really happy about it.’’

“She’s doing a great job for us and just getting stronger as the season goes on,’’ Providence coach Eileen Copenhaver said.

Glenn suffered an ACL injury in February and missed three games at the end of last season.

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ACL injury ends Olympic hopes for athlete

The Star Online reports:

This is definitely not a very happy new year for taekwondo exponent Elaine Teo.

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The 30-year-old former Asian Games bronze medallist may be forced into premature retirement due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee.

Elaine tore her ACL while competing at the Asian taekwondo qualifiers for the London Olympics in Bangkok last month and is set to undergo surgery on Tuesday.

The surgery will surely end her hopes of competing at the London Olympics in August as she will need to go through a long rehabilitation period.

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Tori Welliver recovers from ACL injury

The Daily Review reports:

A year ago Towanda's Tori Welliver wasn't thinking about all-region or all-state honors in volleyball.
In fact, at the time Welliver wasn't even sure if she would ever be able to play high school volleyball again.

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On Feb. 6 of last year Welliver tore her ACL in the left knee during a basketball practice. On her 17th birthday on Feb. 22 Penn State Director of Athletic Medicine Wayne Sabastianelli performed the surgery to repair the torn ACL.

At the time, she was told it would be nine months recovery time. Nine months which would have her returning at the very end of the volleyball season, if at all.

Nine months of recovery that Welliver was determined to complete in less time.

"When I first did it the doctor said it was going to be nine months, which was the end of the volleyball season, so I wasn't sure I would make it back in time."

Welliver knew that with the graduation of Kylee Sutton, Alison Wickwire and Cassie Benjamin, the Black Knights needed a leader this year.

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What you need to know about ACL Tears

The Coronado Patch reports:

If you are involved in sports at all you probably know someone or you yourself have experienced an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear. The ACL is a stabilizing ligament in the knee and when a person experiences a tear in the ACL the knee can become unstable. Sufferers report feeling like their knee is going to give out on them.

What causes the ACL to tear?

The ACL can tear because of a sport injury, car accident, rough play or fall. Interestingly, about 70 percent of sports-related ACL injuries are non-contact. I would have assumed that contact sports like football and rugby would account for a higher percentage of ACL tears, but that is not the case. Most sport ACL tears occur from pivoting and landing after jumping.

The ACL can also tear when the foot is planted on the ground and the person changes direction or is hit by an opposing force. Sports like soccer, football, basketball, and skiing are likely to see more ACL injuries. However, Tiger Woods, a PGA golfer, suffered an ACL tear and following the conclusion of the U.S. Open, he missed the remainder of the 2008 season to properly rehabilitate his knee.


Why are women more likely to tear their ACL than men?

While everyone is vulnerable to an ACL injury, statistically women are more likely to suffer a tear than men. Dr. Sharon Hame, associate professor in orthopedic surgery at UCLA, explains possible reasons why women experience more ACL injuries than men. First, women have smaller bones and ligaments, Hame told the Daily Bruin, which make them more prone to injury. Second, some research indicates that a change in hormone level during menstruation could impact the way a woman responds during physical activity.

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