Pain & Gain

Turning Injuries into Learning Experiences

BY MARIO COSENTINO

Any athlete who has been injured has the ultimate goal of recovering quickly and returning to the field of competition with their team. Sometimes athletes don’t get the opportunity to return to competition with their team after they get injured. That is what happened to senior women’s soccer player Sunny Gelnovatch last fall.

“As an athlete it's one of the hardest things you go through, to be injured,” Gelnovatch said. “Unfortunately, it's the truth when you play for four years at that high of a level, training four times a day along with two games during that week, you’re gonna get injured.”

Gelnovatch, a standout midfielder and All-American for Messiah, saw her season come to an end after she suffered a torn ACL during the Sweet Sixteen against Trinity University.

She came back in the second half of the game but was taken out because her movement in her knee was limited. The Falcons went on to win the game and proceeded to play in the Elite Eight the next day. Gelnovatch tried to warm up and that was when her ACL tore completely. Even though this prevented her from playing in the final few games of the season, she refocused and kept a positive mindset for her team.

“I had to take a step back, and I had to say ‘my role on this team is different now, so I’m gonna do that to the best of my ability,’ because it may be different than what I’m used to as a leader but it’s equally as important,” Gelnovatch said.

Photography by Katharine Chamberlain

She could choose to dwell on her situation or pick herself up and continue to support her team at practice and through an NCAA tournament run that ended with a national title.

“It was an amazing feeling, it was unreal,” Gelnovatch said. “To carry on that legacy and to finish your last season on that high of a note as the top team in the country is unbelievable.”

While she hopes to coach and play club soccer in the future, she must first endure the long recovery process of an ACL injury.

Sophomore Kelsey Norton of the women’s lacrosse team also suffered a torn ACL, but she is nearing the end of her nine months of recovery. She sustained her injury at the end of the 2019 regular season. Norton, a defender, fell on the ground and immediately knew something was wrong. She heard a “pop” and knew from her teammates that this was a sure sign of a torn ACL.

“I tried to get up and I couldn’t put any weight on my leg at all,” Norton said. “When that happened, the trainers came over because I was still on the ground.”

It was later revealed that in addition to her torn ACL, she had a slightly torn MCL and a bruised femur. Norton would have to wait for these injuries to heal before going forward with surgery.

She finally had her surgery in July 2019 and has been on the mend since. The journey ahead of her would not be an easy one, so naturally she took it step by step. Just like Gelnovatch, Norton learned to have a positive mindset for her team.

“For me it's working one day at a time, seeing how hard I can work in that one day and then if I just keep doing that every day, then I hope to see the progress go on,” Norton said.

While her teammates start their season, Norton is focusing on conditioning and readying herself to return to the field. That date will most likely be sometime in early April, but for now she is doing what she can to support her team.

“I can still impact my team in different ways,” Norton said. “I’ll be on the sidelines cheering everyone on, and when I do return, I’ll have a different purpose.”

Sophomore wrestler Hunter Zacerous tore his meniscus during a “Singlet Friday'' wrestling practice, which is a team tradition before the first competition of the season. While wrestling a teammate, Zacerous felt a pain he wouldn’t normally feel in practice. As time went on, he suspected it was something more serious, like an MCL tear. Once he learned that he tore his meniscus, he was told that he wouldn’t be back on the mat this season. This was unexpected, but like Norton and Gelnovatch, he adapted.

“When I realized that my role is not what I expected, I filled the role, I embraced the role and I did what was meant for me this season,” Zacerous said.

That role included encouraging other guys on the team who are also injured and taking part in Monday morning devotionals, both of which are things that he would not have done if not for his injury.

“Embrace your role,” Zacerous said. “And no matter if you’re injured, a backup or a starter, you play a major role on the team.”

Gelnovatch, Norton and Zacerous have all embraced their new roles in their respective teams and have done their best to keep a positive mindset. Their work ethic and positive outlooks only go to show that sometimes, there is more to gain when faced with the pain of injury than meets the eye.