It’s every athlete’s worst nightmare.
You’re running, everything feels fine and, out of nowhere, the knee buckles and you hear a “snap.” The next thing you know, you’re on the ground in immense pain.
For Dublin Coffman High School senior Abby Steiner, this nightmare became a reality in July 2016.
At a national soccer camp in Oregon, Steiner tore her ACL when she went to plant her foot and cut with the ball. It caused her to slip in her new pair of cleats and fall to the ground.
“I remember when it happened, just sitting there and saying, ‘Please don’t be my ACL,’” Steiner says. “I was devastated.”
Steiner has been playing soccer for as long as she can remember and, as a freshman at Coffman, she began catching the eyes of college recruiters
“I didn’t start running until eighth grade, but when I did, I thought it might be something I would want to pursue,” Steiner says. “After my freshman season, I knew I wanted to try to do both sports in college.”
During her first year on the soccer team, Steiner and the Coffman girls’ soccer team made it all the way to the state championships at the MAPFRE Stadium. However, on the track is where she really began making a name for herself.
“Although it wasn’t the times I was expecting, my coaches and parents kept me grounded and helped me remind myself at least I was out there running.” - Steiner
She took runner-up statewide in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.89 seconds and won the 200-meter dash in 23.96 seconds. Her sophomore season would see even lower times in those two events.
Flash forward to the 2016 ACL injury. Steiner faced a long road to recovery. For the first six weeks, she was on crutches. On top of her ACL tear, doctors found a slight scratch on her meniscus.
“I was nervous throughout physical therapy that I would not be as fast as I was before,” Steiner says. “Not just in track, but in soccer, (where) speed is a huge part of my game.”
With one goal in mind, Steiner focused on getting healthy enough to compete in her school’s indoor track season, just six months after her injury.
Through both physical therapy and help from a specialized ACL trainer, Dr. Selena Budge, who works with Coffman’s volleyball and basketball programs, Steiner was able to full out sprint by January.
“Dr. Budge really helped me get past those mental boundaries,” Steiner says. “It was rehab, but at the same time, teaching prevention of this injury.”
Steiner chose the Spire Showcase, an invitational for runners in Michigan and Ohio, for her comeback. She recalls really wanting to get out there and test herself.
“I was kind of a mess that first meet back. It’s really hard to know how much it takes out of your body,” Steiner says. “Although it wasn’t the times I was expecting, my coaches and parents kept me grounded and helped me remind myself at least I was out there running.”
In retrospect, Steiner realizes she was probably running at about 70 percent at the Spire Showcase, but she was grateful to be out there so quickly after her injury. She would go on to compete in her outdoor season, seeing much success, especially in the 4x200 meter, and cherishes the bond and memories with her teammates.
Steiner is enrolled to attend the University of Kentucky in fall 2018, where she will continue competing in track and soccer.
She is looking to take the pre-med path to later become a physical therapist. Steiner has declared a major in kinesiology and is hopeful her application to Kentucky’s human and health sciences program will be accepted. If so, she will be one of 75 students in that program.
“I always heard when you get onto a campus during a visit, you will just know,” Steiner says. “I just really clicked with the coaches and players, and it is far away enough to have a college experience, but not too far for my parents to still come and watch me compete.”
Rocco Falleti is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
