The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Senior inspires with comeback
Westlake senior Erica Francesconi believes in the five tenets of Taekwondo: Courtesy, integrity, perseverance, selfcontrol and indomitable spirit.
But she has added one more belief to the tenants: Internal energy.
“That’s the flow within the body,” she said. “Whenever I’m out on a race or out with my friends, I just try to be mindful of my surroundings all from my internal energy. I honestly get all my energy from my internal energy. What I learned through this experience is you have to be very mindful and have to take it day by day.”
This is important to note because the experience she talks about isn’t your typical “battle back from an injury” story.
When Francesconi went down at last year’s Division I regional meet at Boardman, little did she know what the next nine months would be like.
She fell down seconds into her race, and got stampeded by several athletes, causing a severe concussion and torn tissue in her neck.
Aug. 25 at the Southwestern Conference Preview marked her return to the course, and Francesconi won (19:48.9), edging Avon’s Jules Frombach (20:13.1).
“I separated from Jules after the hill, and that’s when I took off,” she said. “I’ve been out since regionals, and I haven’t really ran a race since then. My first goal was to get out and not fall down, and after the hill, I took off from there and felt confident.”
Francesconi looked like she never missed a beat. But there were questions about whether she would ever reach that point.
After winning the race, unprompted, Francesconi touched on some of her battles.
After missing out on a state berth and suffering a concussion, she was diagnosed with PTSD and was pulled out of school in January. She was in intensive care until May, and didn’t get back into running until the end of June.
“From that point, I’ve gotten back into the swing of things and making sure my head doesn’t spike,” Francesconi said.
She says she can’t do normal teenage stuff anymore, such as riding roller coasters, pep rallies, football games and school assemblies because the noise overwhelms her.
Francesconi added she doesn’t do “fun stuff anymore” and jokingly called herself an old lady. She was pulled out of school because she struggled to read and comprehend. But the principal is allowing her to pick up her classes where she left off, and she should graduate in 2020.
“It came to the point where I would look at something and someone would ask me what I read and I didn’t remember,” she said. “It got that intense.”
Francesconi’s parents and doctors were there every step of the way, but the doctor told her ultimately she needed to focus on herself. Struggling
to find a balance between school, friends and her medical needs, Francesconi couldn’t.
For once, she needed to put herself first.
“I needed to focus on my health and what my head could tolerate,” she said. “If I didn’t do that, then I would not have been able to run this race. I love life and living in the moment. I want my proper education and I want to do high school stuff I can tolerate with my head. I want to take the SATs to my full potential, and I want to go to the best college that I can possibly go to.
“That’s why I’m taking a step back and focusing on myself. It’s my journey and no one else’s, and no one can tell me what to do except my parents and my school of course, but they’re guiding me in the right way and I trust them with all my heart. There are dots in life and you have to follow the dots because if you don’t follow the dots, it’s not going to do anything.”
Francesconi was a dominant force in the SWC last season, winning a district title. The SWC Preview meet showed she is once again a favorite to repeat, but there is more she wants.
She knows, deep down, she was robbed of a state berth in 2017. This season is all about redemption.
“I’ve never been more motivated and driven to reach my goal,” Francesconi said.