The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake Catholic senior elated for grid return
Multi-sport standout DeMitro had bulging disc in spring, underwent physical therapy
Christian DeMitro’s junior track and field season was halted by a bulging disc. After two months of physical therapy and shaking off the rust, the Lake Catholic is elated to be back on the gridiron.
This past spring should have been a breakout path for Christian DeMitro in track and field.
Instead, one morning led the Lake Catholic multisport standout down a different — and unfortunately, much less desirable — path.
That path was off the track. But thankfully after a scare, DeMitro is back on the right track.
On Aug. 22, DeMitro caught a touchdown pass during Lake’s scrimmage at Madison, making a fine over-the-shoulder reception and happily celebrating with his teammates afterward.
“It was originally a dropback play, and I thought I was pretty open,” DeMitro said. “I saw (QB Joe Malchesky) roll out earlier, and the previous play, I was kind of waiting in the back of the end zone to see if he’d loft it up. At the time, I came to him. Joe and I, we make throws like that all the time. That’s something we practice all the time. It was no surprise he made the throw, and I was not surprised that I made the catch.”
What also doesn’t surprise DeMitro is a return to the gridiron, on which he is a starting wide receiver, is a heck of a lot better than the alternative he reasonably wondered whether he was facing earlier this year.
Just beginning his preparation for track and field, in which he is an outstanding 800-meter performer, DeMitro was in the midst of his usual workout regimen coming off basketball.
The morning after one such session, though, he said he woke up with sharp pain in his back.
That pain was diagnosed as a bulging disc. It was deemed physical therapy could be done instead of surgery to correct the issue.
“My whole left leg, when I originally hurt it, I couldn’t get out of bed, because it would shoot all the way down my back to my whole foot,” DeMitro said. “For probably about a month, I had no feeling in my foot. It was asleep all the time. I was very grateful for my physical therapist and the things he showed me to keep my head in the right spot. He was promising me that I would get back.”
Two months of rehab followed to recover from the injury, which in turn wiped out his junior track and field season. Because by the time DeMitro was ready to amp up in May, it was too late to make an ample postseason charge in 800, an event that can be a particular beast in Division I with the depth of the field at the Austintown-Fitch Regional vying to get to state.
And if that wasn’t enough, there was still football for which to prepare as well.
“Oh, it was tough, because eventually when I did get back, with a back injury, I didn’t have feeling in my toes,” DeMitro said. “And it was hard, even with football conditioning, when I came back my routes weren’t good.
“The whole time, I was just trying to keep my head right, knowing if I just stay consistent, I’ll get everything back. So that’s where it was, but for sure it’s frustrating when you do something your whole life, and it kind of gets taken away from you. But I kind of just worked it all back, and I am pretty happy with where I’m at right now.”
DeMitro burst on the scene in 800 as a twotime Fitch Regional qualifier, including taking a close fifth as a sophomore in 2018 with a fine time of 1 minute, 55.95 seconds, .23 off fourth and a state berth. He was a secondteam News-Herald all-star.
In football, DeMitro caught 15 passes for 146 yards and two TDs as a sophomore and 28 passes for 308 yards and three scores last season as a junior.
As DeMitro sought to return to full strength for football this fall, he learned a hard lesson about the process of it all.
“Most of my rehab was I would go to physical therapy once or twice a week, but a lot of it was stuff I could do on my own, when I would get up in the morning,” DeMitro said. “It was slow. The thing of it is, it took a lot of patience. It was slow results. Everything would get better very slowly. Eventually, I got most of the feeling back in my toe. I don’t have all of it, but I have most of it now. I think it’s permanent. But right now, I’m happy with where I’m at. It was patience and trying to keep a positive mindset.”
It seemed fitting, when DeMitro made his touchdown grab in the scrimmage at Madison, that after getting both feet in bounds, he found his way for a moment onto the track. It was roughly around the 400 turn, which DeMitro should be mastering once again in 800 this coming spring now that he’s overcome his scare.
His path took a detour. But now, he’s broken out to get back on the right track in more ways than one.
“When I first got hurt, there were talks of surgery involved, and back surgery on a 17-year-old isn’t the best thing to have,” DeMitro said. “So I was pretty grateful that I didn’t have to go the surgery route.
“I went that route. I have no regrets with the route that I took. I’m really happy with where I’m at.”