The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
State champion Morgan ‘happy and sad’
Mentor gymnast has fracture in left ankle, ligament damage in right ankle
If someone would have told Kelsey Morgan her last gymnastics meet would consist of winning a state championship and leaving Hillcrest Hospital at 1 a.m. the next morning ...
It was that kind of 18 hours for the Mentor gymnast.
“Happy and sad the way things ended,” said Morgan, the day after winning a state title on the beam. “I’d rather not have my gymnastics career end that way.”
The senior is resting at home with a fracture on the tip of her left ankle, and ligament damage in the other. The extent of her ligament injury won’t be determined until she has an MRI completed.
It was a day of highs and lows for Morgan. She sustained her injuries at the March 2 individual competition of the state gymnastics meet shortly after winning her title on the beam with a score of 9.550. As she was warming on the floor exercise, Morgan landed awkwardly and her ankles gave out.
“When it first happened, I really didn’t feel it,” said Morgan, who had her ankles taped and was prepared to continue at the meet. “But then it hit me, and it was unimaginable pain.
“I was too scared to try and go full-go. I thought, ‘This isn’t worth it.’ I’d rather save my ankles from permanent damage. By the end of the meet, I could barely walk.”
She was able to make her way to the podium to accept her medal, but shortly after Morgan and her family began the trek back home to Lake County. Before that, she gave one of the best performances of her career, and even surprised herself. Winning the beam was not expected, said Morgan.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would win on beam,” she said. “The beam gives me the most anxiety, and I don’t have a lot of confidence on that event. By my coaches just told me to relax, go out there and have fun. It was about believing in yourself.”
Morgan has had issues with her ankles in the past. Her doctor diagnosed her ankle ligaments as “loose,”
and as a Mentor sophomore, she tore one of those ligaments.
“But I’ve never broken a bone,” she said.
That is, until now. Morgan said she’s in pain and on crutches and tired from a busy day on March 2 that stretched into the next morning. She plans on attending Ohio University, where she’ll have a wild story to tell her new friends one day. Morgan has the state championship medal to prove it.
While the disappointment of her injuries puts a bit of a stain on winning state, Morgan knows it could have been worse.
“This injury could have happened at district, so at least I got to finish at state,” she said. “Yes, it’s sad I didn’t finish (the meet), but winning the state title means the world to me. It was a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”