{"id":13973,"date":"2014-11-12T14:51:07","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/independentweekender.com\/?p=13973"},"modified":"2014-11-12T14:51:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-12T14:51:47","slug":"vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/","title":{"rendered":"VanEtten\u2019s comeback reaches the finish line"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY SCOTT WALSH<\/strong>
\n Times-Shamrock Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Elk<\/a>

Elk Lake’s Jenny VanEtten after running in the PIAA A Girls’ Cross Country Championship at Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey on Saturday, Nov 1, 2014. Jake Danna Stevens \/ Staff Photographer<\/p><\/div>\n

To the majority of spectators who lined the chute that leads to the finish line of the Hershey Parkview Course, it was just a 68th-place finish.<\/p>\n

But for senior Jenny VanEtten and her Elk Lake teammates, it was so much more.<\/p>\n

As her team\u2019s fifth runner across the line Saturday at the PIAA Cross Country Championships, VanEtten helped secure a second-place finish in the Class A girls race and another silver trophy for the Lady Warriors.<\/p>\n

More importantly, though, it culminated a comeback from the serious injuries VanEtten suffered after being struck by a truck while riding her bike in the summer of 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cJenny was huge for us today,\u201d Elk Lake coach Will Squier said after the race. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough about the improvement she made this year. With her sister Julie out, we needed somebody to step up and fill that fifth spot and Jenny did.\u201d<\/p>\n

That VanEtten was even running again is nothing short of remarkable.<\/p>\n

During the first two years of her high school career, VanEtten was one of the area\u2019s top runners and a two-time Times-Tribune All-Region selection.<\/p>\n

As a freshman, she placed third at the District 2 meet and 15th at the PIAA meet to earn an individual medal and help Elk Lake place second in the state. Then as a sophomore, she was second at districts and fourth at states to help Elk Lake win the state title.<\/p>\n

Entering her junior year, VanEtten and the Lady Warriors were primed for big things.<\/p>\n

All of that changed, however, on the morning of July 31.<\/p>\n

Riding her bike on her way to Elk Lake\u2019s summer running club, VanEtten was hit by the truck.<\/p>\n

Squier thought it was odd that Jenny and sister Julie hadn\u2019t shown up that morning for the running club. He found out why when a parent showed up to tell him there had been an accident involving one of the VanEtten girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart went right to my feet,\u201d Squier said. \u201cI went over there just in time to see the ambulance coming out with her loaded in it and her sister in a car behind them, all bawling. I had no idea how bad it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was bad.<\/p>\n

A broken pelvis. Four fractured vertebrae. A broken jaw. Torn ligaments in one of her ankles. A concussion.<\/p>\n

Forget running cross country. There was doubt that VanEtten would ever walk again.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t remember much of what happened. VanEtten thought the whole thing was a dream.
\nUnfortunately, it was very real.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople kept asking me things and I told them I had this dream that I was hit by a truck,\u201d VanEtten said. \u201cMy sister was with me and she said, \u2018You tried getting back up\u2019 and I don\u2019t remember any of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

VanEtten didn\u2019t have surgery because the break in her pelvis was near her growth plate and the doctors didn\u2019t want to interfere with that. So, they let time heal the break.<\/p>\n

She was in the hospital for about a week. When she was released, she was wheelchair-bound for three months. She also wore a back brace for three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in the hospital, it probably was because of the drugs, but I thought I would be able to get back up and run states,\u201d VanEtten said. \u201cBut as I was progressing, I realized it was going to take a little longer than my mind thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her road to recovery had just left the starting line.<\/p>\n

This spring, she started out with brisk walks. When she began to run, it would be in small increments \u2014 two minutes here, five minutes there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just started really, really easy and worked my way up,\u201d VanEtten said.<\/p>\n

When she got the green light from her doctors and was able to begin preparing for this season, Squier was extra careful to make sure VanEtten didn\u2019t overdo it.<\/p>\n

Basically, it was how much pain she could tolerate.<\/p>\n

There was plenty of pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have the willingness to do that and keep pressing that envelope of pain forward is a huge tribute to her toughness,\u201d Squier said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t just physical pain, either. There was the mental pain; the fear that she would reinjure herself even though everyone was telling her she would be fine.<\/p>\n

During one workout, Squier noticed VanEtten\u2019s running posture wasn\u2019t quite right. She was being hesitant and timid.<\/p>\n

\u201cMentally it was challenging,\u201d VanEtten said. \u201cIn my head, I had been through all these things. I didn\u2019t want to feel more and more pain and be injured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going from being a top runner to one in the back of the pack didn\u2019t help either.<\/p>\n

Not once, though, did VanEtten think about giving up.<\/p>\n

Sure, there were days where she would get discouraged. But just the ability to run again gave her the strength to keep going and changed her entire perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I wake up every morning and put my feet on the ground, I couldn\u2019t ask for anything more,\u201d VanEtten said. \u201cThe fact I\u2019m able to run is a true blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her teammates played a big part in her rehabilitation, too. On those tough days, they would encourage her and remind her of how far she had come.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I would have been able to do it without them,\u201d VanEtten said.<\/p>\n

All the while, Squier kept preaching patience. It paid off.<\/p>\n

When the regular season started, she was running 28 minutes. By the time the District 2 meet rolled around, she placed 16th in 22:13 in the Class A race.<\/p>\n

Then came Saturday\u2019s state race. VanEtten finished in 21:16.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this (state) race was two weeks from now, I\u2019d think she\u2019d run 30 seconds faster,\u201d Squier said. \u201cShe\u2019s coming. She\u2019s getting her confidence back. She\u2019s a tough girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

For VanEtten, her performance at the state meet and helping her team take second place was almost surreal.<\/p>\n

She thought back to last year\u2019s state meet. Days earlier, she had gotten out of her wheelchair and started using a walker. She recalls watching her teammates break from the starting line and having a feeling of emptiness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just craved running. I wanted to do it so bad,\u201d VanEtten said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, being able to warm up with them and do drills with them, then go off the line with them was an incredible feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours after the Class A girls race, at the awards ceremony, VanEtten made the final step in her comeback.
\nIt came when she joined her teammates on the medal stand to accept the silver trophy.<\/p>\n

Her recovery had reached the finish line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY SCOTT WALSH Times-Shamrock Writer To the majority of spectators who lined the chute that leads to the finish line of the Hershey Parkview Course,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nVanEtten\u2019s comeback reaches the finish line - PS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VanEtten\u2019s comeback reaches the finish line - PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY SCOTT WALSH Times-Shamrock Writer To the majority of spectators who lined the chute that leads to the finish line of the Hershey Parkview Course,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-12T14:51:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-11-12T14:51:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_VanEtten.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1235\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tpennysaver\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/\",\"name\":\"VanEtten\u2019s comeback reaches the finish line - PS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_VanEtten.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-12T14:51:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-11-12T14:51:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/75c26bc8e32869a516360463d23964c5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/2014\/11\/12\/vanettens-comeback-reaches-the-finish-line\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_VanEtten.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/psowegomedia.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/WGSI_VanEtten.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1235,\"caption\":\"Elk Lake's Jenny VanEtten after running in the PIAA A Girls' Cross Country Championship at Parkview Cross Country Course in Hershey on Saturday, Nov 1, 2014. 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