Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki High Jumper Leaps Over Trials and Obstacles to Win
01/20/2004 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
Jan. 20, 2004
By Seth Whitehead
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Just listening to Katie Fesler talk about her various knee surgeries over the last few years can make your own knees ache.
So you can imagine the trials and tribulations this high jumper has been through on her path to Southern Illinois University.
Fesler, who transferred to SIU this year from Johnson County Community College in Kansas, has made it back from four, count 'em - four - knee operations in the last four years.
"The first one was the worst," Fesler explains.
It occurred during the final game of a summer basketball tournament between her sophomore and junior years of high school. Fesler suffered complete tears of her ACL and MCL in her right knee, in addition to tearing both sides of her lateral and medial meniscus.
Ouch.
"The MCL has to heal by itself," Fesler said. "So they did the patella tendon replacement on the ACL. And then they tried to repair both meniscus. I had a lot of problems with that. I was in the hospital for like two days with it, because I lost feeling in my foot."
But, she made it back.
"I got back, I did the rehab - which was a long rehab. I had to be non-weight-bearing for the first six weeks because of the MCL tear, so that made the rehab a lot slower," Fesler said.
Until...
"The second one was the next summer," Fesler said. "This one was the other ACL in my left knee. That was just a standard ACL tear. So they fixed that and I was back by the middle of basketball season the next season."
After a second successful comeback, she went on to join the basketball and track teams at Johnson City C.C. She earned All-American status in track that year, but her knees would betray her once again.
"That summer, the (damaged) meniscus didn't hold up," Fesler said. "So they had to go in there and cut them out. So, I have no meniscus in my right leg at all."
Still, somehow, someway, Fesler not only made another comeback - she went on to win a national championship her sophomore season, against all odds.
"I came back my sophomore year at Johnson County and I ended up having a really awesome track season," Fesler said. "We did good in basketball, but by the end of basketball season my knee was just shot. I didn't know if I was going to make it through track season at all because I was having severe pain in my right knee because of the bone-on-bone action going on."
"But then I came out, and for some reason I could high jump on it. It didn't bother me."
She started strong and got better and better as the season went on, peaking at the right time with a personal-best leap of 5-foot, 7 3/4 inches at the junior college nationals.
"It was awesome," Fesler said of winning the national-championship. "It was really satisfying. That was really an accomplishment in itself. It was really neat. All my friends were excited."
But her knee woes simply would not cease. Last summer she went back under the knife, having "floating" cartilage removed from her cursed right knee.
"They shaved the cartilage and meniscus out again, even more, because it was, like, floating around," Fesler said."So, its just bone-on-bone now in my right knee."
Again - ouch.
So, in addition to national-champion status, Fesler now has the vocabulary of a physical therapist. Lord knows she's spent enough time around them.
But once you get past all the MCLs, ACLs and meniscuses, you're left asking: How in the world is she still not only jumping, but doing so at one of the highest levels possible?
Surprisingly, she seems to have taken all of it in stride, never giving up hope.
"If you've never had major knee surgery, you don't understand it, how hard it is," Fesler said. "While you're watching everybody else excel, you're starting over. You have to learn how to ride a bike again, how to jog again. It's basically just a really slow process."
"I never doubted myself. I was always pushing. I was always back before the six month trial. You know, they normaly give you six months to get back from an ACL, but I was always like the five month recovery time, or whatever. I'd always try to be back sooner than I was supposed to."
"Katie is a remarkable story," said SIU jumps and sprints coach Lawrence Johnson. "It's one of those stories that you read about as a coach, or anybody, and it would warm your heart, that somebody would have so much perseverance and determination that they wouldn't let four knee surgeries stop them short of accomplishing what they want to accomplish in life and in track and field."
Now, Fesler is hoping to take Division I by storm. She is concentrating solely on high jumping for the first time in her career. Probably good news, considering that all four of her knee injuries occurred on the basketball court. She may just get better and better.
"I can't play basketball, I had to give up basketball this year," Fesler said. "I just can't go into a defensive stance at all. But, when I high jump, I don't have any problems with it."
"The Division I level, it's really exciting to make it after all that. You know, every time you get knocked down you just have to get back up and go at it again."
But, success at the D-I level is a work in progress so far. She is currently in the adjustment period - adjusting to a new jumping technique and not playing basketball for the first time since grade school.
She placed fifth in her first meet at SIU, and improved to a third-place tie with a jump of 5-3 Saturday at the Saluki Booster Invitational.
"It started out really slow because it's a lot different," Fesler said. "I'm used to being in shape from basketball. In track, your in a completely different shape. This year has started off really slow for me. I'm not where I was last year when I ended at all."
"But, I can be happy with that because I know I still have a lot of room to improve as the season goes along."
"Right now, her technique is in limbo because we've changed it so much," Johnson said. "She still has to get used to the style of jumping we do here. She's going to be like (former Saluki All-American) Latrice Gray. It took her some time when I first came here last year to get used to it. But once she got used to it, she became an All-American. I think Katie is going to accomplish the same thing."
"She's a big 'ole bowl of clay. And we're molding her everyday in practice. She's learning, she's getting better. She's putting what she learns everyday into use. I think as the season progresses she's going to get better and better. Before you know it, she's going to be on the regional level and the national level. I believe that."
Johnson's belief in Fesler is a big reason she chose SIU over Southern Mississippi, Oklahoma and Arkansas. And, Johnson was not scared away by Fesler's medical history.
"Basically, they were just really persistent," Fesler said of SIU's recruitment of her. " L.J. just was really concerned with me and said he'd work with my knee. We did a lot of pool workouts at the beginning of the year. Normally, you would do stairs, but with no cartilage in your knee, you can't do stairs. He was just so enthusiastic about the high jump. I was like, 'Wow, this guy is going to look out for me.'"
With her knee problems hopefully behind her, Fesler is aiming high.
"My goal, of course, is to make it to nationals," Fesler said. "That would be my goal this year. But I'm going to have to take it one step at a time, because it is a big adjustment, not playing basketball. Training for track is completely different. Hopefully I can go 5-10 this year, at least."
It doesn't hurt that she practices with one of the best jumpers in the country on a regular basis.
"Training with Latrice (Gray) has helped her immensely," Johnson said, "Because she sees the work ethic Latrice has, and Latrice is somebody who's been there. She knows what it takes to get to that level and knows what it's like to be on top. And they are very competitive in practice. It's like a track meet everyday, and they are just making each other better."
Considering all the struggles Fesler has overcome, everything that's ahead might seem like a piece of cake.
"The sky is the limit with Katie," Johnson said. " I honestly believe that in my heart because she's bound and determined to get it done. She will not take no for an answer. She refuses to lose. She refuses to be beat. She has that spirit and the determination of 12 bulls. She will not be denied."
