Stutzman’s journey to recovery has come full circle
After struggling through the physical and mental recovery from a devastating knee injury her sophomore season, Hiland senior Mallory Stutzman is able to smile again, not only because she has overcome the injury, but also because she has helped her teammates find success.
As a sophomore Mallory Stutzman powered her way into the starting lineups for the Hiland Lady Hawks in both basketball and soccer.
She was a blossoming star with not only immense skills, but also major strength, agility and leadership skills.
Then it all came crashing down on her in one scary moment.
In January of her sophomore season in the Inter-Valley Conference Showcase game at the end of the regular season, Stutzman was making a simple basketball play and felt her ACL snap.
It was a horrifying feeling because most players today know full well what that injury means, and the agonizing pain tells them almost immediately what has happened.
At that point one finds out what one is made of, and with a very difficult recovery road ahead, an athlete learns a great deal about themselves.
“I don’t think people really understand exactly how difficult the therapy and recovery is, unless you’ve actually gone through it,” Stutzman said. “It’s a long and difficult road, and you’ve got to remain extremely committed or else it won’t ever work.”
The physical therapy was devastatingly difficult. Having to sit and watch as her teammates went to battle game after game and in every practice knowing she couldn’t help them compete was equally as tough.
“You aren’t able to get out there and help them when things get tough,” Stutzman said. “That’s another tough part of the recovery process that people don’t think about.”
Even after a great soccer season this fall, Stutzman said she never felt all the way back from the injury. As the basketball season began, she was looking good but said she still didn’t feel 100%, at least until recently.
Everything seems to be clicking for Stutzman now, and her season of 13 points and seven rebounds per game will help her graduate among the top 20 all-time scorers and top 10 rebounders in school history, despite the injury.
“Last year I just wasn’t who I wanted to be as a player,” Stutzman said. “This year, now, I feel like I can make the plays I’m used to making. I have much better movement, and it feels good to be all the way back.”
Hiland Lady Hawks basketball coach Brady Schlabach said Stutzman exemplifies everything a coach could want in a player, starting with her willingness to work so hard to recover from the devastating injury.
“She’s one of those kids who is just a gamer,” Schlabach said. “She wants to win. She’s willing to work hard to do whatever it takes, and for her to get back from this long road to where she believes she should be as an athlete has been incredible to watch. She does all of the work, and she does the little things.”
Schlabach said not only does Stutzman bring a chance to produce a double-double each night out, but also she serves as the emotional leader of the Lady Hawks.
Whether in games, shoot-arounds, in the locker room and even from the bench, all of her teammates truly look up to her for both guidance and inspiration.
“Where Mal goes emotionally, we go,” Schlabach said.
“Above all, I just want the best for my teammates, and we’re all working toward the same goal, so whether I’m on the bench or on the floor, I want us to get better as a team,” Stutzman said.
Schlabach said any athlete trying to overcome an injury is going to have to work through not only the physical part of the injury, but also the emotional part of learning to trust the injured knee again.
Former Lady Hawk great Brynn Mullet, who is now at Ohio Dominican University, went through the same process as a sophomore at college following a fantastic freshman debut.
After missing a year, she has returned this season, and she too said finding a way past the mental and emotional part of a knee injury takes courage and mental strength.
She noted that after missing her sophomore season, it has taken much of her junior year to feel comfortable with her game.
Stutzman said she is in the same frame of reference after missing her junior season of soccer and much of the basketball campaign. After a dominant soccer season for Hiland this fall, Stutzman said she just recently feels as though she is all the way back to where she feels she should be.
“The physical part of recovery actually came back first,” Stutzman said. “The mental part of it plays with your mind. You’ve lost so much and given so much to get back, and to learn how to trust yourself again is hard, but it feels so good to finally get past that to where you’re just playing and reacting without thinking about it at all.”
Her effort this season has helped the Lady Hawks capture a 10th straight district title. For Stutzman, the only thing more satisfying than seeing herself recover fully from the injury is the knowledge she has helped her team succeed along the way.