GREENFIELD — Katie Helgason tore her ACL during the first soccer game of her senior year. Her final year of high school athletics hadn’t started off well.
Once she’d passed the initial shock and pain, a sickening realization made her heart leap into her throat; the Greenfield-Central soccer, track and basketball star wasn’t sure if she’d play competitive sports ever again. For many people, ACL injuries are a career-killer.
Helgason wasn’t ready to join their ranks.
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After hours of working with a trainer and gritting her teeth through ice treatment and recovery workouts, Helgason was ready to throw on a jersey just in time for her last basketball season. And she didn’t stop there.
Jump forward one year later, and Helgason is a point guard for the most successful women’s basketball team the Ball State Cardinals have ever seen. This year’s season has come to an end, but Helgason said her eyes already are fixed on next season and the one after it.
A three-sport athlete, Helgason was named all-conference in soccer and basketball for three years. As a freshman, she led the lady Cougars to win the Hoosier Heritage conference. She helped the Cougars win sectionals in her junior year, and later on, Helgason went on to play for the Indiana Junior All-Star team.
With such a list of athletic achievements, sustaining a serious injury in her senior year was a crushing blow to the Helgason family, said her father, Jeff.
“There were a lot of tears shed that night, I can tell you,” he said.
Smiling through the pain
The same grit and hustle that made Helgason a great athlete are what helped her on the road to recovery, her father said. The family sought out the best doctors and trainers they could find to get her on the fast track to rehabilitation, and it wasn’t long before she forced herself onto her feet and back in the game.
“We gave her 110 percent support and did whatever we could to help her get back,” Jeff Helgason said. “Not everybody can come back and do the things she’s done. To come back four months after an ACL injury, that’s unheard of.”
Katie Helgason wanted to be ready to play out her final season of high school basketball. Her soccer coach, Erin Clarke, was pivotal in helping her push through the pain while she recovered, she said. Clarke helped lead the recovering player on runs once she was back on her feet, gradually strengthening her knee till she was competition-ready.
Even though it was clear basketball was Katie Helgason’s first sport, she still won MVP on the soccer team for her first three years of high school, Clarke said. It’s hard to find an athlete with that level of drive and work ethic, which contributed to a speedy recovery, Clarke said.
Clarke and her kids, who are 8 and 9 years old, have traveled to Muncie to watch the Cardinals play, she said. They both look to Katie Helgason as a role model, Clarke said.
“We use her as an example for our kids a lot,” Clarke said. “You don’t have to be the best player, but if you work hard, you’ll make it far. They just love her.”
Back in the game
After months of training, the knee brace came off, and Katie Helgason came back ready for the rebound.
She finished her career for the Cougars with 799 points, 286 field goals made, 252 rebounds, 287 assists and 177 steals. Keeping up these numbers impressed the coaching staff at Ball State University, and she was able to earn her spot on the team.
“I’m very happy for her that she’s been able to come back from that injury and make her dreams come true, playing for Ball State,” said Tracy Helgason, her mother.
Katie Helgason said her next challenge was getting herself in shape for college ball. Growing accustomed to the more competitive collegiate environment hasn’t been easy, but she gets closer and closer to feeling 100 percent every day, she said.
This year, the lady Cardinals were the first team in program history to finish undefeated in non-conference games (11-0). They were beaten by Big 10 foe Purdue March 18, but the Cardinals finished their season with a 25-6 record.
The Cardinals also took in votes in both the USA Today Coaches and AP Top 25 polls, according to a press release on the school’s website.
“They are the most winning team in the history of Ball State. And she gets to be a part of that,” Tracy Helgason said.
As a freshman still recovering from an ACL tear, Katie Helgason hasn’t got as much court time as she would like, but watching the team’s success this season has motivated her to put in several extra hours of training, she said. She regularly hits the gym after classes and study tables, sharpening her ball-handling skills and logging extra free throws.
It’s not uncommon to find her on the practice court till midnight on a school night, always on a mission to become a better player than she was the day before.
Five seniors are graduating from the team in 2018, so next year will be hers chance to step up and prove what she’s made of, she said. Whenever she’s tired, or when pain starts to slow her down, she remembers she already knows how to push through it.
And she counts herself blessed for the opportunity.
“The best part about college basketball is that I get to play at all,” Katie Helgason said.
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For this series, the Daily Reporter profiles athletic greats of the past to see where their sports career has taken them since graduation. Have someone in mind you’d like us to check in on? Send us a note at [email protected]
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