G-Prep’s Butler faces comeback
The difficult path that Gonzaga Prep senior Shannon Murray traveled for almost a year is one that basketball teammate Alex Butler is just about to begin.
Butler’s athletic resumé at G-Prep includes Greater Spokane League soccer MVP honors as a junior and senior, an All-State spot in soccer last fall and a third-place finish in the 400 meters at last spring’s state Class 4A championship meet.
She’s also been a starter for the Bullpup girls’ basketball team which qualified for the 4A regional tournament beginning two days ago against Richland, and recently signed a letter of intent to attend Washington State University next fall on a soccer scholarship.
But at basketball practice on Feb. 18, everything changed for Butler when, as she landed awkwardly after shooting a layin, she heard a pop in her right knee.
The thinking at first was a sprained medial collateral ligament, but when she attempted to play four days later in Gonzaga’s district tournament opener, she had another difficult landing, and a subsequent MRI revealed the extent of the injury, which appears to be a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.
That’s similar to the injury that Murray suffered almost 15 months ago during Gonzaga’s second game of the 2003-04 season, although she also damaged the MCL and just about the whole range of the alphabet soup that comprises the other ligaments in the knee.
Murray rejoined the Bullpups nine months later in time for off-season fall workouts after an arduous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, and she knows what’s ahead for Butler.
“The hardest part of coming back is the mental part,” she said. “After rehab, you know that physically you’re fine, but it’s still natural to question whether you’re going to be OK. When I first came back, I was terrified and I didn’t go all out for a while.”
Coach Mike Arte praised Murray’s work ethic:
“Shannon was very loyal to her workouts, to doing everything she could do to regain the strength in her knee. Her therapists have said that her injured knee (like Butler’s, her right) is probably stronger than the other one.”
So Butler’s got her work cut out for her, and she knows it.
“At first, it was like no big deal, I’ll be back. But then I realized that I’ll be missing track and the possibility of going to the state tournament in basketball, and it may even affect me in the fall. That’s when I told myself that I need to hit rehab really hard, so it’s not a factor when I get to WSU.
“Shannon said that it’s a lot of work to rehab, and I know that the mental part is important. When I come back, I can’t worry if my knee is OK. Worrying about it can’t be a factor when I’m playing sports.”
She hasn’t had surgery yet, indeed, isn’t even on crutches while she waits.
“It’s disappointing, but stuff happens. I’ve learned in the last couple weeks how often it does happen to athletes, so there are lots of other girls who have to do this.
“My friends and teammates here have been awesome, and so have the coaches at WSU. They told me that I’m part of the family there now and to just work at getting healthy.”
Although ACL injuries among female athletes are not uncommon, Arte’s only experience with a similar injury was several years ago when two-sport star Dani Thorn was injured during soccer season and missed her junior year in basketball.
“When kids are coming back from serious injuries,” he said, “they need lots of support from everyone around them. When you’re active and have to stop, it’s difficult to rehab, watch your teammates and be isolated from them while you work out on your own.
“I think that Alex may not be aware yet of all the hard work she’s going to have to put in, but she’s not wasting any time feeling sorry for herself. As soon as she knew what it was, she focused on getting ready for soccer in the fall.”
And the way her teammate Murray recovered has to give Butler confidence that she will, too.
“It’ll be tough for her because she’s also making the transition from high school to college,” said Murray, “but Alex is a true athlete, and I know she’ll make it back.”