Michigan State University Athletics
Annie Fuller: Overcoming Injury Hurdles
10/9/2018 1:57:00 PM | Cross Country
By Michael Duke
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Annie Fuller won multiple state titles on Manistee High School's track and field team in both the 800-meter run and 1,600, while also leading the girls' cross-country team to a regional championship.
The next step in her running career would be Michigan State, but the redshirt junior has yet been able to consistently showcase that same dominance due to injuries.
Fuller remains optimistic, as she has overcome a long list of serious running-induced issues to return to competition this fall. Her medical saga dates back to the end of her first season as a Spartan, when she was hurt while running in the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in California.
"My freshman year I was, for the most part, healthy all year," Fuller said. "At the end of the year, I ran a race to try out for the U.S. junior team, and I tore my plantar in the finals of that race."
This would lead to a chain of injuries for Fuller, and ultimately, to a meniscus tear in her knee last year.
"I kind of had those problems (plantar injury) through sophomore year, and I was having some shin problems and stress reactions," Fuller said. "So, coming into junior year, last year, I was still having those issues and right when I started to get healthy again from that, my knee started to flare up."
Even before receiving the diagnosis on her knee, Fuller figured it was a culmination of prior injuries.
"I was just running with pain in my knee," said Fuller. "My IT (iliotibial) band was really tight, so we thought it was something to do with that. So, I got an MRI and the doctor said, 'You tore your meniscus.' I don't really know how it happened, it just kind of happened over time."
This setback was the biggest for Fuller. She was coming off a sophomore season in which she set multiple career-best finishes, including in the 800-meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and in the 1,500 at the Virginia Challenge.
Fuller, who double majors in kinesiology and pre-med, was crushed after hearing the news of her knee injury, according to Lisa Senakiewich, the Cross-Country team's associate head coach.
"She's not someone who easily shows those types of emotions, but she was (devastated)," said Senakiewich. "It was a tough injury and it wasn't her first one, either. As she's trying to progress and get fit again and then having another setback – having that scenario happen a couple of times, I certainly think this one was devastating."
Fuller spent the past year having surgery, then physical rehab for her knee, instead of building on her strong sophomore campaign. She didn't spend much time complaining. She jumped right into her rehab process, which she said was centered on strengthening her surgically-repaired knee.
"I was told after the surgery I'd have to take three months off from running, and hearing that was really hard, especially for a runner," Fuller said. "But, during that time I was able to do minor exercises – it was all about getting my knee strong again. So, we came up with a program where we would strengthen my knee and the muscles around it to get it to the point where it would be the same as my other knee."
Fuller depended on her parents for strength as she recovered.
"My parents have been really supportive through all of it," said Fuller. "I think without them encouraging me it would be really, really hard to stay with it. They actually told me, 'If this was either of us going through what you went through we would have given up a long time ago.'
"So that meant a lot to me for them to say that."
Fuller's biggest comeback, to date, came Aug. 31, when she placed third in the 5K Jeff Drenth Memorial Cross-Country Invitational at Central Michigan.
"I wasn't nervous for the outcome of the race," said Fuller. "I was nervous that my knee was going to hurt, or that I was going to get hurt again. But, honestly, as soon as the gun went off my mind just went blank, and everything just came back to me and I just raced."
Afterwards, she shared an emotional moment with her mother.
"When I finished, my mom came over and gave me a huge hug," said Fuller. "I just started balling because all of this time, and all of this work, and all of this rehab that I had put into it had finally paid off."
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Annie Fuller won multiple state titles on Manistee High School's track and field team in both the 800-meter run and 1,600, while also leading the girls' cross-country team to a regional championship.
The next step in her running career would be Michigan State, but the redshirt junior has yet been able to consistently showcase that same dominance due to injuries.
Fuller remains optimistic, as she has overcome a long list of serious running-induced issues to return to competition this fall. Her medical saga dates back to the end of her first season as a Spartan, when she was hurt while running in the National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships in California.
"My freshman year I was, for the most part, healthy all year," Fuller said. "At the end of the year, I ran a race to try out for the U.S. junior team, and I tore my plantar in the finals of that race."
This would lead to a chain of injuries for Fuller, and ultimately, to a meniscus tear in her knee last year.
"I kind of had those problems (plantar injury) through sophomore year, and I was having some shin problems and stress reactions," Fuller said. "So, coming into junior year, last year, I was still having those issues and right when I started to get healthy again from that, my knee started to flare up."
Even before receiving the diagnosis on her knee, Fuller figured it was a culmination of prior injuries.
"I was just running with pain in my knee," said Fuller. "My IT (iliotibial) band was really tight, so we thought it was something to do with that. So, I got an MRI and the doctor said, 'You tore your meniscus.' I don't really know how it happened, it just kind of happened over time."
This setback was the biggest for Fuller. She was coming off a sophomore season in which she set multiple career-best finishes, including in the 800-meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and in the 1,500 at the Virginia Challenge.
Fuller, who double majors in kinesiology and pre-med, was crushed after hearing the news of her knee injury, according to Lisa Senakiewich, the Cross-Country team's associate head coach.
"She's not someone who easily shows those types of emotions, but she was (devastated)," said Senakiewich. "It was a tough injury and it wasn't her first one, either. As she's trying to progress and get fit again and then having another setback – having that scenario happen a couple of times, I certainly think this one was devastating."
Fuller spent the past year having surgery, then physical rehab for her knee, instead of building on her strong sophomore campaign. She didn't spend much time complaining. She jumped right into her rehab process, which she said was centered on strengthening her surgically-repaired knee.
"I was told after the surgery I'd have to take three months off from running, and hearing that was really hard, especially for a runner," Fuller said. "But, during that time I was able to do minor exercises – it was all about getting my knee strong again. So, we came up with a program where we would strengthen my knee and the muscles around it to get it to the point where it would be the same as my other knee."
Fuller depended on her parents for strength as she recovered.
"My parents have been really supportive through all of it," said Fuller. "I think without them encouraging me it would be really, really hard to stay with it. They actually told me, 'If this was either of us going through what you went through we would have given up a long time ago.'
"So that meant a lot to me for them to say that."
Fuller's biggest comeback, to date, came Aug. 31, when she placed third in the 5K Jeff Drenth Memorial Cross-Country Invitational at Central Michigan.
"I wasn't nervous for the outcome of the race," said Fuller. "I was nervous that my knee was going to hurt, or that I was going to get hurt again. But, honestly, as soon as the gun went off my mind just went blank, and everything just came back to me and I just raced."
Afterwards, she shared an emotional moment with her mother.
"When I finished, my mom came over and gave me a huge hug," said Fuller. "I just started balling because all of this time, and all of this work, and all of this rehab that I had put into it had finally paid off."
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