Cedars, March 2018

March 2018 18 SPORTS by Tim Miller I f practice truly does make perfect, Re- gina Hochstetler is primed to be a star when it comes to ACL recoveries by the end of the summer. Hochstetler, a red- shirt junior on the Ce- darville women’s bas- ketball team, tore her ACL for the second time in her career at Cedar- ville on Feb. 1 in a game against Kentucky Wes- leyan. The Berlin, Ohio, na- tive was the team’s leading scorer, firing in 17.8 points per game and was named to the G-MAC first team this winter. Although the journey of her first ACL injury during her sophomore year was filled with struggles and growth, Hochstetler said her first ACL injury helped her feel better equipped for her second. “The first one was hard and I learned so much through it,” Hochstetler said. “It for sure prepared me for this one. It’s nev- er easy, even the second time around. I went through it once, and I’m going to be able to get through it again.” Not only does Hochstetler have expe- rience on her side when battling through recovering from her second ACL injury, she also has her best friend. Kelly Poole, a junior teammate, didn’t join the varsity teamuntil after her freshman season on JV. While Poole and Hochstetler knew of each other, they weren’t much more than acquaintances until a spring break trip brought them together. During last year’s spring break, the two traveled with a group of friends to Florida. There, the foundation of their friendship was built, through what any good friendship is built: lessons in the German language. According to Poole, Hochstetler taught Poole how to speak German during the trip, and obviously that was enough to spark a strong bond between them. The two share a love for the finer things in life like coffee and spike ball, and appar- ently for spontaneous trips to haunted corn mazes as well. “We were driving back from Springfield [last fall] really late past a corn maze that’s supposed to be haunted,” Hochstetler said. “We were in sweats and crocs and we pull in and do this corn maze and we couldn’t really run away from anything but we made it out.” But apart from daily runs to Dunkin’ Donuts and dominating in spike ball tour- naments, Hochstetler and Poole share a deep relationship that allows the two to help each other through life’s low points. “She’s just a really real person,” Hoch- stetler said of Poole. “We can tell each other the hard things and it doesn’t ruin our rela- tionship.” When Hochstetler hurt her knee for a second time, she said she knew something was wrong the instant it happened. She said the most important thing she did as she waited for a diagnosis was not getting her hopes up. “I think what helped me the most was not lying to myself,” Hochstetler said. “Just accepting that if this was the case again, I was going to be fine and get through it again.” When she knew her ACL was torn for a second time, Hochstetler seemed to remain pretty steady in her attitude. Although there were times in which she’d wonder why she’d suffered the same injury again, for the most part, she remained constant in her outlook. “I knew that she would handle it men- tally really well,” Poole said. “I think she learned a lot from her first ACL and it pre- pared her this time around.” Hochstetler credits her faith in God’s providence and her teammates, many of whom have suffered season-ending injuries themselves, to helping her stay afloat during trying times. Although her newfound role to end the season was as a motivator, she was still able to spread joy to the team, Poole said. Now looking ahead to recovery, Hoch- stetler says she is ahead of schedule. She was out of her brace and able towalk inno time, but she says she still doesn’t want to push things too quickly. Regardless, Hochstetler said she’ll certainly be ready for her senior season. And even if there’s more snags in Hoch- stetler’s plans for playing, Poole knows she’s been a solid figure to look up to in times of ad- versity and will continue to be. “Reg definitely has a really good per- spective on basketball,” Poole said. “It’s been really cool to see how humble she is which is really surprising with how good she is.” Tim Miller is a sophomore marketing major and sports editor for Cedars. He enjoys having a baby face, sipping Dunkin Donuts coffee and striving to be the optimal combination of Dwight Schrute and Ron Swanson. Hochstetler Battles Through Second Knee Injury Online • M.B.A. • M.S.N. • M.Min. Residential • M.Div. • M.Min. • Pharm.D. Ready to take the next step? Start nowwith dual-listed courses, and you’ll save time and money. Access the free, fast-track application just for Cedarville students: cedarville.edu/gradapply Regina Hochstetler