Published: June 7, 2014
Noennig takes 1st in discus
Hartford Union sophomore edges Slinger’s Kiley Sabin
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
LA CROSSE — When Hartford Union’s Sam Noennig tore her ACL
on the third day of volleyball tryouts last August, the injury wasn’t just
tough on her. It also was tough on her parents, Tom and Deb.
Tom Noennig is the varsity football coach at Hartford, while
Deb Noennig is a former track athlete and an All-American at the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse. Right away, they feared the worse.
“The original report wasn’t good,” Tom Noennig said. “Deb’s
very emotional and Sam’s also pretty emotional. I was trying to be the even
keel out of the whole deal; keep it in perspective a little bit.”
Was he successful in being positive?
“I had to be,” he said. “In that household, I have to ...
keep things relaxed and loose.
“Deb’s a little high-strung sometimes when it comes to track
especially. It was really hard on her because she’s invested so much time in
Sam in this sport.”
On Friday, nine months after the injury, Sam Noennig won the
WIAA Division 1 girls discus state championship at UW-La Crosse with a
school-record throw of 148 feet 11 inches.
“It’s really exciting,” Noennig said. “I never thought I’d
accomplish something like this.”
Just imagine how proud mom and dad were.
“I’m just so proud of her,” Tom Noennig said. “To her
credit, she just worked so hard. She has such a strong drive to be successful.”
Slinger’s Kiley Sabin was second with a throw of 138-5. She
took second in the discus last year at state.
“It was pretty good,” Sabin said of her throws. “I
definitely wanted to do better than I did at sectionals and jump a place or
even two. I’m really happy with second place.”
Sabin’s sectional throw in the discus was 136-6.
“I’m happy with what I threw,” she added.
As a freshman, Noennig finished third in the discus at state
and was happy. It gave her plenty of optimism and confidence moving into her
sophomore year.
Things took a turn for the worse when she landed awkwardly
during a volleyball practice drill. She couldn’t put any pressure on the leg.
That’s when she knew something was wrong.
“We were very worried that she wasn’t going to get out (for
track),” Tom Noennig said.
That’s when it might have been beneficial to be a child of
two athletic-minded parents.
“I think that really pushes her,” Noennig said. “She has an
advantage. She has two parents, especially Mom, takes her all over the country
during the summer for track meets. She just wants to do well.”
“It’s been a very difficult year since the ACL tear,” he
added. “It was like any other athlete that got hurt, except when it’s your
daughter, it’s pretty devastating.”
In most cases, it takes a year to recover from an ACL tear.
However, because of the competitive nature as a Noennig,
there was no denying Sam Noennig from getting back into competition at a high
level. The only question was when.
Once she started the rehab program after three months of
being on crutches, she was working out three or four days per week a couple
hours at a time. She wasn’t going to quit.
“I just kept thinking about track,” Noennig said of her
motivation.
Noennig believed her eyeopening moment of the season was at
the WLT Championship when she threw 146 feet.
“My confidence went up,” she said.
As for her dad, Tom Noennig said it is easier to call a play
on third-and-5 or fourth-and-goal than it is to watch his daughter struggle.
“It’s just been a joy to watch her this year,” he said. “We
weren’t really sure if she was going to compete this year.”
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