Massachusetts lacrosse player makes her senior year a comeback story after injury
A three-sport athlete at Whitman-Hanson High School in Massachusetts has made her senior year a comeback story as she recovered from a debilitating injury.
Lillie MacKinnon was going into her senior year, primed to shine as the captain in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse.
"When that game whistle blows, she's all in. All intense. All about the game," said Whitman-Hanson lacrosse coach AC Decker.
MacKinnon was fresh off a final four run in basketball and was focused on making a return trip when a summer league game upended everything.
Suffers ACL injury
"I was going up for a fast break. And then when I planted to go up, I didn't go up, I just went straight down and kind of knew instantly that something was wrong with my knee," said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon suffered an ACL injury. All of a sudden, her promising senior year seemed to be over before it even started, as far as her athletic career was concerned.
MacKinnon said she was given nine months to recover. Determined to beat the clock in order to come back, she worked her way back, one step at a time.
"Part of what we do in basketball is we set goals, like short term, long term. So I kind of did that with rehab. Even little goals, like walking, like going up the stairs," said MacKinnon.
"She was always always at practice every time. And she would be directing our drills and making sure we were all in the right place," said MacKinnon's teammate, sophomore Maliah Pierre. "I think that really sums her up as a captain."
"She pulled an Edelman"
Just five-and-a-half months later, MacKinnon was given the green light to return, just before senior night.
"I think I just blacked out in that moment," said MacKinnon, describing her first game back. "The first time I went on the court, I don't really think I was thinking about my leg at all."
MacKinnon did what she set out to do in the first place, lead the Panthers back to the final four.
"It gave us a good boost, almost like a trade deadline acquisition heading into the tournament," said Whitman-Hanson basketball coach Michael Costa.
"She pulled an Edelman and even faster, to be honest with you," said Decker.
Now rocking a knee brace, MacKinnon's lacrosse coach said she's back and even faster than she was before the injury. She scored three times in the Panthers' season opener.
"I hope that people realize that they can, if they put their minds to it, they can do anything they want," said MacKinnon. "If they happen to get a setback like I did, they can get through it."
MacKinnon is heading to Providence College in the fall, where she plans to major in health science and become a physical therapist.