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Gymnastics team dealing with neck injuries heading into weekend

January 23, 2014

One wrong movement, one false grab. That is all it takes.

One slip, one fall. A slight difference in a move and a gymnast can get hurt.

That’s what’s happened to two athletes on MSU gymnastics team this season. They both suffered neck injuries and an athlete had to sit out during a meet.

“When I first hurt my neck, they said it’ll be a miracle for me to compete in the next meet,” sophomore Kate Filosi said.

Filosi fell during her bars routine at MSU’s first meet against Illinois, where the Spartans lost by only 1.202 points. She did not compete the rest of the meet and did not know if she would be able to compete the following week against Pittsburgh.

But at the meet versus Pittsburgh, junior Alina Cartwright, who also fell and sprained her neck during bars at a practice, did not compete.

“It was a minor fluke,” Cartwright said. “I fell and landed on my neck.”

Since gymnasts use all the muscles in their bodies at all times, when these falls and injuries happen, they need to nurse them back to health as soon as they can, according to head coach Kathie Klages.

“When they perform, they have to take care of their bodies. They work with the athletic trainer and a team physician to cure their injuries,” Klages said.

Cartwright said she goes through electrical muscle stimulation treatment, often ices and takes Ibuprofen.

The athletic training team is not the only ones helping the gymnasts get healthy again.

One of the main parts of getting back up from a fall and not being scared to compete again is having the constant support from their teammates, sophomore Lisa Burt said.

“Usually after a big fall, we’ll help them up. Making jokes after is a way of saying ‘We got your back,’” Burt said.

The team is “super supportive,” according to Cartwright, especially at the meets.

“I was freaking out a little bit (when I fell), and they’ve helped me,” she said. “They keep telling me everything will be fine.”

Cartwright said she will most likely be competing against Penn State at 2 p.m. Saturday at Jenison Field House and will get ready by practicing on her days off.

Filosi said that the team pushing her to nurse her neck when she could not practice was what motivated her to return to form.

“Even though you haven’t practiced and you rested for a couple days, you know you had three months of preseason on your back,” Filosi said.

Luckily, Filosi said, she was back and competing on vault and bars at the next meet against Pittsburgh.

When a gymnast gets hurt, they feel like they are not ready to compete when they become healthy again, Burt said.

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“We just have to know we’re prepared, like ‘I did this yesterday,’” Burt said.

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