CHEBOYGAN — During warmups, Jaelyn Wheelock was more nervous than usual.
Butterflies and all, the Cheboygan senior didn’t want her high school girls soccer career to end at home.
But once the opening whistle blew, Wheelock was locked in.
In front of family, teammates, coaches and friends from college who returned home to watch, Wheelock put on a virtuoso performance and kept Cheboygan’s season alive. Needing a breakthrough goal, Wheelock delivered two of them late in the second half, and the Chiefs earned a 2-1 MHSAA Division 3 first-round district victory over Grayling on Thursday, May 21.
“I feel like this season has been a big roller coaster for me,” Wheelock said. “I started out doing great, and then I hurt my foot, and I hurt my knee, and there’s still something wrong with my knee, so I’m glad I’ve been able to push through it.”
The clutch display was impressive from Wheelock, who’s been put through the ringer when it comes to injuries, mainly on the two knees she had to have surgery on recent years. With her injury problems, Wheelock missed out on her entire junior season of soccer but worked her way back for her senior basketball campaign in the winter. While there were scares along the way, Wheelock made it through hoops and returned to soccer, meaning it was a huge sigh of relief for Cheboygan coach Tom Markham.
“I’m so proud of her and her recovery,” Markham said. “As you know, you can remember far enough back that this is what she does. She gets the goal when it’s got to get done, and she did that twice for us. I’m just happy for Jae because, on paper, I don’t know if anybody would count on her coming back and to be playing and be performing at a high level like we know she’s done in the past.”
Wheelock’s scored plenty during her soccer career, but the two goals she smashed home against the Vikings were maybe the most important, as it keeps Cheboygan’s dreams of winning a district alive.
When you ask Wheelock, the goals were great.
The way the team played after first goal went in? She enjoyed that more.
“We’re a very close team this year, and I’m very grateful for that because as soon as one person does anything good, it helps the whole team, and we’re very much a team,” Wheelock said.
With the topsy-turvy career she’s had, and the adversity’s she’s faced, Wheelock always knew she could rely on her teammates and coaches, and that’s what she’ll miss most.
“Their support means everything to me,” Wheelock said. “I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t have great support from my friends and coaches. I’ll always remember these moments.”
Markham’s had some excellent players come through his program, but in terms of toughness – mentally and physically – perhaps no one else has embodied that more than Wheelock.
“We’ve always taught our kids to play with some Cheboygan toughness, play with some grit, play with some resilience and stay in the game, because you’re eventually going to go up against a tough opponent, and you’ve got to stay in the fight until your opportunity comes,” Markham said. “I think those kids see her and want to be like Jae.”
Cheboygan’s district semifinal at Kingsford will be played at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26.
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Jaelyn Wheelock’s clutch goals keep Cheboygan soccer’s season alive
Reporting by Jared Greenleaf, Cheboygan Daily Tribune / Cheboygan Daily Tribune
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