SAUGATUCK – Novella DeGraaf had the biggest potential of any Saugatuck athlete after her freshman year.
DeGraaf finished all-state in the pole vault and was a state qualifier in the hurdle events and both jumps.
Her road to perhaps being an elite college heptathlete looked bright.
But before her freshman season, it all came crashing down with an ACL tear during basketball.
“It was really hard. The mental side was worse than the physical,” DeGraaf said. “It is really detrimental to your confidence and abilities. I have learned to fall in love with the process more than the winning aspect after being back. It is learning I am not going to win everything.”
But she sure is winning a lot.
DeGraaf broke the school record in the 100-meter hurdles last week with a race of 15.24 at the Shepherd invite.
“I am proud of what I have done. I broke a meet and school record in one race. I wasn’t expecting that,” she said.
But Mazie Robison was.
The previous record-holder was at the meet and called it.
“I called it. It was the first meet I went to. I saw here and I could tell she was ready,” Robison said. “It is amazing. I couldn’t be prouder of her. I am happy that she is the one breaking records. She has put in so much work. It was the track meet that my junior year, I broke the school record, so I just had that feeling.I knew she was capable of it.”
Not everyone expected it.
“I was truly not expecting a school record to go down so early,” Saugatuck coach Angelina Bauer said. “You never know how a kid is going to come back. It is a mental battle. She is about as confident and collected as they come. If she has doubts, and I am sure she does, she doesn’t say them and just tackles everything.”
A lot of that comes from watching Robison as well. When DeGraaf was a freshman, Robison was one of the top hurdlers in the state.
“Mazie is my mentor and one of my best friends. She taught me hard work and what it was really like to be a high-level athlete,” DeGraaf said.
DeGraaf had to start at ground zero with her training after the severe knee injury, keeping her out of competition for more than a year.
“It meant that I have overcome myself. I have come a lot farther than I think and still have the potential to get even better,” she said. “I started with a couple months in PT. I had the best physical therapists by my side which was great. It was constant. You are trying to get your movement and your muscle mass back to normal.
“I am still working now to get back. I still have to get all of my muscle back, but I feel 100% better than before.”
While the strength is still growing within her, DeGraaf was surprised at how easily her form returned in her events – all of them.
“It came naturally back even after a whole year off. My first hurdle felt like I was back. The form came back in the pole vault and long jump, but it is the speed that needs to still get there,” DeGraaf said. “I learned to give myself a little more grace and be grateful for my time on the track. Being away from the sport really hurt me.”
It has made her realize she wants track and field to be part of her future as she aims for a state championship.
“I would love to pursue a college career, probably in hurdling. It feels the most natural and I love it,” she said. “Definitely get my 100 hurdle time up. I am really trying to work on where some other girls are at. I am ranked second in D3 but I want to be better than the D2 girls. That is what I am pushing for.”
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: SUPER NOVA: How Saugatuck’s Novella DeGraaf battled back from ACL tear into state contention
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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