Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Friday, February 01, 2008
Ankle injuries are no deterrent to Clausen’s spirit
 UW-La Crosse gymnast Kasey Clausen practices her routine on the uneven bars. |
Early retirement would have been an understandable option for UW-La Crosse senior gymnast Kasey Clausen this fall.
Dismounts and bad ankles don’t go together well, after all.
Clausen, 22, didn’t quite see it that way. She decided that with careful attention to her injuries in practice and enough guts to handle the pain in meets, she would make it through.
“In the back of my mind, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Clausen said this week as the Eagles prepared for today’s Gershon/McLellan Invitational. “But I thought, ‘I’m a senior and I’m going to try this. I’ve been competing since I was 7 years old.”
Clausen, a native of Apple Valley, Minn., came to the UW-L program as an all-around competitor. As a freshman in 2005, she earned NCGA All-America status in three events at the national meet, including second on the uneven bars, third on the vault and third in all-around.
Three ankle surgeries later, Clausen is limited to the bars and balance beam; not that they are easy on her bad ankles, just easier to work around.
In a home dual meet against Winona State on Jan. 25, Clausen won the uneven bars with a score of 9.625, a personal best mark that she set during her freshman year.
“It felt good to do that, and it was a sense of relief,” Clausen said. “To go out and show that, you know what, I can still stick my routine in a meet. I’ve still got to do it in every meet now.”
Clausen’s injury troubles started early in her sophomore year. She hurt both ankles — “blew them out,” in her words — during the team’s first meet.
The injuries eventually required three separate surgeries; the first to repair torn cartilage in her right ankle, the second to insert two screws to fuse her right ankle together and the last to clean up bone spurs in her left ankle.
“Before (the second surgery) I thought I would be happy if it was a success and I could walk normally again, and if I could do gymnastics ...” Clausen said. “It was rough. There were a lot of tears.”
Clausen competed through her sophomore and junior years and made it to the national meet in the uneven bars last season.
“Really, I thought her career was complete because she’d been an All-American as a freshman,” UW-L coach Barb Gibson said. “I’d say to her, ‘Maybe it’s time your career is over.’ The ankle was really bad; it had taken a lot of abuse. And it never crossed her mind. She would say, ‘No, I want to finish my career.’ She’s a pretty tough kid.”
While finding ways to work through her injuries and remain competitive as a college gymnast, Clausen found a love for coaching.
For the last three summers, Clausen has worked at the Lake Owen (Wis.) Gymnastics and Action Sports Camp. She specializes in choreographing gymnastics routines for high school and club gymnasts, and through her work at the camp, she has been sought out by teams all over Minnesota and Wisconsin. This fall, she spent her weekends choreographing about 60 floor routines for individual gymnasts.
“I’ve always helped out coaching with high school teams and I’ve been introduced to a lot of coaches and I just started to love it,” Clausen said. “I don’t think I’m an expert yet.”
Clausen is aware that, even if she takes extra care and rest during practice, her ankles could betray her again. She said that for herself and for the team, she’s determined not to let that happen.
“You just have to stay positive,” Clausen said. “You can’t let it get to you.”
Joel Badzinski can be reached at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net
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