Kristin Canady: The hope of a scholarship motivates Skiatook senior who sustained knee injury

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Kristin Canady: The hope of a scholarship motivates Skiatook senior who sustained knee injury

BY BILL HAISTEN World Sports Writer
Sunday, March 18, 2012
3/18/12 at 10:59 AM

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During the second half of a Feb. 17 basketball game at Coweta, Skiatook High School senior Kristin Canady was driving toward the basket.

"There was an extended stride and an awkward plant," Skiatook coach Leah Beer recalls. "It scared me when I saw it."

The 5-foot-10 Canady sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. Surgery was performed on March 7. The timing of Canady's injury was horrible because she was on crutches during the Class 5A playoffs, and because she is hoping to secure a college scholarship to play basketball or soccer - or both.

"This is the first injury that has ever happened to me," Canady said. "I've rolled an ankle before, but nothing major. As soon as I came down on it, I felt pain. I knew it wasn't right. I knew it immediately. I heard a grinding sound - and then there was pain.

"I'm OK now, but in the beginning it was really hard. Seeing my teammates practice without me is very hard. I'm doing better now. I've come to terms with it."

Said Beer: "I think Kristin is concerned now, wondering how (college recruiters) might look at her after the injury. It's been a pretty hard deal, I think. Hard for her and her family."

Canady's next challenge occurs not on a court or a field, but in a rehabilitation clinic.

"That's what pushes me to go through the rehab," she said. "I still want the opportunity to play at the next level."

Associated Images:

Skiatook basketball player Kristin Canady tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee in a game against Coweta Feb. 17. MATT BARNARD / Tulsa World