Heather Minssen from Underwood, Iowa has been named All American in the Shot Putt after competing for UNO the past three years. She was an outstanding high school basketball player for Underwood High School. As a senior they were playing very well with only a few games to go in the regular season, Heather went up for a shot and heard a pop as she landed. She tried to get up and get going again but her left knee continued to give out. Heather’s mother brought Heather to the Saturday morning FREE walk-in sports clinic at Miller Orthopaedic to have her checked out.
She saw Dr. Daniel Larose with Miller Orthopaedic, sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon. He determined she had a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and torn medial meniscus. In February 2006, Heather underwent arthroscopy to repair her torn ligament and meniscus. The surgery was successful and she started physical therapy to rehabilitate her knee. FLEX physical therapists, Mike “Sal” Salerno and Mike Uhrlaub, were instrumental in helping her return an active high school athlete.
Heather had felt so bad she had not been able to complete her high school basketball career; she really wanted to finish out her senior year by competing in track. She had been active in shot, discus and running but knew after having surgery; she couldn’t do the running events in track like she had in the past. She made the decision to focus on shot putt believing it wouldn’t put as much stress on the knee. Even though she had just finished physical therapy, she returned to actively participate only a month and a half after her surgery. She ended up getting 2nd at state and brought the newspaper article back to FLEX showing them what she had done. They were pleased she had recovered so quickly. Athletes with this type of injury typically take a longer time to recover and return to sports this quickly.
UNO recruited Heather to play basketball for them starting in the fall of 2007. After the season, the track coach asked her to be part of their team in the spring. With the approval of her basketball coach, she thought it would be a great way for her to stay in shape between basketball seasons. Her shot putt skills continued to improve and she started placing near the top when competing. After playing two seasons of basketball and track for UNO, she decided she wanted to pursue track and stopped playing basketball. In June 2010 she was named All American in shot putt as a result of her outstanding performance throughout the year with the UNO track team.
Heather’s family had been previous patients at Miller and felt they had received outstanding care. She said everyone was so friendly and comfortable. “It felt like everyone knew you when you walked in” she commented. She felt the outcome from her surgery was great and felt fortunate she never had to wear a brace. The care she received from the initial appointment to surgery and physical therapy were all “wonderful”.
Heather is pursing her education at UNO to become a secondary math teacher and will student teach at Westside Middle School this coming fall.
