Two broken arms, one inspirational athlete

In the meet at Park Center, Detroit Lakes finished ahead of the top two teams in Class 2A, Lakeville North and Lakeville South. The all-around champion was Detroit Lakes sophomore Jackson Hegg.

Most people may not have noticed one member of the Lakers team who didn’t really stand out unless you looked closely. Kennedy Hegg, Jackson’s twin sister, did not compete Saturday because she had been fighting an illness, but she was in uniform as she stood with her teammates and cheered.

Her right arm was different, however. Kennedy wore a large apparatus that extended from her wrist to her upper arm. It affected her mobility somewhat, but nothing can limit her desire to be with her teammates and compete … not even two broken arms.

The story began when Kennedy was a seventh-grader in her first year on the Lakers team. She had won the all-around title at the first two meets of the season, and was warming up on the uneven bars during the third competition when she fell. She extended her hands to protect her head, and bones snapped in both arms.

Immediately, it was clear that her right elbow was out of whack. But her left arm was also hurting.

She said to the people who had rushed to her aid, “ ‘Would you hold my arm?’ And they were like, ‘We ARE holding your arm.’ I said, ‘No, my other one.’ And as soon as they grabbed it, they knew it was broken, too.”

She had a severe fracture to the right forearm and both bones were broken in her left forearm. The worst spot was the right elbow; it was fractured, ligaments were ripped. It was bad.

“She was a mess there for a while,” said her mother, Monessa Hegg.

Four surgeries followed, along with nearly three years away from gymnastics. Kennedy’s left arm is back to normal but the right arm remains a work in progress. The bones in her right arm had to be rebroken and reset after the initial cast was removed, pins and other assorted hardware were inserted, and a section of the radius bone was removed from the elbow to allow movement and less pain.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Lakers coach Steve Zamzo.

Kennedy is unable to put much weight on her right arm. That means no bars, no vault, no floor exercise. She’s back to competing on the beam this year and has hopes of someday doing floor exercise. Her beam routine includes one-armed cartwheels, which she hopes to upgrade to a more difficult cartwheel back tuck.

“I’m planning on working harder to do a better series,” she said. “I can’t do anything with two arms, really. I can do my hair and stuff like that. I can still do beam and I’m so blessed that I can still do beam.”

And then she added with a smile, “It could always be worse. My left arm is perfectly fine.”

Kennedy (and her sister) also competes in diving as well as track. Kennedy is basically a one-armed diver, tucking her right arm in as she comes off the board and into the water. She has been a competitive gymnast since second grade, and being back with the team this year has been an important step.

“My teammates are my best friends,” she said. “They’re all there for you whenever you need them. They’re an amazing team.”

Doctors said the damage to her right arm is permanent, and Kennedy cannot lift anything heavier than 40 pounds or she risks more fractures.

“It’s scary, and it’s hard to keep her out of the gym,” Monessa said. “The doctor said, ‘If it’s this important to you, you can go on the beam.’ She wanted permission to do floor as well, but the doctor said with the impact of flipping it would be hard to withstand the blow.”

Zamzo called Kennedy “a very talented athlete, and the sky was the limit for her. She understands her limitations. She knows she isn’t able to do things with her arms. That just pushes her. If she sticks the routine, it’s phenomenal.”

Kennedy indeed stuck the routine in her first competition this season after all that time away from the sport, scoring a 9.4 on the beam at the Jackie Mann Invitational in Perham.

“That was really huge for the team, it really brought them together,” Monessa said of Kennedy’s return to competition.

“There were lots of hospital stays and recovery time. I can’t say enough good things about Gillette Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, and her doctors and nurses.”

Kennedy knows she is providing inspiration to others who face setbacks.

“People say that they’re so happy that I’m doing this, that I’m so inspirational. For anyone who gets hurt, it’s motivation to come back. You can still do it, even after what happened.

“I had no doubts. I wanted it, I just wanted to do it. I saw my teammates all succeeding through state and stuff and I wanted that, too. That just pushed me more.”

And if Kennedy should finish this season by competing at state? The answer is easy.

“I’d be so happy.”

Full lineup leads Lakers to repeat victory

The No. 2A Lakers defended their championship title at Park Center and posted a season-best team score of nearly 149 points. However, in gymnastics, there is always room between a top score and perfection.

“There were still points left out there,” said Zamzo. “The girls had a few falls. Those add up.”

The top of the lineup was healthy and ready to compete Saturday and the uptick in scoring was a definite show of having those girls competing in the same meet.

“I think our big difference is having all the girls there to compete,” Zamzo said. “In all the last few of our meets, we have been missing someone like Cora, Emma or Justine. They all were there and competed in some level.”

DL’s score surpassed both of the top Class AA schools from Lakeville by three points, a big margin in gymnastics.

Emma Disse captured the balance beam title and was second on floor to go with Jackson Hegg’s all-around win. Peyton Jernberg grabbed silver on vault. Justine Lawrence had the top routine on bars placing fourth and Cora Okeson had a top 10 all-around performance placing ninth.

The Lakers will be back in the metro Saturday, Jan. 13 for a rematch at the Lakeville North Invitational.

(Tribune Sports Editor Robert Williams contributed to this story)

Team scores: No. 2A Detroit Lakes 148.9, No. 1AA Lakeville North 145.775, No 2AA Lakeville South 144.775, No. 8AA Maple Grove 144.025, No. 6A Mahtomedi 143.4, No. 19AA Champlin Park 140.3, White Bear Lake 29.575, Park Center 128.525

All-Around1 Jackson Hegg DL 37.55, 2 Rachel Steiner LN 37.525, 3 Chaney Neu CP 37.325, 4 Mykaela Doombos LS 37.1, 5 Nadia Abid MG 36.925, 9 Cora Okeson DL 36.225, 24 Emma Disse 27.15Beam 1 Emma Disse DL 9.6, 2 Kari Wenzel LS 9.55, 3 Nadia Abid MG 9.525, 4 Jackson Hegg DL 9.45, 7 Cora Okeson DL 9.325, 8 Justine Lawrence DL 9.275, 17 Peyton Jernberg DL 8.975Vault1 Chaney Neu CP 9.8, 2 Rachel Steiner LN 9.65, 3 Peyton Jernberg DL 9.6, 6 Lexi Yliniemi DL 9.4, 8 Jackson Hegg DL 9.35, 14 Cora Okeson DL 9.1, 18 Ellie Hultin DL 9.025Floor1 Delaney Gipp LN 9.525, 2 Emma Disse DL 9.475, 3 Rachel Steiner LN 9.45, 6 Peyton Jernberg DL 9.325, 8 Jackson Hegg DL 9.3, 11 Lexi Yliniemi DL 9.175, 31 Cora Okeson DL 8.625Bars1 Rachel Steiner LN 9.55, 2 Delaney Gipp LN 9.55, 3 Mykaela Doornbos LS 9.475, 4 Justine Lawrence DL 9.45, 5 Jackson Hegg DL 9.45, 8 Cora Okeson DL 9.175, 18 Ellie Hultin DL 8.45, 27 Emma Disse DL 8.075