Award eases injury sting for Holy Angels' Skogmo

There's little question that Sarah Skogmo's high school athletic career came to an end on a sour note.

Needing to make up time in her second run of the day at the Alpine skiing state meet in February, the Holy Angels senior was attacking the hill when she felt her right knee pop. Her meet was over.

"The course was getting kind of rough and I hit a hard spot in the snow," Skogmo said. "I was trying to push too hard. That's when it happened."

At first, she hoped that the injury wasn't serious. But after two weeks of waiting and hoping, an MRI confirmed that the ACL in her knee was torn.

She had surgery last week, ending her chance of repeating as the leading scorer for the Stars' lacrosse team.

Things haven't been all bad, however. Skogmo was named the recipient of the Athena Award for Holy Angels, an honor given to the most worthy female scholar-athlete at each school in the metro.

Staff writer Jim Paulsen talked with Skogmo about her knee, her fondest memories and her future.

A We were hoping it was just a meniscus tear or something like that. We hoped physical therapy would help.

Q It was a month between the time you found out it was the ACL and the actual surgery. Why?

A I was going to go to Florida for spring break in March, and I wasn't going to miss that.

Q Was it tough getting around on bum knee?

A It was a little hard, but the ACL was basically gone so I could do whatever and not worry about making it worse. Walking was easy. Swimming was a little bit harder.

A It has been. Now that I've had surgery, I think it will be better. Before the surgery, people would always be asking if I was going to be able to play this year. It was hard to be there.

Q Does winning the Athena Award help?

A It's a big deal. I'd heard about it, and I really wanted to get it. But early in the year, I'd kind of forgotten about it. It's pretty special.

Q What are your best memories of your athletic career?

A Making the varsity lacrosse team as a freshman. The program wasn't doing well, and when us seniors came in, we got better. Another thing is going to the state skiing meet four years in a row.

A Probably Lutsen. Even though people say there are no big hills in Minnesota, it's big enough to get a good skiing view.

Q Any place outside of Minnesota?

A I really like Winter Park [Colo.]. I qualified for the Junior Olympics there as a sixth-grader.

Q College plans?

A I'm going to the University of Minnesota in Duluth.

A Probably a little bit.

Q Are you going to try to come back as an athlete?