Minnetonka's Emily Meese back in the running

Emily Meese's passion has always been running, but she plays hockey for Minnetonka during the winter months, too.

One might think losing an edge and colliding knee-first into the corner boards is what kept her out of most of the track and field season so far.

Instead, the culprit was a treadmill.

Trying to keep in shape during a cold and wet spring break week, Meese took her training indoors and wound up with a stress fracture in her right tibia.

"I just pushed too fast," Meese said. "And it was one of those things where I was disappointed with my cross-country season, so I was really looking forward to track. I was pretty pumped. Then ..."

Instead, Meese spent three weeks in a walking boot and endured gruelling physical therapy in a swimming pool. She joked her body went from 70 percent water to 70 percent chlorine.

"I smelled like a pool for a good month," she said.

Aside from that, Skippers coach Jane Meads wouldn't allow Meese to attend the team's meets while she was recuperating. Wanting to cheer on her teammates was admirable, but standing around for six to eight hours was hardly beneficial.

"She was a little cranky about that," Meads said. "But she listened. What's most important was her health."

Last Wednesday at the Class 3A, Section 7 True Team meet, Meese was finally back running competitively for the first time since finishing a team-high 10th at the state cross country meet in November.

She ran third on the Skippers' 4x800 meter relay team, which finished in second place with a time of 9 minutes, 42.02 seconds -- its best mark of the season.

Though visibly winded after the race, Meese soon gave teammates a Hulk Hogan-like double-arm flex after finishing. Even with a punishing headwind around the first turn and down the backstretch, she said it felt incredible to be back on the track.

"The first lap was all adrenaline; the second was coming from the heart," she said. "At first it was like, 'I'm running! I'm running!' Then I hit a brick wall."

For now, Meese will stick to the 4x800, and gradually work her way back into a full slate of running that along with the 1,600, 800 or 4x400 meter races during meets.

"She's not happy with her [times] right now, but it's only one race back," Meads said. "It always feels a little different when you've been out that long."

Meads said they are seven girls with a chance to get into the 4x800 by season's end, so having Meese back into the mix has given the team a shot in the arm.

"It's so nice to have her back," said senior Taylor Light, who ran anchor on the relay at the True Team meet. "We all want to win, and get those times down where they should be."