Being back to compete makes Northfield senior's season

Senior Kate Arneson is in the process of completing her prep career as a three-sport athlete at Northfield.

Arneson's final year has been one of pain and difficulty. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during a basketball game late in her junior season, and is trying to rebound from that injury.

Here is a closer look at Arneson, who played tennis in the fall and will play softball this spring:

Q What is the best movie you've seen in the last year?

A "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

Q Three songs I never skip on my iPod are …

A … "Shut Up and Dance" by Walk the Moon; "I Bet My Life" by Imagine Dragons; and anything by Ed Sheeran.

A Hard working, responsible and dedicated.

Q What are your three favorite apps?

A Schoology, Hudl and YouTube.

Q At my first varsity practice, you felt …

A … nervous, but excited and thankful for the chance to play with the rest of the team.

A I've loved having the opportunity to play sports with some of my best friends, but aside from that, my most memorable moment as a high school athlete has been returning from my ACL surgery and being able to compete again.

Q What did you work on most in the offseason?

A Most of my offseason work this year was spent doing physical therapy for my knee and getting myself in shape for competition again. I'm still working on getting my power and muscle mass back to where it was before surgery, but a lot of my work has paid off already.

Q What were your goals for the 2014-15 school year?

A My main personal goal this year has been to get and stay healthy. Other goals I have are to continually improve, perform to the best of my abilities, be a leader, do what is best for the team and have fun.

A It can be difficult to find time for everything I want to do, but I try to use good time management. I work ahead on schoolwork, especially on the weekends, so that I can have less homework the night before a game and get more rest. I write down everything I need to do, along with my athletic schedule, so I can see how everything lines up.

Q If you could change one thing about high school sports, what would it be?

A I think it would be really fun to be able to play both singles and doubles in a tennis match.

Q Name one sport that you don't play, that you wish you could, and why?

A I wish I could play golf or ski. My dad and some of my extended family like to play golf, and it would be fun to be able to do it together. Since I live in Minnesota, I feel like I should be able to do some snow-related sport, but I'm not very good at downhill or cross-country skiing.

A The Wisconsin Badgers. My dad grew up just outside of Madison, so every year we go to a Badger football game. This year, I brought a friend and we even got to go on the field for the fifth quarter.

Q Do you have a secret talent — and if so, what is it?

A I can touch my nose with my tongue.