It was Jan. 25, 2000…and after hundreds of hours, spanning months of workouts in the gym, the opportunity to compete was gone. After all, that is what UK GymKat Jennifer Simmons enjoyed most about gymnastics. And after only two meets into the 2000 season, all she could do was watch.
Simmons was practicing a release skill on the uneven bars when she missed the bar, landing between two mats and breaking her ankle. Ironically, the year before, Simmons had finished first on the UK team on the uneven bars with a 9.723 average.
Today, almost a year to the day after the season-ending injury, Simmons has completed her comeback and is once again competing and contributing. She scored team-highs in the vault and the all-around events in the season-opening meet against LSU on Jan. 12.
“The physical part of rehabilitation was the toughest because I have never had a major injury,” Simmons said. “I wasn’t used to going through rehab. Mentally it was a good break for me. I was able to regroup and get prepared for this season. It was a good time for me to get to know what I want to do this season.”
Although she helped cheer on her teammates from the sidelines last season it was frustrating for Simmons to watch other people compete and not be able to help the team.
“The hardest thing is when you’re hurt and you can only watch, knowing you could contribute,” agreed Coach Leah Little. “With a lot of athletes the rehabilitation process will either make them or break them. Some athletes find that the rehab is so hard, and they have a whole year to rehab and watch, sometimes people just give up. With other people it really motivates them, and that’s what happened to Jennifer. She threw herself into conditioning and training and actually got herself in the best physical shape since she’s been here. That carried on through the summer and preseason training. She looks better than she ever has and is in the best shape she has ever been in. Just watching made her very hungry. It was a real motivator in her case.”
Simmons credits roommate and student manager Susan Buffington with helping her through the injury and subsequent recovery. “She knows how it feels and she always gave me words of encouragement when I was down,” Simmons said. Buffington suffered a career-ending knee injury after her freshman year.
“We missed Jennifer a lot last season,” Little said. “She was our top returning all-around performer. Whenever you lose your top returner, it’s a blow to your team. We had seven freshmen last year and once Jennifer went down, they were just trying to figure it out as they went.”
Simmons’ personal goals for this season are to meet and break all her career highs in every event. “And I want to help out the team as much as possible. If that means doing the All-Around, then that’s what I’ll do. Whatever I can do to possibly help out the team.”
Even though Simmons scored her collegiate best in the floor exercise (9.975 vs. Auburn on Mar. 12, 1999), the balance beam is her favorite event because it is mentally easier for her.
“The team is so mentally and physically ready for this season,” Simmons added. “We have been conditioning hard since August. We started working on our routines earlier than normal. We are excited, we’re ready, and we know we are.”
Ready to compete.
