It isn’t hard to see the heartbreak in Dominic Bruno, senior’s eyes when he discusses his track injury. Bruno has run track since his sophomore year and found a late love for track.
After making it to the semi-final Wisconsin indoor track meet at the start of his senior year, Bruno was projected to make it to the outdoor state competition before breaking his ankle.
Bruno and his plans to be in the outdoor state competition for his final year in track were put on hold and possibly ended when he sustained an ankle injury while he was running in his main event the 110-meter hurdles.
The 110-meter hurdles can very easily lead to injury if steps are mistimed, which is exactly what happened to Bruno.
“I miss-timed my steps going through the first hurdle which threw all of the subsequent hurdles timing off; this resulted in me reaching the sixth hurdle much later than I should have. When I kicked up to go over I caught the top bar of the hurdle which fell and landed on my ankle popping it out of place,” Bruno said.
Bruno will not have another track season to look forward to. He will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison after this year and is disappointed in his season being cut short, yet he is very satisfied with how it was going leading up to the injury.
”The season was going great; earlier in the week I made it to the semis in the Wisconsin state indoor meet at UW lacrosse. I was projected to go to state later in the year if it wasn’t for the injury,” Bruno said.
With a hopeful future before the injury track coach Micah Adams described how Bruno’s injury has impacted the track team.
“We are hopeful that Dom will be able to come back and compete later in the season. Luckily, the injury happened earlier in the season and he has the chance to come back and still compete in many important meets for us. In the meantime, some of the younger hurdlers will get opportunities to step up and compete at a high level,” Adams said.
Adams also discussed his reaction to Bruno going down.
“Knowing Dom from coaching him in football, I was shocked to see such a tough kid not finish a race. I was filming the race and immediately went to re-watch what happened and understood right away as his stepping on the hurdle forced the top of the hurdle onto his other ankle and the injury looked painful. As a coach, it is my job to ensure team success, so as soon as I was able to get down to the track to speak with him and Jeni, one of our athletic trainers, I had to get to work at filling his spot on a relay team that was going to run a later event that was coming up soon,” Adams said.
Jeni McKean, athletic trainer, was the trainer at the incident; she helps athletes like Bruno recover with these types of injuries.
“Working with an athletic trainer, physical therapist, and/or a strength and conditioning coach is always a great idea to get back to your sport quickly after an injury. These are educated, licensed and trained health care professionals. High school athletic trainers are especially equipped to work with their athletes since we develop a close relationship with our athletes and coaches and are available after school and at events,” McKean said.
With the outdoor state competition on the line, only time will tell if Bruno will be able to make it back in time.
