How Southside's Gauge Nesmith returned to track after ACL injury during football season
When Southside multi-sport senior Gauge Nesmith went down with a non-contact knee injury in the second game of the football season, it could've been the end of his sporting career for the Panthers.
He had to miss the rest of the football season, and all of basketball season, but has been able to make it back for track season this spring. He suffered an almost fully torn ACL, estimating it was around 95% torn, but luckily that was the only damage he did to his knee.
"The recovery process has been great, I've been blessed to have the people around me and the community around me to be where I'm at right now," Nesmith said.
After undergoing surgery in late September, Nesmith started a grueling rehab process that included heavy weight training, since the trainers knew where he wanted to get back to, which was being able to play at a high level as he still looks for the right fit for football at the college level. It took him six months to get cleared on Feb. 28th.
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"I'm not as fast as I was then but I'm trying to get back there. Obviously, no one is going to be as fast after an ACL surgery. Strength got to build back up," Nesmith said. "I'm not going to let a minor setback change my way, my competitive drive. I still want it more than anybody. The mentality of it is I got to keep plowing away so I can get back to where I want to be."
He has been back for about a month-and-half running mainly the 400-meter relay and recently doing the 100-meter sprint. It all goes into the build up that coach Ray Cargill had to get Nesmith back to full strength and being able to help the team. The only two events he is missing from last year is the 4x400-meter and the high jump, which he qualified for states in.
For Cargill, the conversations of trying to get him back to where he was are easy since Nesmith has come in with the correct mindset. He understands that he's not where he was last year but he's got to do it the right way if he wants to get back there.
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"That's the good thing about Gauge, he's really realistic. He's an athlete, he understands," Cargill said. "He knew to get back to where he could be was to run track. me and him have an easy conversation, this is what we're going to do to get you back and prepare you for the next level."
At the Etowah County track and field meet last week Nesmith ran a 12.29-second, 100-meter dash and helped the boys team earn a close 4x100-meter relay win over Sardis. Nesmith and Southside will be competing at the Class 5A sectional meet in Lincoln starting on Friday. For now, everything has felt right for Nesmith as he runs, but after he does feel it.
"It feels fine when I run, my stamina is the only thing that's getting me. My muscle strength in my legs, its getting better. I get real sore after but that's part of it," Nesmith said.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: How Southside's Gauge Nesmith returned to track after ACL injury
