Camillus native Jordan Macbeth had big plans for her first season with SUNY Poly’s Women’s Lacrosse team. However, a major injury put those plans on hold.
Despite the setback, Macbeth has worked closely with SUNY Poly’s athletic trainers and Accessibility Services Office, who have provided a path to a successful recovery.
Macbeth is a junior enrolled in the Accelerated BS/MS Program in Communication and Information Design/Information Design and Technology.
It wasn’t until high school that she picked up lacrosse, but she fell in love with the sport and wanted to continue playing in college. She is now an attackman for the SUNY Poly women’s lacrosse team.
Being a student-athlete has helped Macbeth maintain a day-to-day routine.
“I feel like it helps me stay focused with school because if our grades are slipping, our coach is on us to get back on track,” said Macbeth. “I don’t really have downtime, but I don’t mind not having it because it keeps my life structured.”
Just before her first lacrosse season, she suffered from a major injury.
“We were just scrimmaging, I had the ball, and I went to pivot around my defender. When I went to run and push off on my feet, I went up too high and I felt a pop in both of my feet” she explained. I couldn’t support myself so then I just flopped to the ground”.
Her coach along with SUNY Poly’s athletic trainer stepped in right away.
Doctors informed her that she had two sprained ankles, along with a tear in her left Lisfranc.
Ryn, the athletic trainer, had attended a seminar in her college career that was all about this rare injury so “she knew everything about it,” Macbeth says.
“She had a hunch that it was that and that is why she encouraged me to go to the doctors right away. They needed to do a bilateral standing X-ray because it is the only way you can see this injury and sure enough, she was spot on.”
Ryn created a rehab program just for Macbeth’s injury which focuses on meeting milestones to slowly get her back on the field. The two work together three to four times a week to work towards meeting their goals.
Because of her injury, Macbeth faced some academic challenges. SUNY Poly’s Accessibility Services office was there to help set in place accommodations to make things as easy as possible.
“They worked with my professors to allow me to take those in-person classes remotely,” she states. “They helped me extend some deadlines because I got injured right when midterms were during that semester.”
With tremendous help from SUNY Poly’s athletic trainer, Macbeth is set to be fully cleared just before this upcoming season.
Recently, Macbeth was able to participate in a scrimmage. “Originally we did not think this would be the case, but it just shows how far I was able to come with the help of Ryn and Becki, the trainers here at Poly.”
Macbeth explains, “I am getting excited because I am making a lot of progress, and I will actually get to have a spring season this year. I am extremely grateful for our trainers here at SUNY Poly and cannot wait to be fully recovered and able to play in this upcoming season.”