An innocent kick of a soccer ball left a promising track and field season in doubt.

Today, there is no doubt that Brooke Sulouff is well on her way back to becoming one of the area's top throwers.

Oddly enough, she has gone from being one of the better shot putters and an average discus thrower to being pretty good at both.

But let's start at the beginning.

The Shikellamy junior tore the medial cruciate ligament in her right knee playing indoor soccer. For several days, Sulouff was on pins and needles, wondering if she had already kissed her favorite sports season goodbye.

Then came the good news. An MRI revealed that she had just an MCL tear and not the dreaded ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) tear.

She could undergo physical therapy and be ready for competition by the opening meet.

"I was pretty excited," Sulouff said about hearing the news.

"I didn't even care about soccer. I was just worried that I messed up the rest of my track season," she said.

The injury occurred as she tried to kick the ball to a teammate. "My foot collided with the ball and my leg just snapped the wrong way. I felt something pop. I didn't know what it was, but I knew it wasn't good," she said.

Sulouff immediately went to the hospital emergency room and was sent to Health South in Danville, where the diagnosis was that she likely had an MCL tear, although they weren't sure how badly, and possibly an ACL.

If the latter, she would be out for six to nine months, she was told.

After getting the good news, or at least the lesser of two evils, Sulouff began extensive physical training with Shikellamy trainer Mike Elder. It was her only chance of being cleared to compete in the opener, a nonleague meet at Shamokin.

"The trainer here is amazing. He's been doing a lot of physical therapy with me and getting my leg back to where it should be, because at first it was really bad," she said.

She did the therapy and rode a stationary bike in the training room. That was the extent of her preseason work for nearly three weeks.