Central Michigan University Athletics
Rejuvinated Hilliker Grows Into Expanded Role
2/15/2019 1:05:00 PM | Gymnastics
Gymnast rises from the adversity of devastating Achilles injury
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – So many ways to contribute, so many ways to grow.
Macey Hilliker saw the end. Her gymnastics career was over. And then it wasn't. Because it isn't about how many times you get knocked down, but about how many times you get up.
Hilliker, a Central Michigan graduate student, was a solid three-year contributor to the storied Central Michigan gymnastics program, winning the floor exercise as a junior at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships.
In the third meet of her senior year in 2018, Hilliker went down with a torn Achilles heel. It was the latest in a laundry list of injuries – knee, neck, back -- the now-23-year-old Bay City native had endured in a gymnastics career that began when she was still drinking from a sippy cup.
The Achilles injury put Hilliker in an orthopedic boot and on a scooter. She stood by and cheered while her team, led by her best friend, Katy Clements, won the MAC regular-season title and finished first at the MAC Championships, and earned an NCAA Regional berth.
"It was very hard, but I couldn't help but be so happy for them," Hilliker says. "If I was in that position, winning all of those titles, I would want to have a positive, happy support system cheering me on as well. … Those championships, they were so well deserved. I was kind of living out my gymnastics career through them."
Hilliker earned her bachelor's degree last spring with a major in public health. She had planned to relocate to Grand Rapids, launch her career, and leave gymnastics behind.
And then, she got up again.
ONE MORE YEAR
CMU coach Jerry Reighard and longtime assistant Christine MacDonald approached Hilliker with an idea last spring. Because she had been injured relatively early in the 2018 season, Hilliker was granted a medical redshirt by the NCAA preserving a season of eligibility. She could, in fact, return for one more season.
Yes, their thinking went, Hilliker could help. She was a proven commodity, solid on the balance beam and on the floor exercise. Yet it was her maturity, her experiences that might have been her most valuable commodity.
In HIlliker, Reighard saw an inspiration.
"They understand," Reighard says of his athletes. "They saw what a devastating experience it was to have your competitive career, (during) your senior year -- which is supposed to be your best year -- get yanked out from underneath you. To then make the commitment to do it all over again, that speaks volumes.
"Macey isn't the type of person that walks around in practice and says 'Hey, if I can do this, you can do this.' That's not her. It's more the work ethic that she portrays that you wouldn't know she had any injuries ever."
Hilliker wasn't sold on the idea at first. Rehabbing the Achilles so that she might go on and live pain free was one thing; rehabbing and preparing for the physical and emotional rigors of one final gymnastics season was quite another.
"It started getting me thinking again and I was like, 'I don't think I can do this, I really don't think I can,'" she says. "I talked to my parents about it a little more. They were both like, 'We don't want to see you go through this again. What if it's not a successful year?'
"A lot of thoughts were going through my head."
In the end, Hilliker re-dedicated herself, put her career plans on hold, and dove back in. She had some unfinished business in the gym. Something to prove.
She had no idea about the lessons, the growth, that was coming her way.
'WOULDN'T TRADE IT'
Hilliker was cleared to compete in January, nearly a year to the day the injury occurred. She has competed on beam in all six of CMU's competitions this season, and has competed on floor exercise in the last two.
She has her sights set high and after seeing her best friend, Clements, earn All-America honors a year ago, she is rejuvenated. Unfinished business.
"My big goal last year was to be an All-American and do it with my best friend, which I got to see her do," she says. "I want to be a MAC Champion again, be an All-American and prove to myself that I'm strong mentally and physically."
Her role has evolved too. At age 23, she is older, more experienced, than most of her teammates.
"I feel like I've come out of my shell," she says. "I feel like in the past I've been a little more to myself. I really didn't have to know every single thing that was going on with everyone else, but it helped me grow as a person and a leader.
"I can take what I've learned this year into the next part of my life, the next journey that's coming. I wouldn't take this year back for anything. I think I've grown more this past year than I have in the past four years that I've been here."
And at the end of the day, at the end of an athletic career, at the end of an academic pursuit, that's what it's all about.
Macy Hilliker is a shining example of that.
"As a coach, you train someone to do their sport, but you also train them to be better people, move towards adulthood, start to make responsible decisions," Reighard says. "Macy gravitated towards all of that every year, every season. When we talked about her being a leader there was never any doubt in my mind that she had the attributes to do that.
"I think the key to this whole thing is that two years, five years, whatever down the road, when an obstacle presents itself and it's a big obstacle, she'll look back and say 'Hey, if I can do what I've already done, I can get past this. And that's really what collegiate athletics is supposed to do."
Macey Hilliker saw the end. Her gymnastics career was over. And then it wasn't. Because it isn't about how many times you get knocked down, but about how many times you get up.
Hilliker, a Central Michigan graduate student, was a solid three-year contributor to the storied Central Michigan gymnastics program, winning the floor exercise as a junior at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships.
In the third meet of her senior year in 2018, Hilliker went down with a torn Achilles heel. It was the latest in a laundry list of injuries – knee, neck, back -- the now-23-year-old Bay City native had endured in a gymnastics career that began when she was still drinking from a sippy cup.
The Achilles injury put Hilliker in an orthopedic boot and on a scooter. She stood by and cheered while her team, led by her best friend, Katy Clements, won the MAC regular-season title and finished first at the MAC Championships, and earned an NCAA Regional berth.
"It was very hard, but I couldn't help but be so happy for them," Hilliker says. "If I was in that position, winning all of those titles, I would want to have a positive, happy support system cheering me on as well. … Those championships, they were so well deserved. I was kind of living out my gymnastics career through them."
Hilliker earned her bachelor's degree last spring with a major in public health. She had planned to relocate to Grand Rapids, launch her career, and leave gymnastics behind.
And then, she got up again.
ONE MORE YEAR
CMU coach Jerry Reighard and longtime assistant Christine MacDonald approached Hilliker with an idea last spring. Because she had been injured relatively early in the 2018 season, Hilliker was granted a medical redshirt by the NCAA preserving a season of eligibility. She could, in fact, return for one more season.
Yes, their thinking went, Hilliker could help. She was a proven commodity, solid on the balance beam and on the floor exercise. Yet it was her maturity, her experiences that might have been her most valuable commodity.
In HIlliker, Reighard saw an inspiration.
"They understand," Reighard says of his athletes. "They saw what a devastating experience it was to have your competitive career, (during) your senior year -- which is supposed to be your best year -- get yanked out from underneath you. To then make the commitment to do it all over again, that speaks volumes.
"Macey isn't the type of person that walks around in practice and says 'Hey, if I can do this, you can do this.' That's not her. It's more the work ethic that she portrays that you wouldn't know she had any injuries ever."
Hilliker wasn't sold on the idea at first. Rehabbing the Achilles so that she might go on and live pain free was one thing; rehabbing and preparing for the physical and emotional rigors of one final gymnastics season was quite another.
"It started getting me thinking again and I was like, 'I don't think I can do this, I really don't think I can,'" she says. "I talked to my parents about it a little more. They were both like, 'We don't want to see you go through this again. What if it's not a successful year?'
"A lot of thoughts were going through my head."
In the end, Hilliker re-dedicated herself, put her career plans on hold, and dove back in. She had some unfinished business in the gym. Something to prove.
She had no idea about the lessons, the growth, that was coming her way.
'WOULDN'T TRADE IT'
Hilliker was cleared to compete in January, nearly a year to the day the injury occurred. She has competed on beam in all six of CMU's competitions this season, and has competed on floor exercise in the last two.
She has her sights set high and after seeing her best friend, Clements, earn All-America honors a year ago, she is rejuvenated. Unfinished business.
"My big goal last year was to be an All-American and do it with my best friend, which I got to see her do," she says. "I want to be a MAC Champion again, be an All-American and prove to myself that I'm strong mentally and physically."
Her role has evolved too. At age 23, she is older, more experienced, than most of her teammates.
"I feel like I've come out of my shell," she says. "I feel like in the past I've been a little more to myself. I really didn't have to know every single thing that was going on with everyone else, but it helped me grow as a person and a leader.
"I can take what I've learned this year into the next part of my life, the next journey that's coming. I wouldn't take this year back for anything. I think I've grown more this past year than I have in the past four years that I've been here."
And at the end of the day, at the end of an athletic career, at the end of an academic pursuit, that's what it's all about.
Macy Hilliker is a shining example of that.
"As a coach, you train someone to do their sport, but you also train them to be better people, move towards adulthood, start to make responsible decisions," Reighard says. "Macy gravitated towards all of that every year, every season. When we talked about her being a leader there was never any doubt in my mind that she had the attributes to do that.
"I think the key to this whole thing is that two years, five years, whatever down the road, when an obstacle presents itself and it's a big obstacle, she'll look back and say 'Hey, if I can do what I've already done, I can get past this. And that's really what collegiate athletics is supposed to do."
Players Mentioned
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