by Craig Morgan, theSunDevils.com writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Katie Gorczyca had her eyes on the prize. Only one more event stood between the 2016 national runner-up and a chance to climb one more spot in the collegiate pecking order.
Gorczyca felt good as she rode in a pack with fellow Sun Devil triathletes Sarah Quintero, Rebecca Naughton and Kyla Roy at the Eastern Regional Qualifier in Sarasota, Fla. on Oct. 7.
"We had a strategy to help each other on the course so we wanted to be in the same bike group and we made that happen," Gorczyca said. "There were one or two other girls in our group because we caught them."
Hindsight is 20/20, and other factors contributed to the accident, but Gorczyca said she made a mistake that day.
"I was riding too close to a wheel," she said. "I hit the wheel and I went down really hard and I broke my wrist. Right when I looked down at it, I thought, 'well, this is not good.'"
Gorczyca sustained an oblique fracture in her radius, she chipped the ulnar styloid and she dislocated her hand from her right arm. The injuries required surgery, and her arm and hand had to remain in a cast until late November.
The injuries also cost her the chance to compete in the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship, hosted and won by ASU in Tempe on Nov. 5.
"I'm not going to lie," she said. "It was really, really difficult for me to cope with that. It was heartbreaking for me not to be on the start line with those girls. Watching all of them start in the water after the gun went off, that's when it really hit me that I wasn't going to be racing."
Sun Devil head coach Cliff English could offer little more than sympathy, a temporary job and a carrot.
"It was such an unfortunate loss for the team and for Katie, but she handled it really well," English said. "The good news is she has another year of eligibility so she'll be back next season."
On race day, Gorczyca helped English coach the team and she found more than solace in that effort.
"They're my teammates, they're my roommates, so I was still really happy for them," she said. "I was literally screaming on the course because I wanted them to do well and when they crossed the finish line I was in tears. It was so emotional for me. Clearly, I wanted to be racing, but at the same time I knew that they were fighting to repeat as champs.
"Who knows? It could have just been a much-needed break for me and I feel like it's almost a blessing in disguise because it gave the opportunity to sit back and watch how my team trains and how my coach coaches and be on the other side of things. It gave me that perspective."
Gorczyca is using that knowledge to complement her burning desire to get back on the course. She is still rehabilitating the arm and wrist, but the flexibility and range of motion are improving daily. She still has not set a timeline for returning to racing. It will depend on the healing process, but she is taking a family vacation in December to Maui.
"I really wanted to go skiing with my family because we haven't done that in a while, but my doctor was like, 'yeah, that's a hard no,'" she said, laughing. "I guess being on a beach will be a little safer."
While she soaks up some tropical sunshine, Gorczyca will be stoking another fire.
"A huge fire," she said. "I'm ready to come back with more energy and more focus and with more power. This time off has given time to reflect and think about everything I've done.
"I've been doing triathlons since I was 13 years old, non-stop. A forced break is kind of what I needed, but I will come back with more wisdom. The main goal is to stay healthy, but I want to do the absolute best I can do; be the absolute best athlete I can be. I'll get stronger, faster and smarter and I want to repeat what we've done the past couple years as a team."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Katie Gorczyca had her eyes on the prize. Only one more event stood between the 2016 national runner-up and a chance to climb one more spot in the collegiate pecking order.
Gorczyca felt good as she rode in a pack with fellow Sun Devil triathletes Sarah Quintero, Rebecca Naughton and Kyla Roy at the Eastern Regional Qualifier in Sarasota, Fla. on Oct. 7.
"We had a strategy to help each other on the course so we wanted to be in the same bike group and we made that happen," Gorczyca said. "There were one or two other girls in our group because we caught them."
Hindsight is 20/20, and other factors contributed to the accident, but Gorczyca said she made a mistake that day.
"I was riding too close to a wheel," she said. "I hit the wheel and I went down really hard and I broke my wrist. Right when I looked down at it, I thought, 'well, this is not good.'"
Gorczyca sustained an oblique fracture in her radius, she chipped the ulnar styloid and she dislocated her hand from her right arm. The injuries required surgery, and her arm and hand had to remain in a cast until late November.
The injuries also cost her the chance to compete in the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championship, hosted and won by ASU in Tempe on Nov. 5.
"I'm not going to lie," she said. "It was really, really difficult for me to cope with that. It was heartbreaking for me not to be on the start line with those girls. Watching all of them start in the water after the gun went off, that's when it really hit me that I wasn't going to be racing."
Sun Devil head coach Cliff English could offer little more than sympathy, a temporary job and a carrot.
"It was such an unfortunate loss for the team and for Katie, but she handled it really well," English said. "The good news is she has another year of eligibility so she'll be back next season."
On race day, Gorczyca helped English coach the team and she found more than solace in that effort.
"They're my teammates, they're my roommates, so I was still really happy for them," she said. "I was literally screaming on the course because I wanted them to do well and when they crossed the finish line I was in tears. It was so emotional for me. Clearly, I wanted to be racing, but at the same time I knew that they were fighting to repeat as champs.
"Who knows? It could have just been a much-needed break for me and I feel like it's almost a blessing in disguise because it gave the opportunity to sit back and watch how my team trains and how my coach coaches and be on the other side of things. It gave me that perspective."
Gorczyca is using that knowledge to complement her burning desire to get back on the course. She is still rehabilitating the arm and wrist, but the flexibility and range of motion are improving daily. She still has not set a timeline for returning to racing. It will depend on the healing process, but she is taking a family vacation in December to Maui.
"I really wanted to go skiing with my family because we haven't done that in a while, but my doctor was like, 'yeah, that's a hard no,'" she said, laughing. "I guess being on a beach will be a little safer."
While she soaks up some tropical sunshine, Gorczyca will be stoking another fire.
"A huge fire," she said. "I'm ready to come back with more energy and more focus and with more power. This time off has given time to reflect and think about everything I've done.
"I've been doing triathlons since I was 13 years old, non-stop. A forced break is kind of what I needed, but I will come back with more wisdom. The main goal is to stay healthy, but I want to do the absolute best I can do; be the absolute best athlete I can be. I'll get stronger, faster and smarter and I want to repeat what we've done the past couple years as a team."