Jaden Yates
Kennett, 2020 Comeback Athlete of the Year
The Kennett junior overcame a serious back injury that threatened her athletic career to excel for the Indians last fall.Comeback Player of the Year Winners
Scout Pettit
Jackson, 2019 Comeback Player of the Year
Logan Bell
Poplar Bluff, 2018 Comeback Player of the Year
Bell makes it back-to-back years earning a finalist nod in the Comeback category after he bounced back from an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury a year ago to earn a silver medal at the state track meet. This year he continued his recovery from that injury and didn’t miss a beat, taking over as quarterback for the Mules and helping them to an undefeated regular season and a conference championship. But an in-season ACL injury in his other knee forced a second recovery, from which he returned for to win a district title in javelin before finishing second in sectionals. At state he finished ninth in the event despite suffering another injury, this time to his elbow.
Dru Hemmann
Perryville, 2017 Comeback Athlete of the Year
The Perryville volleyball staff had high hopes for Hemmann before she even got to high school, but her future was thrown into doubt when an all-terrain vehicle accident forced the young athlete to undergo surgery to amputate her leg above the knee. With hopes of simply joining the team for her first high school season this past fall, instead Hemmann played in the first home game of the season in August, hitting an ace on the first serve of her Perryville career. She continued to play throughout the season, and was also a part of the Pirates girls soccer team this spring.
Shelbey Johnson
Poplar Bluff, 2016 Comeback Athlete of the Year
In 2015, Johnson was only two games into the soccer season when she suffered bleeding on her brain. The scary injury kept her out for the entire season, but didn’t knock her down for good. She returned this spring to set school records for both goals and assists while helping the Mules to a district title.
Jarrett Reisenbichler
Jackson, 2015 Comeback Athlete of the Year
Following an offseason knee surgery, an injury he’d wrestled with and finished fourth in state as a junior, Reisenbichler broke his hand and missed the first several weeks of his senior season. Upon his return to the mat he earned all-state honors with a third-place finish in Class 4.
Denai Arnzen
Leopold, 2014 Comeback Athlete of the Year
Four-year varsity starter Denai Arnzen tore her ACL for a second time and had to have surgery just months before the start of her senior volleyball season at Leopold. But Arnzen rehabbed quickly and earned all-conference, all-district, all-region and all-state honorable mention honors as she helped her team reach the Class 1 state championship game.