BETHALTO - Civic Memorial junior Meredith Brueckner has been overcoming a familiar injury over the past year. Unfamiliar to her personally, but very much familiar to the Lady Eagles' basketball program.
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Brueckner was the sixth girl in six years to tear her ACL on the hard court. During her time as an Eagle she's seen the injury happen twice.
Brueckner was a freshman when Claire Christeson tore hers in June 2021, then came Aubree Wallace in March 2022.
"They were definitely there for me every step of the way," Brueckner said of her former teammates. "I'll always text them and ask 'is this normal?' They're always there for me."
Brueckner tore her ACL in February of this year, and after months of hard work and physical therapy, made her return to the basketball court.
For her resilience, Meredith Brueckner is a Tom Lane State Farm Athlete of the Month for Civic Memorial High School.
Brueckner played the first two days of the season-opening tournament in Taylorville, playing limited time in three games over the course of two days, picking up an unrelated injury that sidelined her for another couple of weeks.
"It's definitely been hard. There's your good days and your awful days. Tonight, it was one of those better days. I decided to show up and play today," Brueckner said after a 75-52 win on the road at Jerseyville back on Dec, 1st.
She scored seven points against the Panthers.
Jerseyville was her first game back after 12 days, having to sit out due to a painful bruise on her first metatarsal, the bone in the foot just behind the big toe.
"It's an uphill battle, but you've just got to keep going," she said on both injuries.
She's hoping she can get back to her normal playing time toward the end of December.
As a freshman, she played in 30 varsity games and racked up 141 points with a team-high 59 rebounds.
She also plays volleyball for CM, having to miss her junior season entirely with the ACL injury. At the net as a freshman she had 118 kills, 22 aces and 142 digs.
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