Two bone spur surgeries, a torn elbow ligament and one chipped ankle bone later, three Iowa State gymnasts have returned to their sport with new determination and a raw passion for gymnastics.

Junior Kelli More went down first, suffering from bone spurs that required surgery back on Dec. 19.

Just one month before the season began, More was knocked out of the all-around competition and would compete on just the uneven bars for the first two meets of the season.

Almost immediately, More said she became frustrated, questioning whether she would have anything to show from a summer of hard work.

“My gymnastics was better than it had ever been in my life, and I was looking forward to accomplishing all the goals I had set for myself,” More said. “Then the injury made me step back and re-evaluate everything I wanted to do for the year.”

On Jan. 30, against Auburn, More returned to the balance beam and tied for second with a 9.80. More also placed third on the bars with a score of 9.775.

In spite of the early success, More said she still wasn’t quite in top form when she returned.

“When I came back, I expected to be exactly where I was before the surgery, and that wasn’t the case,” More said. “I had to re-learn a lot of skills, and when I wanted to push myself harder, my foot wouldn’t let me.”

The Jan. 30 meet started a chain reaction of successful meets for More and the Cyclones. Between the Feb. 6 meet at Minnesota and the March 20 meet at Nebraska, More had 10 top-three finishes, including five first-place finishes on the beam.

Four of those five top scores were 9.90, both a season and career high.

Head coach Amy Pyle said More was originally reluctant to have surgery and her mental toughness and dedication allowed her to return to competition.

“Kelli rehabbed religiously to get herself back,” Pyle said. “She didn’t want surgery and wanted to gut it out, but she obviously made the right choice.”

More saved her best for the climax of the season, taking top honors at the Big 12 Championship on March 27 in the beam and setting a new season and career high with a 9.925.

She also finished second on the floor exercise, tying her career high with a 9.90.

But despite a fifth place showing on the beam and a seventh place score on the floor at the regional competition on April 10, More’s season concluded just as it started: in pain.

“There’s still a lot of pain in my ankle,” More said. “It has nothing to do with the surgery; they (the doctors) got rid of what they needed to get rid of. I think that’s just 17 years of pounding on my ankles.”

The pounding inside of Sissy Huey’s elbow reached its peak in February, when, while doing a “basic skill,” she dislocated her left elbow and subsequently tore the ligament supporting the elbow.

In October, Huey had bone spurs removed from her ankles. This time, though, the prognosis for Huey was not as positive. Huey faced the possibility of reconstructive surgery on her elbow, which would end her freshman season.

“It was very, very tough; I was wondering, ‘Why me?,'” Huey said. “My freshman year was going so great, and then this happened.”

At her first collegiate meet, Jan. 15 against Michigan State, Nebraska and Winona State, she took first on the bars with a score of 9.85. She also tied for first on the bars Jan. 22 at Missouri with a 9.70.

Huey’s chances of returning to the all-around competition looked slim, Pyle said.

“Sissy’s injury was a whole different ball game,” Pyle said. “It was a situation of her having reconstructive surgery on her elbow, and maybe she competes next year.”

Then, with a lumbering elbow brace strapped to her left elbow, Huey performed a beam exhibition Feb. 19 against Oklahoma.

“In the beginning, I thought I was going to have to have surgery right away, and my season would be over,” Huey said. “Then the doctor said I could try it (the elbow) and see how it felt. I tried it, and it felt fine, so I told myself that I had to get in much better shape to compete.”

Pyle said Huey’s extraordinary return was a tribute to her heart and desire.

“It was really her desire and toughness as a competitor that got her back on the floor,” Pyle said. “I look at her with amazement because she should not be out there.”

Slowly, Huey worked herself back into the all around competition, trying to stay off her elbow as much as possible.

Her comeback was seemingly sealed at the Big 12 Championship. Huey tied for first on the bars with a score of 9.875; third in the all around with a score of 39.225 and fifth on the beam with a score of 9.875.

With three top 10 finishes at regionals, Huey qualified for national competition in the all around, slated for April 22-24.

Things have come full circle for Huey, who said her injury nearly drove her to leave gymnastics behind forever.

“I was not only thinking of leaving gymnastics, but I was thinking of leaving the school because I came here for the gymnastics,” Huey said. “I had to overcome a huge obstacle, and I didn’t know how to do it, and without the help of my mom, teammates and the coaches, I don’t think I would have been able to do it.”

Flashback to March 5 in Gainesville, Fla. The Cyclones are deadlocked with Auburn, Florida and North Carolina State. Freshman Shelly Kringen prepares for the vault. Enter disaster; exit Kringen.

“I was doing vault, and I missed my hands on the horse,” Kringen said. “I sprained my ankle and chipped a bone in it.”

For Shelly Kringen, the season was going very well. Just a freshman, Kringen was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for Feb. 2 after capturing first in the floor, beam and vault at Auburn with two career highs.

Dealing with the injury was tough for Kringen, Pyle said, because she had never experienced anything like this before.

“Shelly had never been injured before, and it was hard for her not knowing how to deal with the pain,” Pyle said. “She had to continue to rehab the ankle, so we had her do a lot of bars.”

Still, the coaching staff did not want to press Kringen back into action too soon due to her inexperience so she began working on the vault.

“She is naive as a competitor, a raw talent, and it was unfortunate that she got hurt because she is our best floor person,” Pyle said. [Assistant coaches] K.J. [Kindler] and Lou [Ball], myself and her teammates have really encouraged Shelly. She has nowhere near peaked.”

Throughout the rest of March, Kringen worked on her vaulting skills in preparation for regional competition on April 10. Just over a month since her injury, Kringen placed fourth overall on the vault, tying her career high with a score of 9.850.

More, Huey and Kringen captured a total of six top 10 finishes for the Cyclones at regionals, this almost four months to the day that More had surgery for bone spurs and the trio of gymnasts’ injury woes began.

More, Huey and Kringen said that being injured taught them a new appreciation for and dedication to gymnastics, as well as the ability to overcome any obstacles that they may face.

“Coming back makes every single one of us feel so good because pain is not easy to work with,” More said. “It’s hard to come into the gym when you know your foot is going to hurt or your ankle is going to hurt. I think it shows that gymnastics takes a lot of physical and mental strength, and I think that’s something that everyone in this gym has.”