Breaking Back
BUTLER TWP — Tabby Wilbert had never gotten off to a better start in the 300 hurdles.
The senior on the Butler girls track and field team flew over the first hurdle against Shaler in mid-April.
She wasn't so lucky when she encountered the second one.
Her foot caught under the bar and she toppled head-first onto the track.
Wilbert, no stranger to falling, knew this tumble was different.
“I knew as soon as I was on the ground something bad was happening,” Wilbert said. “(Butler boys track and field coach MikeSeybert) tried pulling me up and I was like, 'We're not getting up like this. We're going to crawl off the track.'”
Wilbert had snapped her left collarbone. The bones overlapping, she feared her final season on the track for the Golden Tornado was over.
Butler girls track and field coach John Williams had the same thought.
“She was flying when she got hurt,” Williams said. “The season was really starting to happen for her. She was on her way.”
Wilbert still might be.
After consulting with her doctor, an intriguing possibility was floated to her.
Wilbert could undergo surgery that would screw a plate in place to stabilize her collarbone so she could possibly return in weeks, not months.
She jumped at that chance.
The collarbone was going to require surgery to repair no matter the decision. Wilbert decided to take the extra step.
“It was a no-brainer surgery,” Wilbert said. “I just want to get back on the track at least for one more race my senior year. I don't want my fall to be my last race.”
Wilbert had surgery April 23 and will find out Monday if she can return to the track in time for the WPIAL Class AAA girls teams championships, which will be held later that day.
She's still in a sling, but said her arm “feels perfectly normal. I can move it like I used to. I was surprised by that, too. They told me it would be three to six weeks.”Wilbert is no stranger to adversity.Last season she went through more than most.Her father, Neal, died of colon cancer. Three days later, on the afternoon of his funeral, Wilbert decided to compete in the team semifinals and won the 100-meter hurdles.But less than a week later, she had another unfortunate encounter with a hurdle, falling and tearing the PCL in her left knee.“She overcame quite the obstacle last season at this time,” said Butler junior Anna Baxter, also a standout hurdler for the Golden Tornado. “That girl, she's a warrior. She is capable. She's probably the strongest girl on this team and is definitely in it to win it. She's a great girl all around and a great leader on this team.”Wilbert isn't wrapping too much of her hopes around her possible return to the track.She's trying to carry a positive attitude, no matter what happens.At the team semifinals Tuesday at Baldwin, she was trackside, cheering on her teammates — especially Baxter — in the hurdle events.During the 100 hurdles, Wilbert ran the length of the race along the side of the track, screaming encouragement.“She's going a little stircrazy right now,” Baxter said, laughing. “She belongs on the track.”Wilbert, who will run at Slippery Rock University next season, is trying to keep her latest journey in perspective.“I'm not nervous at all,” she said. “Whatever happens, happens. If it doesn't happen, it's fine. I've prepared myself. It's life. I have more opportunities down the line.“If I'm not cleared and I can't run again this year, I won't be crushed by it,” she added. “Believe me, I want it to happen, though. I've never run my fastest and I know I can run faster. I do want at least one more chance to do it.”
