SE: K-State’s Simone Fassina Finds Hope, Hops on Different Leg to Reach NCAA Outdoor Championships
Jun 05, 2019 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
A scar runs along the outside of Simone Fassina's left ankle. It's only a few inches in length, but it's representative of the painfully-long journey the K-State decathlete took to get to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, where he will compete on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I don't know how to describe it," Fassina said of making the national meet. "If I was thinking about myself five months ago, in the fall or last year, I wouldn't have even thought about going to nationals.
"I thought I lost the hope."
Fassina's hope to make his first NCAA Championship was buried by a pair of surgeries, both on his left ankle and neither of which worked.
The first one came after a fairly successful freshman indoor season. Fassina was the only freshman to score in the heptathlon at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, placing seventh with 5,101 points.
His surgery, in the spring of 2016, forced him to redshirt for the outdoor season.
When he returned to the track, the pain in his left ankle did as well. Still, Fassina set a new personal best (5,285 points) in the heptathlon at the 2017 Big 12 Indoor Championship and placed fourth. He only competed in one decathlon that spring, however, and had surgery on the same ankle early the fall of 2017.
Only problem: This one didn't work, either. And Fassina took it hard.
"It was bad. After the first surgery, I thought it would be fixed. That was my first surgery ever, so I was confident it would work, but it's not always like that," the native of Vimercate, Italy said. "After I found out (the second) one didn't work, too, I was pretty down. Last season I competed pretty bad. I was out of shape because I didn't have much time after the surgery to get back in shape. I started this year with not much motivation because I was thinking this year is going to be the same as the last year. All during the fall, I was still working hard but I didn't have a goal to work for."
Eventually, Fassina figured out he had to work differently on the track.
Because the pain in his ankle never went away and the high jump brought it out more than any event, Fassina decided to try the only other option he had: His other foot. About a year ago, he started high jumping off his right leg, a complete change from a lifetime of only jumping off his left.
Coaches cautioned Fassina on the odds that the switch would work, at least to the degree he wanted. Everything he knew and developed into habits had to change. Fassina figured if he could train without the pain, he could figure it out.
He did.
Fassina, who jumped 1.95m/6-04.75 as a freshman off his left leg, gradually climbed back to that height this season on his right. He hit 1.85m/6-00.75 last December. Then, he matched his personal best at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in February. At this season's Big 12 Outdoor Championship in May, he surpassed his top mark with a clearance of 1.98m/6-06.00.
This process, Fassina said, "made me think you can do anything if you want to."
Including make it to nationals.
While his progress to this point was pretty gradual, the turning point arrived at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in Lubbock, Texas. There, he scored 5,448 points in the heptathlon to finish third. He even came within 105 points of grabbing the 16th and final qualifying spot to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
After that meet, Fassina had goals again, like going to nationals and competing for the Italian national team. He has not done the latter since 2015.
"I think indoor Big 12 made me realize I could improve a lot," he said.
Fassina's outdoor season has been the product of that realization.
He set personal bests in nine of the 10 decathlon events. As a result, he elevated his best score in the decathlon twice, the first time going nearly 600 points higher than his previous top total. At Big 12s, he added on another 150-plus points to raise his career-best score to 7,390.
This score was good enough for another third-place finish and what Fassina initially thought would be another close-but-no-cigar outcome for the NCAA meet. Unlike the indoor season, however, Fassina's score hung on as the 23rd of 24 entries accepted to Austin, Texas.
"Compared to last year, the score to get in was a little bit lower," he said. "I got in with luck."
Fassina could not help but laugh a little at that statement. With any amount of luck, one of the two surgeries he had would have worked, he'd still be jumping off his left leg, and his scores and marks could have already been where they are now.
But Fassina's at peace with how he got here. As a junior with one more outdoor season left, he's just eager to keep going.
"I'm aiming for a new PR, to hopefully get in the top 16 for the All-American (honor), and just improve more because I did two decs (this season) and I had a big improvement," he said. "I hope to do the same for this one."
A scar runs along the outside of Simone Fassina's left ankle. It's only a few inches in length, but it's representative of the painfully-long journey the K-State decathlete took to get to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, where he will compete on Wednesday and Thursday.
"I don't know how to describe it," Fassina said of making the national meet. "If I was thinking about myself five months ago, in the fall or last year, I wouldn't have even thought about going to nationals.
"I thought I lost the hope."
Fassina's hope to make his first NCAA Championship was buried by a pair of surgeries, both on his left ankle and neither of which worked.
The first one came after a fairly successful freshman indoor season. Fassina was the only freshman to score in the heptathlon at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, placing seventh with 5,101 points.
His surgery, in the spring of 2016, forced him to redshirt for the outdoor season.
When he returned to the track, the pain in his left ankle did as well. Still, Fassina set a new personal best (5,285 points) in the heptathlon at the 2017 Big 12 Indoor Championship and placed fourth. He only competed in one decathlon that spring, however, and had surgery on the same ankle early the fall of 2017.
Only problem: This one didn't work, either. And Fassina took it hard.
"It was bad. After the first surgery, I thought it would be fixed. That was my first surgery ever, so I was confident it would work, but it's not always like that," the native of Vimercate, Italy said. "After I found out (the second) one didn't work, too, I was pretty down. Last season I competed pretty bad. I was out of shape because I didn't have much time after the surgery to get back in shape. I started this year with not much motivation because I was thinking this year is going to be the same as the last year. All during the fall, I was still working hard but I didn't have a goal to work for."
Eventually, Fassina figured out he had to work differently on the track.
Because the pain in his ankle never went away and the high jump brought it out more than any event, Fassina decided to try the only other option he had: His other foot. About a year ago, he started high jumping off his right leg, a complete change from a lifetime of only jumping off his left.
Coaches cautioned Fassina on the odds that the switch would work, at least to the degree he wanted. Everything he knew and developed into habits had to change. Fassina figured if he could train without the pain, he could figure it out.
He did.
Fassina, who jumped 1.95m/6-04.75 as a freshman off his left leg, gradually climbed back to that height this season on his right. He hit 1.85m/6-00.75 last December. Then, he matched his personal best at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in February. At this season's Big 12 Outdoor Championship in May, he surpassed his top mark with a clearance of 1.98m/6-06.00.
This process, Fassina said, "made me think you can do anything if you want to."
Including make it to nationals.
While his progress to this point was pretty gradual, the turning point arrived at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in Lubbock, Texas. There, he scored 5,448 points in the heptathlon to finish third. He even came within 105 points of grabbing the 16th and final qualifying spot to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
After that meet, Fassina had goals again, like going to nationals and competing for the Italian national team. He has not done the latter since 2015.
"I think indoor Big 12 made me realize I could improve a lot," he said.
Fassina's outdoor season has been the product of that realization.
He set personal bests in nine of the 10 decathlon events. As a result, he elevated his best score in the decathlon twice, the first time going nearly 600 points higher than his previous top total. At Big 12s, he added on another 150-plus points to raise his career-best score to 7,390.
This score was good enough for another third-place finish and what Fassina initially thought would be another close-but-no-cigar outcome for the NCAA meet. Unlike the indoor season, however, Fassina's score hung on as the 23rd of 24 entries accepted to Austin, Texas.
"Compared to last year, the score to get in was a little bit lower," he said. "I got in with luck."
Fassina could not help but laugh a little at that statement. With any amount of luck, one of the two surgeries he had would have worked, he'd still be jumping off his left leg, and his scores and marks could have already been where they are now.
But Fassina's at peace with how he got here. As a junior with one more outdoor season left, he's just eager to keep going.
"I'm aiming for a new PR, to hopefully get in the top 16 for the All-American (honor), and just improve more because I did two decs (this season) and I had a big improvement," he said. "I hope to do the same for this one."
Players Mentioned
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