Battling back from injury, Hovland returns home to Hunters softball

When the weather doesn’t signal spring, at least softball season does. For Duluth Denfeld’s Hanna Hovland it’s signaled the speedy recovered she always hoped for.

The day after Christmas 2021 the senior captain broke her femur in a skiing accident, and has been working the last 14 weeks to get back to the diamond.

"I first started off with obviously learning how to walk with my crutches, and then learning how to walk, and then after that I started going to PT [physical therapy] at Viverant," Hovland explained. "I started doing exercises there, and from there just been strengthening up and getting ready to go."

Three weeks after the injury she was able to bend her knee and hit the treadmill. Hovland moved on to leg presses and lunges, then on March 8th started taking swings with a bat again. Back at practice the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) commit attributes her health in part to physical thereapy and the support of her Hunters and Bulldogs.

"They’ve been helping me in a lot of ways, physically and mentally, but it’s really important to know that I’m going to come back stronger mentally than I was before," Hovland added.

"Hanna is such a great leader, he’s been a part of our team for multiple years now. Especially coming back from an injury, we’re just hoping that she can be a part of the team in some way," assistant coach Tana Teschendorf shared.

Hovland and Denfeld are set to open their season April 9 visiting Princeton.