Senior Student Athlete Suffers Career-Ending Injury 

When you walk into the gym of Hastings Senior High, you see bright white lights shining overhead and hear the sounds of squeaking shoes on the floor, while various voices yelling throughout. 

“She always walks into practice with a smile and has a fantastic energy level for practice,” Head Girls Basketball Coach Lance Creech said. 

With about two weeks remaining, senior Lauryn Boutin, an involved student athlete, suffered an ankle injury during the 2024-2025 season, leaving her out of commission for the rest of this season. 

“We were just at practice, running, and I went to turn around and just felt excruciating pain in my ankle. I went to Ashley, the trainer, immediately after, and initially we thought it was just a sprain,” Boutin said. 

Boutin was a top-performing athlete on the basketball team. She averaged 5.9 points a game, 4.6 rebounds a game, and shot 28% inside the paint. 

“Lauryn was a very strong communicator, on the defensive end specifically, and she had the strength, size, and ability to defend multiple players at once,” Creech said. “She was a valuable asset to the team and helped tremendously inside the paint. We’re hoping she can make a full return for the 2025-2026 season.”

Following her injury, she began attending physical therapy, where she worked to try and recover without surgery. 

“I had been in physical therapy for about three months, and I wasn’t gaining any progress, so they recommended me for a specialist from Lincoln,” Boutin said. 

After seeing a doctor in Lincoln, they recommended Boutin for surgery in July. 

“This was heartbreaking news. It was the most unfortunate time to be having surgery because it was right before summer, and I had to spend most of the summer inside, basically doing nothing,” Boutin said. 

Boutin is also a lifeguard at the Hastings Aquacourt, so not only could she not play basketball all summer with the team, she couldn’t work either. 

“One of the worst parts was that I couldn’t work. I have been working there for what would have been four years, and it was just normal for me in the summers to be working there,” Boutin said. 

Since spending the summer recovering from surgery, Boutin has gotten back into everyday activities and is living her normal life without a cast. 

“Doing everyday tasks has gotten so much better… I finally feel normal doing things,” Boutin said. “At first, I was definitely bummed out… but after I adjusted, I started focusing on things for my future, and that really helped me get over it.”