"Coach, I Did It": A Profile of 2016 Kruczek Award Winner Tori Cyrus
By Kevin Fitzmaurice, Fitchburg State Student Journalist
FITCHBURG, Mass. - "Coach I did it, I finished, but if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have. You have no idea how much it meant to me to have your support. I love you and the team so much and seriously if it wasn't for our talks and your support, I would have definitely quit. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
This is the card that sits on the shelf in women's head softball coach Merry MacDonald's office. Written by 2016 Kruczek award winner Tori Cyrus from Everett Massachusetts. "This is the reason I coach, not about the wins and all the records. If I can keep one kid in the right direction and keep her in school, then I win. That is why I keep this, for a reminder."
Tori is a senior at Fitchburg State University and her degree is not the only thing she should be proud of this spring. The Kruczek award is given to student athletes who overcame adversity. The obstacles this two-sport athlete had to overcome are more than any one person should have to go through. As Coach Mac adds "She overcame the mental, the physical, and the personal side of all this adversity."
Tori has played 4 years of both Softball and Basketball and was a captain for both. When she arrived at Fitchburg State she was initially recruited for basketball but soon decided to join the softball team which she had been playing her whole life, and as she puts it "It was the best decision I have ever made." When she joined the softball team her freshman year it was also Coach MacDonald's first year as head coach and they instantly had a connection. Coach Mac said Tori initially bought into the "change in culture" a new coach brings and has been one of the most vocal leaders of the softball team. This reflected the rest of the freshman as Tori wanted to bring a whole new face to Fitchburg State softball and with the help of Coach Mac and her teammates she did just that.
Her freshman year the women's softball team placed 3rd in the MASCAC tournament and it was the first time these particular girls have ever made playoffs. Tori then said to Coach Mac "this is what Fitchburg State softball has to be every single year." From the start Tori has always been a team player and a great leader, she always put in that extra work and tried to lead by example for her teammates to follow.
Unfortunately, during Tori's junior year of basketball, she tore the ACL, MCL, and meniscus in her right knee. As Tori laid on the hardwood she knew her life was crashing around her. She looked over at her basketball coach, "I'm fine just let me get up, please. Just let me get off this floor." After she received an emergency MRI that night she was informed of the severity of her injury and broke out in tears. No, she wasn't thinking about herself, she was thinking of her teammates and Fitchburg State. That year there were nine seniors on the basketball team who Tori considers to be her best friends and some of the first girls she met when she first arrived on campus. In some way she felt she let them down, and this broke her heart. She was unable to play the remainder of her Junior year and in the last games with some of her closest friends. Tori quickly realized this would affect her softball season as well which she was one of Coach Mac's key players and started every game.
On February 26, 2015, Tori had surgery to repair her knee and was informed it would be a one-year recovery period. Being the strong competitor she is, Tori went to physical therapy two days prior to undergoing surgery, which she adds was very painful. "I told myself I will not miss any bit of softball next season; I will fight back." She returned to campus in March but not for long.
On April 10th Tori sat in her apartment and was having trouble getting a hold of her mother. This was unusual because she usually always answered, she made call after call, but still nothing. After some time, Tori got a hold of her mother but the call was short and vague. "Tori you need to come home" she knew something was wrong. Unable to drive because of her recent knee surgery her boyfriend raced to come and get her. On the phone, she frantically tried to get whatever information she could out of her boyfriend. Limping in her apartment without a crutch, Tori was left without answers. "He is gone," her boyfriend replied. Tori then threw her phone and her emotions took over. Brendan had died of a heroin overdose at age 17. Her cousin Brendan had lived with Tori and her family his whole life. She considered him a brother and a brother is what he would always be to Tori.
Coach Mac talked about Tori being such an uplifting player and "you can tell when she is not there, it makes a difference." Tori wanted to quit and wanted to be home every chance she got to be with her family, with depression quickly affecting her. She was scared something else would happen. "When you are in a depressive state you want to get your body moving and get that adrenaline moving but I physically couldn't because of my knee and it made me feel even more down." Contemplating not returning to school to be with her family, Tori's grandmother told her "Brendan would be extremely disappointed in you," and that hit her hard. "I always pushed myself to be better for my teammates and to represent myself and represent Fitchburg State and Coach Mac, but at one point I realized I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and needed to pick it up...someone else always has it worse out there." Tori reached out to Coach Mac and Ellen Hughes, secretary of athletics. Together they really pushed Tori. "If I didn't have [Coach Mac] in my life or Fitchburg State, I wouldn't have made it." Coach Mac and Tori had met several times during this tough period in her life. Through this, the bond of coach and athlete was unbreakable and the two became even closer.
That entire summer Tori was going to physical therapy four times a week. She knew what she had to do and the work that needed to be done. Tori's senior year she was a captain of the basketball team and told her teammates she would get back on the court no matter what she had to do. Regardless of her athletic ability she knew she had to be a leader and her presence on the team was needed. Tori showed up to every single practice and every single game despite not being able to compete while still rehabbing her knee injury. "An athlete is not just on the field or on the court, an athlete is in your heart and you need to love it and you need to have that drive." Tori knew she could still be an athlete without performing.
Even though the team went 0-25, they still never gave up and she still showed up every day to support her team as its heart and soul. Tori went to P.T. every single day at Ramsey Rehab. In February, she returned to the court to play the last five games of her senior basketball season averaging 16.6 minutes per game. Despite having just returned from an injury, and knowing there was no hope for the season, Tori still played with intensity and gave it everything she had, just like she had always done. At Tori's first game back, Coach Mac and the softball girls showed up to support her.
The day after her basketball career ended, Tori was ready for softball season. She felt a whole new atmosphere within the team. Tori had missed all of fall softball and a month or so of pre-season this year. This year the team featured 12 freshmen who Tori says are very talented. She knew this was her team and she wanted to be the best captain she could possibly be for these girls. Tori had mentally accepted that she might not be as good as she used to be right away, and Coach Mac talked about her possibly not starting or being adequately prepared for the season. At first Tori was frustrated because it wasn't all there yet. It took countless hours to get it back but she knew she wasn't going to settle for mediocrity.
Tori continued to do the extra stuff and other players on the team noticed this and began to put extra work in as well. Practice is the best two hours of Tori's day, she said she loves being around these girls and Coach Mac, Tori added "softball is the only thing that makes me forget about some things back home." When the season started this spring Tori was a starter for the Fitchburg State Falcons like she had been in previous seasons.
When Tori was recruited for basketball by Fitchburg State she was told that "Fitchburg State is a family and it is important that you have a strong family behind you to push you to become a good athlete." And a family is exactly what she has here. "I knew I had a family here. I have a family at home and I have a family at Fitchburg State." From day one when Coach Mac and Tori met they knew they had something special. "These coaches are really special to me, especially fighting back to be the athlete that I am today, they have a lot of influence on that…I felt I wanted to bring FSU to the playoffs and I felt like they deserve that for how much they have done for me", and in return she did just that.
The softball team went 19-18 this year and Tori had a team high batting average of .370. She had 37 hits, three home runs, and 16 RBI. The team was the 4th seed in the MASCAC tournament but was eliminated by Salem State on May 5th, 5-2.
From a severe knee injury, to the loss of her brother, Tori had overcome every obstacle and continues to do so. She had a very successful softball season and played in those last few games of her senior basketball season.
Tori is graduating from Fitchburg State University this year. If there is one thing you can say about Tori Cyrus it's that she never gave up and she kept on fighting, and she will continue to fight as she will begin grad school next year and has one more season of softball to play. "I don't do this for myself, I do it for my team and my coach, I do it for Fitchburg State…I give credit to Fitchburg State, my family who pushed me through all of this, and my mom who showed up to every game to support me. I finished for my mom and for Coach Mac. My graduation is because of those two people."
After Coach Mac read the thank you card Tori had written we both sat in her office in silence, she paused and smiled as she gave one last glance and placed it back on her shelf. "Tori is that dedicated and refuses to give up when she sets her mind to something. I have never been more proud of her and I think that is why she is so worthy of the Kruczek Award."