As No. 20 Northwestern’s senior class goes through Senior Day festivities on Saturday, the scene will look familiar to forward Jill Putnam.
It will be her second time participating in the ceremony. The fifth-year senior joined her classmates in the celebration last year, when a knee injury prevented her from playing her entire senior season.
But Putnam elected to take a medical redshirt year so she could play one more season for the Wildcats. She will now have an opportunity to say goodbye to Lakeside Field when NU takes on Ohio State this weekend.
“I got to walk through (the ceremony) with my class last year, but unfortunately not to really be a part of it,” Putnam said. “It was hard to see them go, but I knew I was coming back for another year, and it wasn’t quite the end for me yet. Now, this is my last time, my last go round on this field, and we’re going to make the best go of it.”
Putnam injured her knee during the spring of her junior year, but thought she would be healthy in the fall. When she was told a week before the season began that she would be on crutches for another two months, she was “devastated.”
But the forward has overcome her injury, coming back to play in all 18 of NU’s games this year.
“It really shows people to just never give up,” coach Tracey Fuchs said. “I’m sure she’s not where she wants to be healthwise, but she’s come back with a new lease on playing.”
Putnam still has not regained all of her pre-injury explosiveness. As a freshman, she started 18 games and led NU in scoring. This season, she has only made two starts and scored a pair of goals.
The senior has adjusted her style to be more of a role player, which has allowed her to contribute off the NU bench.
“She’s adapted well,” Fuchs said. “She knows right now that her body’s probably at 70 percent, so she just goes out, and she’s very smart with the ball. She only plays seven to 12 minutes a half, but it really allows us to rest our other forwards, and we really don’t lose a beat with Jill in there.”
Taking part in two senior days may be becoming a trend for the Cats. Senior defender Stacy Uchida, who redshirted her freshman season, recently decided to return next year.The opportunity for Uchida to continue playing – especially with the success the program has had in Fuchs’ first year – was too good to pass up.
“I definitely wanted to come back for a fifth season to make sure I got the most out of my field hockey career,” she said. “Especially with the new coaching staff, it’s an exciting time in our program. This year’s been exciting and I’m sure next year will be just as, if not more, exciting.”
The buzz the program has generated this season has made Putnam believe things sometimes happen for a reason. Had she never been injured, she would have gone out with last season’s 7-13-1 record. Instead, she was a part of one of most prolific scoring offenses in school history, and a part of a team searching for its 13th win of the season against the Buckeyes.
“Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Putnam said. “I’ve been able to do all I wanted to do with field hockey. I hoped I’d be able to come back a little bit stronger this year, but injury sets you back, and that’s something I’ve been able to overcome. I’ve been able to finish with the senior year I’ve always wanted.”
