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Keene State’s Kyle Maruca is eager to surpass expectations in his return
Kyle Maruca is ready to bounce back from two shoulder injuries. (Credit: Keene State Athletics)

Keene State’s Kyle Maruca is eager to surpass expectations in his return

HAMDEN, Conn. (BVM) — Overcoming an injury for an athlete can be tough. Now Kyle Maruca is battling his way back from a second torn labrum. He’s ready to defy the odds and accomplish the improbable.   

Maruca already exceeded everybody’s expectations, coming back from his first torn labrum in high school as a football and track and field player. So, who’s to say he can’t respond from a second torn labrum?

As a junior in high school, Maruca was a football and track and field player at North Haven High School. In the first game of the football season as a junior, Maruca tore his first labrum, but he still was able to finish the 2018 season. 

“When I first tore my labrum, I tore it in the first game of the football season mid-game,” Maruca said. “I came out of the game because I was in a lot of pain. But I went in for a couple of more plays to finish the game, and was able to finish out that season.”

Though he was in excruciating pain, Maruca didn’t sit out the rest of his junior year for football. He didn’t believe anything was torn and the injury wasn’t significant enough. 

Following the football season, the versatile athlete participated on the indoor track team at North Haven. He was able to finish that season as well, but the true fate of his shoulder injury came to fruition following the indoor track season.

“Once I finished the indoor track season, I had to get my yearly physical from the doctor,” Maruca said. “That’s when they noticed my labrum was torn. The first torn labrum was very devastating in the mental capacity for me.

The first torn labrum that Maruca suffered during the winter indoor track and field season forced him to sit out of the outdoor track and field season. This also raised question marks about his availability for the football season in his senior year of high school.

Maruca silenced the doubters with courage and fearlessness, returning for his senior year of high school on both the football and track and field team. For football, he started in the last seven games of his senior year of high school, while also competing on the indoor winter track and field team. 

Along with his first injury, Maruca was also one of three players to win the Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Comeback Player of the Year award. 

Between playing football and track/field, Maruca won multiple awards and broke a variety of records at North Haven. Alongside winning the SCC Comeback Player of the Year, Maruca won two extraordinary track and field awards as well.

On the indoor track team for his high school, Maruca won a conference title at an event in the SCC championship. Meanwhile, on the outdoor track team for his high school, Maruca also broke a school record for a deep throw in a meet during the regular season.

Through the ultimate amount of adversity and hardship, Maruca’s injuries have put everything into perspective for him. 

“The thing the first torn labrum told me is to never put your eggs in one basket, and always have one or two backup plans to fall back on,” Maruca said. 

While he was adamant about having backup plans, Maruca decided to stick to track and field beyond high school in light of how grueling the sport of football was on his body.

“After high school, I chose track and field over football because football took too much of a toll on my body,” Maruca said. “Track and field was just more fun at that point also, so I decided to stick to track and field for college.”

The decision to stick with track and field paid major dividends for Maruca, as he was offered to play track and field at Merrimack College in his freshman year of college. Maruca immediately accepted the offer, participating for the Warriors in the 2020-21 season. 

Maruca’s tenure with Merrimack College was short-lived as he only played on the track and field team for a year there. However, the comeback kid played the full season at Merrimack College without getting hurt, while also getting his feet wet with the track and field play in college. 

Following his departure from Merrimack College, Maruca transferred to Keene State College as a sophomore to continue his career in track and field. He made his 2021-22 debut in November for the Owls.