It takes years of hard work to become an Olympic athlete, but just seconds for that dream to come crashing down. Mount Joy native and Manheim Central alumna Jillian Wolgemuth knows all about that.

In her team's second-to-last match before the Paris Olympics, Jillian, a member of USA Field Hockey, received the ball and took off running.

"I was running and cut left and felt a pop in my knee," recalled the defensive player. "My first thought as I fell to the ground was, 'I just tore my ACL.'"

Injuring the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which stabilizes the knee, is devastating for athletes, Jillian shared, noting that it requires surgery and a long rehab - sometimes up to a year before resuming play.

"I'm a very logical person," Jillian said. "I knew right when it happened that I had a decision to make. No matter what, I was not going to the Olympics. I had to change course."

The experience of missing the Paris Olympics tested her confidence, impacted her self-esteem and, ultimately, underscored her faith.

"I decided, 'Do I want to wake up every day, be miserable and feel sorry for myself?'" she said by phone from Charlotte, N.C., where she lives as a member of USA Field Hockey. "Don't get me wrong - I do feel sorry for myself. But I decided to attack rehab with all of the energy I have, to stay positive and to focus on the things I can control."

As she continues her recovery, Jillian is leaning on friends, family and her church community. "I have a very tight group of women who have helped me realize there's a bigger picture. It's not all about Jillian gaining the title of 'Olympian,'" she shared. "God has a plan, and I am going to focus on the positives."

Growing up in Mount Joy, the daughter of Randy Wolgemuth and Betsy Ebersole played field hockey for the first time in middle school while attending Kraybill Mennonite School.

"I grew up playing every sport," she said. "I loved anything that involved a ball. At the time, I was looking for a fall season sport to play, because soccer was a spring sport at Kraybill, and my mom suggested I try field hockey."

She soon realized she loved the sport.

"It's a very fun, very fast-moving sport, which I really enjoy. It's very dynamic," she commented. "It's a nice mix between skillful and technical and having to be quite athletic."

Jillian continued to play field hockey at Manheim Central High School, graduating in 2016. She played for four years at Duke University before graduating in 2020.

In January of her senior year in college, she tried out for the U.S. team but wasn't chosen, so she faced a decision: work to become a professional athlete after graduation or pursue a job in her major, political science.

She decided to pursue hockey as a career and began playing for a team in the English league before coming home after one season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the spring of 2021, she was contacted by new coaches with USA Field Hockey who were impressed by her skill and asked her to train with them. She joined the team and soon began competing all over the world. She's played in India, Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, among other places.

While playing in an international hockey federation series in London as a precursor to the Olympics, she experienced her injury, forcing her to stay stateside and cheer on her teammates through the TV as they competed in Paris.

"I was on the edge of my seat during every match," she said. "I know those girls so intimately, and I was cheering them on for every play."

She's been using her recovery time to focus on the future. At 26, she has years ahead of her in the sport, she said, noting that many female hockey players play professionally into their 30s. She's also not ruling out the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"This injury has allowed me to restructure my framework of success," she said. " 'Olympian,' although it is still a goal, it's not THE goal. Instead, I'm focused on what this team can do and what hockey can do for girls in the United States."