Lake Highland athlete hits comeback trail after running on fractured hip

LHP runner Rachel Stockton ran more than three laps with fractured left hip at the 2A-8 district meet and almost won

Rachel Stockton Overcoming Adversity

Rachel Stockton, who will be a senior at Lake Highland Prep in the fall, was in the lead in the 1,600 meters at April's district track meet when she felt a pop and pain in her left hip, thinking it wasn't...

Lake Highland Prep runner Rachel Stockton broke her hip in a race last school year and still finished in second place. She hopes to be at full strength next school year.

Each stride takes Lake Highland Prep's Rachel Stockton further from the pain and closer to a return to the track.

Stockton, a rising senior, collapsed nine weeks ago at the end of the 1,600-meter event in the Class 2A, District 8 meet at Lake Highland.

She almost won despite running three-plus laps — more than three quarters of the race — with a fractured left hip. Montverde Academy's Ciara Hopkins leaned past her at the finish to win by three-hundredths of a second.