Annie Wingert is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Thunderbird High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – As senior dual-sport athlete Reagan Konetzni took the field for the first Thunderbird flag football game of the season, she felt she had something to prove.

Konetzni, who tore both of her ACLs exactly one year apart from each other, had gone through more than most to be out on the field.

“After my knees took up two years of my life, I knew that this was my last shot, and I wanted to make the most of it,” Konetzni said. “I just wanted to play my heart out and just play the sports that I knew I loved.”

Konetzni is finishing up the flag football season with the Titans. As the winter season approaches, the lifelong soccer player will begin the soccer season.

Konetzni, who began her high school career playing at Horizon, first tore her left ACL early in her sophomore year. She said she immediately knew the severity of the injury and what it meant for her season.

In this recovery process, Konetzni said her whole perspective on soccer changed because she knew that an injury so severe would change the way she played soccer from then on.

Despite how detrimental an injury like this can be, Konetzni said she found her motivation through her father and club soccer coach, Keith Konetzni, who encouraged her to never give up.

“I knew the first ACL tear would be a tough recovery, but I also knew her passion for the sport,” Keith Konetzni said. “I really tried to instill that she has an opportunity to come healthier and even stronger than she was prior to the injury.”

Eventually, Reagan Konetzni did come back from her injury. She transferred to Thunderbird, started playing flag football and she said she was hopeful going into her junior season that she still had time to play the sports she loved and get recruited to play in college.

However, on Sept. 28, 2025, a year to the day of the other knee tear, Konetzni ripped up her right ACL. Initially, she said she was hopeful that the injury was a sprain. After further testing, doctors found the tear.

Reagan Konetzni knew she could get through this recovery because she had already done it. But, missing most of her junior year was going to make the college recruiting process different than she expected.

However, just as he was the first time, Keith Konetzni was by her side throughout her entire recovery, helping her mentally and physically.

“When you have no motivating factors other than you want to prove to yourself that you can do it and you want to do it because you love the sport, that’s when you grow the most,” Keith Konetzni said.

Now, Reagan Konetzni has made an impact on both sides of the ball for Thunderbird’s girls flag football team this season with 27 receptions for 265 yards on offense and seven sacks on defense, according to MaxPreps. The team is 7-5 (4-1 4A Skyline) and is on track to make their first playoff appearance in program history this season.

Reagan Konetzni said she looks forward to getting back to playing high school soccer as the season approaches. She is being recruited to play soccer for small colleges across the country and is still undecided on where she will go next year.

“She’s an inspiration to every young athlete out there, an inspiration to me as her coach, and an inspiration to her current teammates that surround her,” Keith Konetzni said.