There is comfort with those you know and trust.
It often leads to excellence.
Columbus Junction High School star Lily Coil has unwavering faith in her family, especially her three siblings, one of which is her twin. She has tremendous trust in her Columbus coaches and teammates in basketball and with softball, to which she will play at the next level.
And there is the never-ending faith she has in Rock Valley Physical Therapy’s Kenan Todd, PT, DPT, ATC, Clinic Manager at Rock Valley’s Columbus Junction clinic. Forever-upbeat and someone who squeezes every minute from every day, the 29-year-old Todd has twice prepped Coil’s to return to play after a pair of serious knee injuries and surgeries.
As a sophomore, during warmups for a volleyball match, Coil experienced a bucket tear of the meniscus in her left knee and was sidelined for approximately six months.
As a junior, while taking a charging foul in a basketball game, Coil suffered another bucket tear of the meniscus, but this time it was in her right knee.
And – as he had done before with Coil and countless Columbus Junction athletes – Todd was there to guide the standout athlete back to better health and to competing.
Coil’s trust, it must be noted, has been put to the test more often than most high school athletes, which is why Todd has played such an important role in the multi-sport standout’s success.
A fixture in his hometown and at Columbus Junction High School, Todd, while with Rock Valley, has tended to Wildcat athletes as well as covering the physical therapy needs of the community.
He and wife, Allison, own – and operate – the Bard Station Coffee Shop in Columbus Junction. Todd also serves on the city council, the library board, ambulance board, and with the community club. Allison and Kenan Todd also led the town’s 150th Columbus Day celebration (Oct. 12, 2024). After a standout prep athletic career, Kenan served as a student athletic trainer for football, wrestling and volleyball in his undergraduate days at Division I Iowa State University.
Kenan Todd and his brother, Seth, also own Acorn Bluff Farms, where their free-roam Mangalista pigs are raised to produce some of the nation’s top, high-end pork products. Kenan Todd oversees the financial and logistic side of Acorn Bluffs, and to make sure there is little down time in his world, Kenan has teamed with Seth on a tree-and-brush-clearing business.
“You have to be somewhere, so why not be somewhere you like, and you can make a difference,’’ Todd said when asked what motivated him to return to his hometown after Physical Therapy school at the University of Iowa.
“The farm? My brother said, “You want to raise pigs?’’ It was that simple. And my wife was traveling to Muscatine for work, so we decided the coffee shop would allow us to have an impact here and save on her traveling each day. And it’s just down the hill (from the Rock Valley clinic) and when I get a break, I can walk to refill my (coffee) mug. Plus, I get to cook at the (coffee) shop on Saturdays when it’s warm and make sandwiches using sausage from the farm. It’s a great community.’’
And Coil?
She is a next-level softball player, whose Nebraska Gold 309 club is one of the nation’s best. An outstanding pitcher and shortstop for the Wildcats, Coil will be a scholarship softball athlete in college.
On the hardwood, Coil and her teammates made history this past season, securing Columbus Junction’s first-ever SEISC North conference championship. Coil led the 18-5 (14-2 in league play) Wildcats with a 15.4 points-per game average (354 points) and was named SEISC North Player of the Year.
She is a gifted athlete, a leader and top-notch teammate. She is also an optimist and harbors a unique and upbeat sense of humor.
In the sheer amount of time spent working together to return Coil to the field/court, a mutual admiration bond between therapist and athlete has been established.
“She has spent a lot of time here,’’ Todd said of Coil and the Rock Valley clinic. “Three times a week over a six-month period – twice.”
“We have had therapy sessions on the track at the (high school) football stadium, we have had therapy sessions and ab workouts on the hill in the grass (at the high school) and we have had her bring a basketball and a softball here to the clinic just to mix things up. There was nothing when she returned to playing, she hadn’t done here. We had to get creative, but it’s easy to make things harder but never easy to make things easier. I had helped Lily before and was only happy to help her get better, get back to doing what she loves doing and help her reach her goals. She’s been tested but she responded when it would have been easy to give up. That’s not her, though.’’
Todd says Coil’s family dynamic is like his growing up, which has allowed the two to understand where each other is coming from.
“She has three brothers, and I have two brothers and a sister,’’ Todd said. “Lily just understands that things happen and that you just do things. It’s easier that way with us as far as relating to what happens in our lives. It’s really that simple.’’
Modest to a fault, Coil says having someone like Todd – so invested in the community as a therapist and a public servant – is a bonus for her town and her school.
“I’m not the only one he helps, he is at all our games and tries to cover all the sports we have,’’ Coil said of Todd. “If someone needs something they turn to Kenan. He’s huge in town. He’s here, he has his pigs, and they have a coffee shop. He put on what I think – and there are a lot of others my age that feel the same – the best Columbus (Day) celebration we have ever had in town. He holds us all accountable and works great with our coaches. We are all lucky to have him. That said, we have had moments during my rehabs when it wasn’t fun, but those never lasted long. He truly wants what is best for me.’’
“Therapy gave me something to look forward to when I couldn’t play,’’ Coil said. “It was hard sometimes because people just don’t know what you’re going through no matter how great and supportive they are. It helped that Kenan – most of all — knew because of all the people he has helped. But if you can be patient things get so much better in the end. I’m a better person having gone through all of it. There is no better therapist than Kenan and no better place to get better than Rock Valley. You’ll find lots of others who say the same thing.’’
By: Johnny Marx, Rock Valley Storyteller