Technically, she’s still in recovery until June. But that hasn’t stopped Randi Bennett from breaking records in May.

Bennett, the senior Saline thrower, set the Saline record Friday at the Golden Triangle Invite with a throw of 40 feet, 9 inches. That broke the school’s old record set in 2003.

It’s hard to believe she’s less than six months removed from an ACL tear.

“I was really, really hoping I’d be able to throw this year,” Bennett said. “I just wanted to go out with a bang and not feel like I’m missing an opportunity to do something.”

What looked to be a promising senior year of basketball and track was thrown awry on the first day of basketball tryouts in November. During a routine post drill, Bennett went up to take a shot, and had her left leg twist out from under her.

“They actually said the way that I tore it would never happen in a million years,” Bennett said. “It was very coincidental, I guess.”

Faced with the prospect of missing both her senior basketball and track seasons, Bennett tried to convince her mom that she didn’t need surgery. But in the end, she needed two, the first to fix the ligament and the second to clean up scar tissue.

She was still a captain of the Hornets girls basketball team that won a district title, but had to spend her final season watching from the sidelines.

“Missing out on my senior basketball season was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Bennett said.

Meanwhile, Bennett was going to physical therapy two or three times per week, doing strength and balance training and stretching her knee, with her eye on track season.

It was there, after all, that she had the most unfinished business. Last year, Bennett was a regional champion in discus and the regional runner-up in the shot put. She was projected to finish top six in the state in both, but faltered at the state meet, finishing 10th in discus and 13th in shot.

“That was one of the reasons thinking I wouldn’t have this season would be so hard, because I felt like I’d left so much out on the line last year, and ever since I came in as a freshman I’ve wanted to be an all-state athlete,” Bennett said.

The doctors cleared her to throw early, mainly because throwing involves no twisting and limited pivoting. She still has to wear a bulky brace that goes nearly the length of her leg. It’s affected her form, but she’s adapted.

But to take one look at Bennett’s face, it’s obvious how thrilled she is to have her senior track season.

And her team couldn’t be happier to have her back.

“She’s such a huge vocal part of the camaraderie of the team,” Saline coach Brian Boze said. “I know she’s put in a lot of time over the years, and to see that almost slip away, nobody ever wants to see that for any of their athletes when they’re a senior. It’s rewarding on a number of levels.”

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com.