Boarder guts out senior season

Katie Riley knew at some point she was going to have to undergo surgery to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.

While freeboarding around town with a few friends, she tweaked the knee and instantly knew something serious was up.

"Freeboarding is kind of like snowboarding on cement," said Riley, a 17-year-old Nevada Union senior. " I was going down kind of fast and one of my feet came out (of the binding) and one didn't. The board spun around and I twisted my knee.

"I kind of had a gut feeling that it was (serious), because at first, when I stood up, it felt like I was going to fall right back down."

Riley's gut was right on. An MRI later revealed the torn ACL and threatened to end Riley's senior season on the snowboard team before it even got started.

"It was really, really hard for me to take," she said. "I had been waiting all year for snowboard season, and I'd also done it all four years of my high school career.

"When I found out it was an ACL tear, I knew I'd be out the whole season."

If, that is, she elected for surgery.

Instead, Riley spoke with her doctor and worked out a rehabilitation plan that would help strengthen the muscles around her knee, affording her an opportunity to get back on her feet - and the board.

"My doctor said snowboarding, by chance, was the only sport that I would be able to try to do with a torn ACL," she said. "But he also told me if it swells up, that was it."

Fortunately for her and her Nevada Union team's fortunes, her first test run was like butter. Other than the brace strapped to her left leg for support, she said it felt just like old times with no pain at all.

"It was amazing," Riley said. "I got down the hill and I was just smiling for the rest of the day. I couldn't believe it."

And, even better, she had the entirety of her senior season still ahead.

In the first of six division races, she placed 17th.

"But from there on, I never finished any lower than seventh place," Riley said. "Actually, that was a lot stronger than I've done (in previous years)."

At the recent state competition, held at Northstar-At-Tahoe, she was Nevada Union's top finisher in the women's slalom event, taking 28th place among 95 competitors. She also took 39th in the giant slalom, among a field of 93 snowboarders.

Now that she's completed her senior season, Riley's ready to finally have her knee surgically repaired.

She slated for a March 26 procedure.

Until then, though, she's going to try and sneak in a few trips to the Sierra for some spring runs under the sun.

"I love it," she said. "I love just going up there and feeling so free.

"And it's something fun to do with friends. It doesn't have to be about the competition."

To contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton, e-mail bhamilton@theunion.com or call 477-4240.