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Show Pillinger home recuperating after mishaps in Austria - K. J A-yl J if... J n l lv .i o Ml i"''z ("" !i J w , fi I Austria was not kind to Park City's Tori Pillinger. The only Utahn on the U.S. Ski Team (developmental team) received receiv-ed a concussion Oct. 20 from a fall on the slopes her first week there. In the following week she injured a ligament in her ankle while playing football. Football? "I was running out for a pass and just landed wrong," Pillinger said. "I can walk, but I can't go without a wrap or do sports. It doesn't really hurt. It's just weak." She said the concussion slowed her down for about two days because her head, "felt 20 pounds heavier." Pillinger is currently at home and will remain there until the end of ' November. The injury shortened her. stay in Austria by about two weeks Park City therapist Mark A. Anderson is working with Pillinger to bring her ankle up to strength. "She has a first-degree ligament strain and has already gone through a program to reduce the swelling and inflamation," Anderson said. "It is hard to say if the injury was an actual tear. It could have been torn. However, from the way it is healing I would say that it was just stretched." stretch-ed." "She is now starting a strengthening strengthen-ing program and I don't see any problem pro-blem with her begining skiing by Dec. 1," he added. He said it was more of a hindering injury rather than one that could limit Pillinger's progress in the future. Pillinger is scheduled to compete in downhill races in Big Mountain, Mont., during the first week of December. "They say things happen in threes. In August I ripped off my fingernail, then had the concussion and finally injured my ligament," Pillinger said. "I hope I'm done." Before arriving in Austria Pillinger Pill-inger spent four days in Austria as a Ski Team facility featuring a wind tunnel which measures a skier's tuck for aerodynamic perfection. "Buffalo was great. It was pretty neat being in the tunnel, although it was a little scary," Pillinger said. "We went in two, sometimes three times a day to get used to the tunnel. The wind blew at 72 miles per hour." Pillinger said there was a dial that measured "every little inch" of movement and express it in increases in-creases or decreases in pounds of drag. She said in the standing position posi-tion there was 45 pounds of drag and that in a tuck the average was reduced reduc-ed to 16-17 pounds. "I always kept my hands by my face mask, but I learned that keeping keep-ing my hands up and out in front of me is aerodynamically better," Pillinger Pill-inger said. "Having the correct tuck can take hundreths of seconds off your time and make the difference between first and third place. " After the Montana competition Pillinger is scheduled to compete in Aspen, Colo., and then she'll be coming com-ing home for Christmas. In January she is slated to compete in Europe. Tori Pillinger is at home mending her wounds. Her luck has been on the down side lately. |