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Llanes's injury toll lengthy; her season likely over

By Jason Sumner, VeloNews Associate Editor
Published: Aug. 7, 2002

Four days after her brutal practice run crash at the NORBA mountain cross race in Durango, Colorado, American Tara Llanes updated VeloNews with her final injury tally. The damage: broken left collarbone, three fractured ribs, two partially collapsed lungs, one severely bruised lung, torn MCL in the right knee. Her season — and her shot at the NORBA mountain cross title — are almost certainly done.

Llanes suffered her injuries on one of the huge double jumps near the finish on Durango's famed Chapman Hill.

"The crash happened in the last five minutes of mountain cross practice before the finals were going to start," wrote Llanes in an email. "I was feeling good so I decided to hit the double-double the guys were hitting on the right side. I landed the first one sweet and decided to go for the second one, but the lip had a kicker, which I knew from watching some of the guys, but obviously didn't prepare well enough for. My ass end got kicked up and I over-rotated. My front end hit first and then it threw me to the ground.

"I am going to the orthopedic surgeon today to schedule an MRI to see if I also tore my ACL in the right knee. It looks as though my season is over and I can't really put into words right now how that is making me feel…other than sad."

Coming into the race in Durango, Llanes owned a 60-point lead over Katrina Miller in the overall NORBA mountain cross standings. Jill Kintner was the next highest placed American, 120 points behind Llanes.

Following the race in Durango, which was won by France's Sabrina Jonnier, Miller and Jonnier are now tied atop the overall mountain cross standings, while Llanes is still the top American, leading Melissa Buhl by 60 points and Kintner by 80. With just the NCS finals in Vermont left in the NORBA season, Buhl or Kintner will need to advance at least as far as the semifinals (a guarantee of no less than 80 points) to overtake or tie Llanes.