Exorcising her demons: Hermantown's Tusa aims for top-10 finish at state meet
After conquering her demons on the hill where she broke a leg less than a year ago, Olivia Tusa is ready for anything Giants Ridge can throw at her.
The Hermantown senior will ski in her fourth — and final — Minnesota Alpine state meet Wednesday in Biwabik.
Returning to the state meet is a testament to Tusa’s determination and commitment since fracturing the fibula and tibia in her right leg during a fall four days after the 2011 Giants Ridge meet. She placed 16th a year ago and is eyeing a top-10 finish this time.
“I’m going to lay it all on the line,” she said. “I went through a lot in the last year to get back here. I want that hard work to pay off and do the best I can.”
Tusa endured several months of rehabilitation after falling in an FIS race at Loch Lomond in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The break occurred an inch below the top of her ski boot near the bottom of a challenging, steep hill.
“I was screaming before I stopped sliding,” she said. “My first thought was, ‘There’s snow in my boot,’ so I was frantically trying to get it out. Then I moved my leg and I knew I broke it, and I knew it was bad.”
Instead of snow, Tusa felt the broken bones inside her boot.
“It was horrible, and I was panicking,” she recalls. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m done skiing. This can’t be happening to me, I don’t want my skiing career to end here.’”
Scott “Race” Ransom, Tusa’s United States Ski Association coach, was at the hill that day.
“I knew on impact that it was not going to be good news,” said Ransom, a certified coach for 34 years. “Kids take lots of falls in the course of training and racing, but 99.9 percent of the time they jump up, collect their gear and get back at it. But this was one of those times you knew it was not going to be fun. She was in a lot of pain.”
Tusa’s leg was put in a cast and she was given morphine as pain medication at a Thunder Bay hospital. The family then drove four hours through a snowstorm in the dark to return to Duluth.
Two days later, Dr. Jefferson Davis performed surgery at Essentia St. Mary’s. He inserted a titanium rod in the core of her tibia and screws in her ankle and knee.
She couldn’t walk for a month and a half and underwent rehabilitation twice a week with former U.S. Ski Team physical therapist April Gerard Larson. At the time, however, a sport other than skiing was on her mind.
“My first commitment from that moment in the hospital talking to my dad was, ‘I need to get back to state golf,’” said Tusa, who had qualified for the state tournament as a freshman and sophomore. “My main focus became to walk (a course) again, and that was a challenge. I could swing but I couldn’t walk 18 holes.”
She not only returned to the links but was Section 7AA runner-up — losing by a single stroke — and went on to tie for 28th at the state tournament.
That drive is something her mother, Karen, sees on a daily basis.
“If you tell her no, she will prove you wrong,” Karen Tusa said. “That’s the way she’s been since she was little. She’s always amazing us.”
Tusa had a second surgery in August to remove the screws in her ankle, but the metal rod will remain for life. She still takes Ibuprofen for pain and her leg is considerably weaker in muscle mass despite a summer of weightlifting.
Her first trip back to a ski hill came in November in Winter Park, Colo.
“It was really scary,” she said. “My first fear was the chairlift because my foot just dangles there. But after a couple runs, I was back.”
Tusa’s first competitive race came up the North Shore at Lutsen Mountain, a moment her mother recalls as a turning point in her daughter’s confidence level.
“When she came down that hill, it was very emotional,” Karen said. “That was the moment that she knew she was recovered and could continue to race.”
Her mental recovery couldn’t be complete, however, until she tackled Loch Lomond, a hill Ransom calls the most challenging in the region.
“She had to grit her teeth and make herself do it,” Ransom said. “I saw improvement run-by-run as she realized she could do what she used to do.”
Karen Tusa said her daughter’s goal that day wasn’t a top-10 finish, but just a clean run.
“She just wanted to walk off the hill and ride home in a car and not an ambulance,” she said. “A lot of people couldn’t believe we were letting her go back up there. I told them, ‘This is something she has to do, and we all need to do it.’”
After conquering her demons on the hill where she broke a leg less than a year ago, Olivia Tusa is ready for anything Giants Ridge can throw at her.
The Hermantown senior will ski in her fourth — and final — Minnesota Alpine state meet Wednesday in Biwabik.
Returning to the state meet is a testament to Tusa’s determination and commitment since fracturing the fibula and tibia in her right leg during a fall four days after the 2011 Giants Ridge meet. She placed 16th a year ago and is eyeing a top-10 finish this time.
“I’m going to lay it all on the line,” she said. “I went through a lot in the last year to get back here. I want that hard work to pay off and do the best I can.”
Tusa endured several months of rehabilitation after falling in an FIS race at Loch Lomond in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The break occurred an inch below the top of her ski boot near the bottom of a challenging, steep hill.
“I was screaming before I stopped sliding,” she said. “My first thought was, ‘There’s snow in my boot,’ so I was frantically trying to get it out. Then I moved my leg and I knew I broke it, and I knew it was bad.”
Instead of snow, Tusa felt the broken bones inside her boot.
“It was horrible, and I was panicking,” she recalls. “I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m done skiing. This can’t be happening to me, I don’t want my skiing career to end here.’”
Scott “Race” Ransom, Tusa’s United States Ski Association coach, was at the hill that day.
“I knew on impact that it was not going to be good news,” said Ransom, a certified coach for 34 years. “Kids take lots of falls in the course of training and racing, but 99.9 percent of the time they jump up, collect their gear and get back at it. But this was one of those times you knew it was not going to be fun. She was in a lot of pain.”
Tusa’s leg was put in a cast and she was given morphine as pain medication at a Thunder Bay hospital. The family then drove four hours through a snowstorm in the dark to return to Duluth.
Two days later, Dr. Jefferson Davis performed surgery at Essentia St. Mary’s. He inserted a titanium rod in the core of her tibia and screws in her ankle and knee.
She couldn’t walk for a month and a half and underwent rehabilitation twice a week with former U.S. Ski Team physical therapist April Gerard Larson. At the time, however, a sport other than skiing was on her mind.
“My first commitment from that moment in the hospital talking to my dad was, ‘I need to get back to state golf,’” said Tusa, who had qualified for the state tournament as a freshman and sophomore. “My main focus became to walk (a course) again, and that was a challenge. I could swing but I couldn’t walk 18 holes.”
She not only returned to the links but was Section 7AA runner-up — losing by a single stroke — and went on to tie for 28th at the state tournament.
That drive is something her mother, Karen, sees on a daily basis.
“If you tell her no, she will prove you wrong,” Karen Tusa said. “That’s the way she’s been since she was little. She’s always amazing us.”
Tusa had a second surgery in August to remove the screws in her ankle, but the metal rod will remain for life. She still takes Ibuprofen for pain and her leg is considerably weaker in muscle mass despite a summer of weightlifting.
Her first trip back to a ski hill came in November in Winter Park, Colo.
“It was really scary,” she said. “My first fear was the chairlift because my foot just dangles there. But after a couple runs, I was back.”
Tusa’s first competitive race came up the North Shore at Lutsen Mountain, a moment her mother recalls as a turning point in her daughter’s confidence level.
“When she came down that hill, it was very emotional,” Karen said. “That was the moment that she knew she was recovered and could continue to race.”
Her mental recovery couldn’t be complete, however, until she tackled Loch Lomond, a hill Ransom calls the most challenging in the Upper Midwest.
“She had to grit her teeth and make herself do it,” Ransom said. “I saw improvement run-by-run as she realized she could do what she used to do.”
Karen Tusa said her daughter’s goal that day wasn’t a top-10 finish, but just a clean run.
“She just wanted to walk off the hill and ride home in a car and not an ambulance,” she said. “A lot of people couldn’t believe we were letting her go back up there. I told them, ‘This is something she has to do, and we all need to do it.’”