Contact: Diana Padilla 925-5548 Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales 277-5920

February 19, 2003 UNM ATHLETIC TRAINING STUDENT INTERNED AT WINTER X GAMES Diana Padilla, a senior in the University of New Mexico's athletic training program, recently returned from a trip to the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo., where she put her skills into practice as an intern at the ESPN sponsored event. Padilla, daughter of Fred and Nadine Padilla and a 1999 graduate of Bernalillo High School, was invited by her instructor, Susan McGowen, to be a part of the 20-member medical team providing assistance to 280 athletes from around the world participating in ESPN's Winter X Games. "Clinically, it was a wonderful," Padilla said. "The experience exposes you to a setting where everything happens quickly, you respond and your confidence builds." She said another benefit was seeing and treating different kinds of injuries than those normally seen in a collegiate or high school training room. Padilla will graduate in May and plans to go on to graduate school. "I've applied at both Syracuse University and Montana State," she said. She is deciding between a master's in sports medicine or health education. "Eventually I'd like to work as an athletic trainer at the high school or collegiate level. Having the graduate degree opens more doors," she said. # # #

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