It was a perfect night for high school football in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; the Wildcat season opener for 2024 in late August. Gametime temperature at kick-off was 73 degrees. Like a Bob Ross painting, white wispy clouds accented the blue sky. If the sizzling grills and smoke in the parking lot gave Wildcat cornerback Jack Silloway a whiff of fall's unofficial beginning, the marching band drums hammered it home. Adrenaline was coursing through Silloway's veins, giving him even more bounce in his cleats as they clicked on the track walking out to the field.     

Silloway, a senior and the fastest guy on the team, was like a racehorse in the starting gate suited up in his Wildcat football armor; ready for battle and ready to run.

"I finally had gotten that starting spot and I was pretty happy," said Silloway as the volume in his voice grew softer. "But, yeah, I didn't see that coming."

"That," as Silloway described it, came with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter and River Falls in control 31-21. Preston Johnson received a punt from Wisconsin Rapids. It was a short return and, as punts go, a ho-hum play. Ho-hum for everyone else but Silloway.

"I heard a pop in my knee, but really didn't feel anything," said Silloway.

No one else would've even noticed anything as #5 walked off the field with a slight limp in his left leg heading to the sideline. It would be the last play of Jack Silloway's football career. An MRI confirmed he had torn his ACL.

Injuries like these are like turning on the "Bat Signal" for River Falls Athletic Trainer Tina Montpetit. Her job is to help Wildcat student-athletes rehabilitate injuries from start to finish.

"I'm usually the first person there when it (injury) happens," said Montpetit. "I try to comfort them and work through the process. With the season ending injuries, there's definitely a big mental aspect to it."

"I definitely mentioned some stuff to Tina," said Silloway. "She kept telling me to be around the team as much as I can and that would be good. I was having a rough time with it and I needed their energy."

"Tina is always in the loop," said Wildcat senior volleyball player Maddy Range. "With Sara (Head Coach) and my PT (physical therapist)."

Range dove for a ball in a pre-season scrimmage in Appleton this past season. Two things hit the floor hard.

"My shoulder was dislocated and so was my front tooth," said Range. "The hardest part was going to the floor and diving again when I was better. It was scary when that happened and I was telling her (Montpetit) that and she did some visualization exercises with me."

"Whether it was talking about my injury or just about life in general," Range continued. "She's such a good person to talk to. She's always there for us."

Figuratively and literally.

This particular Monday evening in Montpetit's training room was no different than most other Mondays. Crinkling plastic wrap, scooping ice, and athletic tape being yanked from the roll, this is the sound of swollen, the salty smell of a sprain.

"Probably go through 20 bags of ice per day and 32 rolls of tape per week," said Montpetit.

Montpetit knows student-athletes. It takes one to know one. She grew up in New Richmond and played hockey and soccer. She loved hockey, but received two concussions within six weeks in ninth grade and doctor's orders were no hockey for at least a year. She tried powerlifting to stay in shape and keep competitive, placing eighth in the nation. She also ran cross country. Montpetit began helping out managing the hockey and football teams and became more involved with athletic training.  

"My junior year was when I really got exposed to it," said Montpetit.

After graduating in 2014, she majored in kinesiology, with an emphasis in athletic training, while attending UW-Eau Claire.

"Go Blugolds," Montpetit said as she answered questions while taping a bag of ice to a shoulder. "Seems like we've had a lot more overuse injuries and strains this year for some reason. More than I can remember in the past."

Montpetit worked a part-time athletic training job right out of college with River Falls High School for four years. Her employer was Allina Health, as they were the contracted company.

"Right out of college you have to take any part-time job you can get in this field," said Montpetit.

She took at full-time job with Hudson Physicians in 2022, but it was mostly in the clinic for the next year. 

"I missed the connections with the kids," said Montpetit. "My favorite part of my job is the daily interactions."

When River Falls Activities Director David Crail called Montpetit in 2023 to ask about her coming back full-time as part of Hudson Physicians, it was easier than putting a Band-Aid on a scrape for Tina the Trainer.

"I like being able to make an impact," said Montpetit. "Different sports have different personalities and that makes it fun, too. I've been here long enough where I'm getting invited to weddings."    

During the school year, Montpetit has Wednesday nights and Sundays off. She's either in the training room, at a practice, or at a game. 

"It comes with the territory," said Montpetit ripping a piece of tape like it was notebook paper, "But I have a good work-life balance. I have my mornings to myself and I like that."

Maddy Range, new tooth and shoulder reinserted, was back diving on the volleyball court within two weeks of her injury. She garnered first-team all-conference honors and is headed to Southwest Minnesota State to play volleyball.

There will be another perfect day for Jack Silloway this coming spring.

“I’ll be back full-force late in the track season,” said Silloway. “Tina gave me a lot of good advice. It’s fun being around her, really fun.”

Tina the Trainer, as she is now known, will be one of his biggest fans when he crosses the finish line.

Ice will melt and tape loses its stick. Like most injuries, it just takes time. Spending her time caring for the Wildcats is exactly what Tina the Trainer wants to do: "This is where I'm supposed to be."