Trainer awarded for work

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — The last time Marni Barton attended an NBA basketball game, she took to the court for a pre-game performance with her gymnastics team.

That was back in the 1980s.

The next time she visited an NBA arena, Barton again took center stage.

On March 29, moments before the Denver Nuggets took on the Golden State Warriors at the Pepsi Center, the Glenwood Springs High School athletic trainer was recognized for being among the best in her field in the state of Colorado. Finishing as a runner-up in the Excellence in Colorado High School Athletic Training award, Barton netted $500 to spend on her Glenwood Springs High School athletic training setup.

And, as a bonus, Barton got to cheer on the playoff-hopeful Nuggets to a critical late-season win over the Warriors.

“I hadn’t been there in years and years,” she said. “I’m glad we actually won. It seems like they go into the third quarter winning and they blow it. It was neat getting down on the court, seeing the guys close up. I really didn’t know Carmelo Anthony was that big. He should be a football player.”

More important than the Nuggets’ win, though, was the $500 Barton brought back to the Western Slope.

“Anything helps when you’re trying to get your athletic training room the way you want it,” she said. “Right now, I am working on getting funds to purchase a new taping table for the training room, a bunch of rehabbing equipment, an upper-body bike, a treadmill and other balance sort of things. Mostly rehab equipment so we can do more in-house rehabilitation.”

Surely, that $500 will figure into that fundraising equation.

Having recently moved into a new training room — a byproduct of the recent GSHS renovation project — Barton couldn’t have picked a better to time to win the award.

She applied for the award three or four years ago, to no avail, leaving her a tad gunshy to apply again . But she swallowed her pride and threw her hat in the ring.

“I was bummed about it the first time,” she said, “but with the new athletic training room, I figured now would be the perfect time to do it. Starting over, I have the ability to get some stuff, so I made the decision to do it. It would have been neat to have had more Western Slopers.”

Barton and GSHS were the first Western Slopers to win the Front Range-dominated award in its five-year history.

“Maybe it’s the assumption that the Western Slope has a little more money, so they give it more to Front Range places so that they are funded a little better,” Barton said. “Some of the inner-city schools definitely need the money more than me.”

Peer respect

In her nine years as Glenwood’s athletic trainer, Barton has made quite the impression. A big part of the training award’s application process were three letters of recommendation.

That wasn’t a problem for Barton, who culled letters from GSHS football coach Rocky Whitworth, GSHS vice principal Gayla Rowe and Ann Denney, the mother of GSHS athlete Avery Denney, with whom Barton’s worked closely over the years.

Whitworth had nothing but praise for the woman who keeps his players in prime shape.

“She’s a real consummate professional,” he said. “She works hard to stay ahead of the game and she has all the knowledge there is to know in her field. She has the great ability to deal in a high school setting, with parents and young student-athletes that need help, need guidance.”

Ann Denney, whose oft-injured daughter has played volleyball, basketball, soccer and track during her four years at Glenwood and found herself under Barton’s care all too often, couldn’t have asked for anything more from the school’s popular athletic trainer.

“Poor Avery, she might be the most injury-prone person in the history of Glenwood Springs High School,” Denney said. “She’s had both ankles surgically repaired, one knee surgery, concussions, broken fingers. … Marni is always there. She’s always tried to find out the best ways to prevent further injury, what foods (Avery) should be eating. Her treatment was always superb.”

Barton’s boss at Valley View Hospital, Ross Peterson, is mighty fond of the hire he made.

“She was the first athletic trainer I hired,” he said. “She’s been a mainstay in Glenwood those nine years. The coaches love her, the athletes love her. She’s been well-respected, not only by coaches and athletes, but also by physicians and medical practitioners.”

Peterson is the director of rehabilitation services at Valley View, which staffs the athletic trainers at both GSHS and Roaring Fork High School.

The schools pay a small portion for the trainers’ services, which is supplemented by subsidization from Valley View, Glenwood Medical Associations and Orthopaedic Associates of Aspen and Glenwood.

Peterson firmly believes all parties involved are getting their money’s worth with Barton.

“They do (make me look good), absolutely,” he said, referring to both Barton and RFHS athletic trainer Andy Henrichs. “It’s my job to hire them and what they do makes a difference. I’m very proud of the work Marni’s done and I’m excited by the fact she’s been honored for the award.”