A Legacy of Rowmark Winter Olympians

Mary Bocock ’22 captured the 2022–2023 Nor‑Am Overall title, securing a World Cup quota. As a member of the US Alpine Team, she made her World Cup debut in the 2023–2024 season opener in Sölden, Austria, alongside her sister, Elisabeth. She moved into speed events in 2024–2025, racing her first downhill and super‑G World Cup events, while also continuing to collect Nor‑Am Cup wins, including a giant slalom victory at Stratton in 2023. As of the 2025–2026 season, Bocock remains an active member of the US Ski Team and balances her ski career with college at Dartmouth.

Katie Hensien ’18 is a standout alpine skier currently competing on the World Cup circuit. She made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. While racing for the University of Denver, she became the 2022 NCAA slalom national champion and was named National Women’s Alpine Skier of the Year, earning multiple First-Team All-America honors. Hensien has also claimed US national titles in giant slalom (2020) and slalom (2021). After recovering from a knee injury, she returned strong in the 2024–2025 season with a career-best 4th place in World Cup giant slalom at Sölden and a 12th-place finish in slalom at Kranjska Gora—her best in that discipline. In the 2025–2026 season, she continued to compete internationally, representing the US and building on her momentum for the 2026 Olympics.

Madison Hoffman ’18 is an Australian alpine skier competing internationally and for the University of Utah. After making her World Cup debut in 2021, Hoffman was named to Australia’s 2022 Olympic team but was sidelined by injury. She returned in 2023 with a breakout collegiate season, sweeping the NCAA slalom and giant slalom titles—the first Utah woman to do so since 1990—and earning First Team All-America honors. In 2024, Hoffman continued to balance NCAA and World Cup racing, earning podiums in both circuits and a top-25 World Cup slalom finish in Levi, Finland, the first by an Australian woman in over 20 years.

Breezy Johnson ’13 made her World Cup debut in December 2015 and, in 2017, finished 18th in the downhill standings. After an injury at the World Cup finals, Johnson made a quick recovery and competed in her first Olympics in 2018, competing in the women’s super-G, in which she placed 14th, and the women’s downhill, in which she placed 7th. Johnson was set to compete in the 2022 Olympics when she sustained a knee injury in a training crash, forcing her to withdraw just weeks before the Games. She would have competed in the women’s downhill and likely the super-G events, where she was considered a top contender. Her withdrawal was a significant setback for the US women’s team in the speed disciplines. In 2025, Johnson rebounded with a career-defining performance at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach, Austria, where she won gold in the women’s downhill. Three days later, she captured a second gold in the women’s team combined event alongside Mikaela Shiffrin.

Hilary Lindh ’87 launched her elite ski racing career while training in Utah. By age 16, she had won both the US downhill title and the world junior championship. Lindh made her Olympic debut in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where she competed in super-G and placed 26th. She went on to compete in the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics, earning a silver medal in downhill at the 1992 Games in Albertville. Over an 11-year World Cup career, she tallied three victories and 27 top-ten finishes, and claimed the downhill world title in 1997. After retiring, Lindh became a coach and leader in ski racing, inspiring the next generation with the same passion she brought to Rowmark.

Alice McKennis ’08, pictured left, began skiing at age two. She made her World Cup debut in December 2008 and spent the 2009 season on the Nor-Am circuit. In 2010, she joined the US World Cup squad and made her first Olympic team, competing in the women’s downhill, though she was disqualified. In 2013, McKennis won her first World Cup downhill, a breakthrough victory, and later endured serious injuries: a fractured left tibial plateau in 2011 and a shattered right tibial plateau in 2013, which caused her to miss the 2014 Games. Following her injury, McKennis went on to qualify for her second Olympic Games in 2018 in PyeongChang. There, she placed fifth in the women’s downhill and 16th in the super-G. That same year, she earned a World Cup podium with a third-place finish in the downhill at Val Gardena, Italy. Though she aimed to compete in the 2022 Olympics, McKennis ultimately retired from ski racing in 2021, concluding a career marked by resilience and elite-level success.

Chirine Njeim ’03, pictured right with teammate Alex Shaffer ’94, started skiing at just three years old. At 12, Njeim went to France to train for two years with a personal coach. Njeim moved to Salt Lake City when she was 13 to attend Rowmark Ski Academy. In her Olympic debut, Njeim represented Lebanon in two alpine skiing events: the women’s slalom and the women’s giant slalom. She placed 36th in slalom and 45th in giant slalom. While she never formally retired from skiing, Njeim later shifted her athletic focus to long-distance running, an evolution that led to her qualifying for the marathon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, making her a rare dual-season Olympian.

Alex Shaffer ’94 made her Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, where she placed ninth in the women’s combined and started the giant slalom. In 1999, Shaffer became a double national champion, winning US alpine titles in both the slalom and giant slalom. She also competed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, representing the US in the women’s giant slalom. After retiring from competitive skiing, Shaffer earned a nursing degree from the University of Utah and now works as an emergency department nurse.

Kristi Terzian ’85 was considered one of Team USA’s star leaders before injuring her left knee just months before the Olympic Games in Albertville. Terzian previously injured her right knee in the summer of 1990, causing her to miss the following season. However, the previous winter, Terzian set an American record by scoring points in 17 World Cup races. Terzian’s specialties were the slalom and the giant slalom, which she was set to compete in on February 19–20, 1992. Terzian retired from skiing following the 1993–1994 season, having won three national titles, and was named an ambassador of skiing at Park City Ski Area.

Katie Vesterstein ’17 moved to Park City, Utah, when she was 10 years old. A multi-sport athlete, she competed in soccer, horseback riding, water skiing, and cross-country skiing before focusing on alpine skiing. In 2018, Vesterstein chose to compete internationally for Estonia, but her nationality change was not completed in time for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. That same year, she placed 12th in the alpine combined and 19th in the super-G at the US National Championships. In her Olympic debut at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, she represented Estonia, placing 35th in giant slalom and not finishing the slalom.