By Andy Hare, Junior Program Director

As we reflect on another season, the achievements of the Rowmark Junior Program shine brightly across various fronts. Despite a sluggish start, the season gained momentum, and with the onset of snowfall, our focus intensified, leading to valuable training sessions as we geared up for the qualifying races across all age groups and, ultimately, the end-of-season races and championships.

I’m very proud of our team and our team culture. As part of our team values, we focus on the skills of teamwork, determination, perseverance, and resilience. We executed our mission of providing our athletes with an amazing experience both on and off the snow, creating memories for a lifetime.

Our on-snow sessions at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) continue to provide an exceptional experience and a venue for optimal training. The UOP proves to be one of the leading ski race training facilities in the country. With it only open to ski racing programs that are a part of the community, we avoid dealing with any of the issues that are negatively impacting the resorts around the country, such as overcrowding and lack of parking. The UOP has none of these issues, making it truly a private training facility. We also continue to benefit from our freeskiing at local resorts of Park City, Canyons, Deer Valley, Snowbird, Alta, Solitude, and Brighton.

And of course, a huge shout-out to our amazing coaching staff! Their professionalism and dedication to character development are clearly evident in the success and admiration they receive from the athletes. It’s wonderful to see such a strong team supporting the growth and achievements of our program. Thank you, Matt, Hans, Tyler, Sydney, TJ, Penny, Charley, Andrea, Megan, Zach, Hayley, and Wendy. Here's to more seasons filled with growth, success, and passion for skiing!

Competition Highlights

Over the course of the season, our goal is to be at our peak during March and April. This all starts with our dryland training in the fall, on-snow training in the winter, and our sports psychology sessions. Everything builds as we move through the season with qualifiers as we prepare for the championships and critical races in the closing of our season. Below are competition highlights of current Rowmarkers during the last months of the season.

U14 Regionals, Grand Targhee, WY
Our U14 Academy Prep program had five athletes qualify for regional championships. This event is held for the top 60 U14s in the Western US and is the pinnacle of the Rowmark Junior Program, providing a clear path as the athletes continue their ski racing journey. Congratulations to Finley Taptitch, Alessa Lattanzi, Cree Gilmour, Asher Kinsman, and Jake Snyder, who all qualified. At the series, Asher Kinsman earned the Bibo Hard Charger Award in Slalom, where he started with bib #54 and ended up with a 7th-place finish! His best finish was a 5th place in Giant Slalom. And to top that off, Cree Gilmour came home with a silver medal in Super G and a gold medal in the Giant Slalom, which made him the series overall winner and qualified him for the Whistler Cup race series.

The Whistler Cup, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada
The Whistler Cup is an elite international junior race series where the best junior racers in the world compete. At the Whistler Cup, Cree Gilmour did an exceptional job, finishing 4th in the Slalom, 1st American, and 4th in the team overall event. Congratulations, Cree!

Grand Targhee IMD U14 SG Qualifier, Grand Targhee, WY
Hannah Hijjawi had a very strong showing at the Speed series in Grand Targhee, WY, where she led the Rowmark ladies with three top-15 finishes. The rest of her teammates did an excellent job navigating their way down the challenging Super G course, with a 100% finish rate.

Tri-Divisional Championships, Big Sky and Bridger Bowl, MT
This event provides an additional tier for our U14 and U16 athletes as they compete alongside Northern and Alaska divisions. Congratulations to Elle Hanlon, Will Hanlon, Mei Mei Morgan, Chet Rhodes, Rohan Pani, and Asher Williams, who all qualified and competed in the Tri-Divisional Championships.

IMD Championships, Tamarack, ID
Rowmark U12 All Stars who were all new to the program this year—Brittan Corcoran, Josey Huang-Kim, Lucas Szoka, and Ari Kinsman—had a great season and really represented all the traits of a great Rowmarker. Ari placed second in the Slalom event. Both Brittan and Josey also did an excellent job in their first year of competitive racing.

YSL Finals, Snowbasin, UT
This is the premier event for our U10 All-Mountain Rippers. The YSL Finals brings all the programs across the state of Utah together. Rowmark’s All-Mountain Ripper team excelled at the Utah Youth Ski League races, which culminated at the Snowbasin YSL Finals in March. Our team captains, Beck King and Mila Patel, excelled as leaders from dryland training in September to the YSL Finals in March. Our strongest performers on the racecourse consisted of: Charlotte Fiore, Beck King, Jinnun Kim (Most Improved Male), Noa Kinsman, Max Matlin, William Nguyen, Sophia Shojai, Lilla Sneen, Easton Walker, and Alessandra Waters (Most Improved Female).

Spring Fling, Grand Targhee, WY
Alessa Lattanzi, Elle Wucetich, Evie Chen, Stella Copeland, Dylan Kinkead, Aaron Chen, and Owen Donigan just returned from an exciting end-of-season race called Spring Fling, held in Grand Targhee, WY. They all finished out the season strong, and Alessa was on the podium twice in second place in both Slalom and Giant Slalom!

Snowcup Series, Snowbird, UT
This event invites the second-year U14s to race with older athletes, including our own Academy athletes. Congratulations to Asher Kinsman, with a 4th place finish, and Jake Snyder, with a 9th place finish, in the U14 age group in Slalom. On day two, Jake finished 11th for the U14 group in Giant Slalom.

Rowmark All Stars
The All Star Junior Program has wrapped up another fantastic season. The 21 athletes started this year's journey at Mammoth camp, learning great fundamental skills and creating a positive culture to encourage each other to keep learning all year. They worked hard at dryland and another camp at Big Sky to help prepare physically for the season to come. It was great to watch the athletes learn new carving skills and apply them to the course. The team performed better each race. Some standout second years (2012): Hadley Rhodes, 1st place on the season and winner of the overall at Champs. Ari Kingsman, 2nd on the season and 2nd place at Champs in SL. Aster Schillinger was third overall on the season and she put two runs together for the dual and got 4th. Walter Wucetich is a strong 2013, coming in 8th in season for his age group and staying constant at champs at 8th. He will be one to watch next year at the u12 level. Bergen Sneen made some great improvements from the start of season to end. He couldn’t put two runs together but we are excited to see how he keeps improving next year. Eliza Phyfe, Cecelia Quinn, and Pedro Huerta Strodthoff attended the YSL Champs at Snowbasin and had some great results, with 9th, 3rd, and 9th, respectively. Josephine Huang-Kim took her skiing to the next level joining Rowmark this year. She was an Alta freeskier and SL really clicked. She was 23 on the season and two top-15 finishes for SL. Keira Kinkead is another first year to look out for next year. She was consistently a top-20 finisher all season. With all the great results the team had a great time free skiing and having a fun time. Until next year…

Congratulations on a great season to all our Rowmark Junior athletes!

By Todd Brickson, Program Director

It’s been a successful race season filled with many highs, lows, and learning moments. Our Academy Rowmarkers traveled all over the Western US for competitions, and many also had the opportunity to experience the Eastern US, Alaska, Canada, and Europe. The generally warm winter provided many challenges with training and race conditions, but this is the nature of our sport. The ever-changing snow conditions and weather, combined with the variety of race destinations, mean that no two days are the same. This is what makes ski racing so fascinating and keeps us always coming back for more!

Competition Highlights

Below are competition highlights of current Rowmarkers who captured top finishes during the last month of the competition season.

U18 National Championships, Jackson, WY, March 2–8
The U18 National Championships is a prestigious event and Rowmark had six athletes qualify: Jack Hoffman, Karsten Schillinger, Brooke Brown, Maya Eisner (couldn't participate due to injury), Bea Martin, and Vivian Turner. The slalom (SL) and giant slalom (GS) races were held at Snow King, WY. Karsten had two outstanding races, vaulting onto the podium twice with 2nd place in SL and 5th in GS. Brooke also reached a milestone, ascending onto the podium in 3rd place in SL. Vivian was impressive with an 11th in SL, and Bea was solid returning from injury in 31st in SL. The downhill (DH) race was postponed three days in a row due to consecutive dumps of snow and was finally canceled in favor of the Super-G (SG), which they were able to squeeze in under soft snow conditions on the final day. Brooke backed up her 3rd place in SL earlier in the week with a 6th place in Super-G!

Western Region Junior Championships, Stevens Pass, WA, March 3–8
Many of the Rowmark boys FIS Team returned from the Western Region Junior Championships 2SL/2GS/2SG at Stevens Pass, WA, with excellent results. Jamison Oleksy started the series off with a podium finish in 3rd in the first SL! He finished every race in the top 13, with an 11th in the second SL, 8th and 10th in the GSs, and 9th and 13th in the Super-Gs. Leo Martin had several excellent races also, with a 6th and 13th in GS, 14th and 17th in SL, and 12th and 14th in SG. Jack Zipp was also consistently fast, with a 10th and 10th in SL, 18th and 24th in GS, and 11th and 16th in SG. Morgan Jacquin had four top-30 results, with 26th and 26th in GS, and 27th and 29th in SG. Milan Mickelson was 27th and 29th in SL, and 29th and 32nd in GS. Declan Morasch finished 28th in SL, 37th in GS, and 33rd in SG.

Western Region U16 Championships, Alyeska, AK, March 19–22
Congratulations to 11 of our Rowmark U16s for qualifying and competing in the 2024 U16 Western Region Championships in Alyeska, AK! They are: Finn Copeland, Andrew Hanrahan, Sophia Hijjawi, Luke Kanarowski, Adrian Marquart, Lukas Postnieks, Ruby Rosh, Jax Salinas, Rhys Schillinger, Teo Shamah, and AJ Socolean. Our top performers were Ruby Rosh with a 7th and 11th in Super-G; Teo Shamah, 9th in GS; Sophia Hijjawi, 11th in SL and 20th in GS; Luke Kanarowski, 14th in SL and 21st in GS; AJ Socolean, 15th in SL, 16th and 25th in SG; Andrew Hanrahan, 15th in SG; Lukas Postnieks, 19th in SL; Adrian Marquart, 23rd and 27th in SG; Finn Copeland, 23rd in GS; and Rhys Schillinger, 27th in GS. Congratulations to all and to Ruby and Sophia for qualifying for U16 Nationals in Vail, CO.

IMD Tri-Divisional Championships, Big Sky and Bridger Bowl, MT, March 21–24
Five of our Rowmark U16s qualified for and competed in the 2024 Tri-Divisional Championships at Big Sky and Bridger Bowl, MT. They were: Paulina Ize-Cedillo, Alden Rhodes, Darshan Pani, Tallulah Proulx, and Wyatt Williams. Tallulah was consistently fast, with 2nd place finishes in all three races, and she captured the overall series title. Alden was equally impressive in winning both the Super-G and GS races by large margins. Wyatt captured his first podium of the season with 5th in the SL. Paulina had a solid SL in 24th. Darshan had his best finish of the year with 26th in SL.

US National Championships, Sun Valley, ID, March 21–24
Three of our current FIS Rowmarkers competed in the US National Championships at Sun Valley with impressive results. Brooke Brown was 13th in Super-G (3rd for U18s) and 21st in SL (5th for U18s). Vivian Turer was 33rd in the GS (11th for U18s). For the boys, Karsten Schillinger continued his impressive season with a 26th in GS (1st for U18s) and 23rd in SL (2nd for U18s).

U16 National Championships, Vail, CO, March 31–April 4
Sophia Hijjawi and Ruby Rosh both competed in the prestigious U16 Nationals at Vail, CO, this week. Ruby had a strong GS race in 19th, and Sophia was solid with a 31st in GS and 33rd in SL.

IMD Snow Cup, Snowbird, UT, April 6–9
The U16s raced in their final series of the season at the IMD Snowbird Snow Cup 2SL/2GS. For the girls, Ruby Rosh continued her podium string with 2nd and 3rd in the SLs, as well as a 5th and 7th in GS. Sophia Hijjawi was also fast with a 4th in SL, 10th and 15th in GS. Tallulah Proulx was 23rd in SL and 16th in GS. Paulina Ize-Cedillo cracked into the top 30 with a 29th in the final GS. The Rowmark boys filled up the top 20 each day, led by Luke Kanarowski with a 7th and 8th in SL, 8th and onto the podium with a 2nd in the final GS. Finn Copeland skied to an 11th in SL, and then really stepped up with a podium 3rd and 4th in GS. AJ Socolean was 4th and 7th in SL, 5th in GS. Teo Shamah was 6th in SL, 7th and 8th in GS. Lukas Postnieks was 9th and 10th in SL, 18th and 9th in GS. Rhys Schillinger also scored a top 10, with a 10th in GS, as well as a 16th in SL. Andrew Hanrahan had a pair of 14ths in SL, and 12th and 16th in GS. Alden Rhodes was 20th in SL, 13th and 14th in GS. Adrian Marquart was 15th in SL, 13th in GS.

The year-end 2024 Bryce Astle IMD Cup Awards were given out at the conclusion of the Snow Cup. U16 Rowmarkers earned three of the prestigious cumulative awards from the best four SL, best four GS, and best two Super-G race finishes of the 2024 IMD Cup season: AJ Socolean (1st place Super-G), Ruby Rosh (1st place SL), and Teo Shamah (2nd place SL).

FIS Spring Series, Mammoth and Palisades Tahoe, CA, April 8–18
Our Rowmark FIS Team finished their competition season in the Far West Spring FIS Series with many great performances. Three of our boys attended the speed series at Mammoth and the rest of our boys and girls came in to join them at the tech series at Palisades Tahoe. At Mammoth, Jamison Oleksy was consistently fast with 21st and 22nd in DH and 18th in Super-G, while Declan Morasch was 39th, 42nd in DH, and 37th in SG. Morgan Jacquin was 44th in both DHs and 40th in SG.

At Palisades, Karsten Schillinger was 10th in SL (2nd for U18s), 23rd in GS (3rd for U18s). Jamison Oleksy was 25th, 38th in GS. Jack Hoffman was 29th in SL, 38th in GS. Jack Zipp was 34th in SL. For the girls, Vivian Turner was 7th and 12th in SL (1st and 2nd for U18s). Brooke Brown was 7th (1st for U18s) and 18th in SL, 14 in GS. Lili Honey was 22nd and 34th in GS, 29th in SL. Bea Martin was 26th and 27th in SL, Hayden Mengason was 37th and 43rd in SL, Hayden Kaufman Schiller was 41st in GS, and Kiri Mannelin was 47th in SL.

At the end of the series, Brooke Brown was awarded the Western Region Overall title as well as 1st in the Junior SL and SG standings. Vivian Turner was 6th in the Junior Overall and 3rd in the Junior SL standings. For the boys, Karsten Schillinger was 3rd in the WR Overall and 1st in Junior SL standings.  

News from Rowmarkers on US Ski Team and NCAA Teams

World Junior Championships, Portes Du Soleil, France, January 28–February 3  
Rowmarkers and US Ski Team members Elisabeth Bocock ’23 and Mary Bocock ’22 competed in the World Junior Championships in Portes Du Soleil, France, in early February with great success! Elisabeth was 3rd in the Team Parallel event, 5th in the GS, 9th in the Women's Team event, 14th in the SL, and 24th in the SG. She was the top American finisher in both the GS and SL!  Mary was 9th in the Women's Team event, 20th in the SG, and 20th in the DH.

NCAA National Championships, Steamboat Springs, CO, March 6–9
In defense of her NCAA SL and GS Championships from 2023, Madi Hoffman ’18 of the University of Utah climbed the podium again, this time in 2nd place in both SL and GS, helping to propel the U to second place in the nation.

US National Championships, Sun Valley, ID, March 21–24
Elisabeth Bocock ’23 won the Super-G and was 2nd in GS (1st for U21s) and 5th in SL (1st for U21s). Madi Hoffman ’18 was 3rd in GS and won the SL. These were the first US National Championship titles for both. Mary Bocock ’22 was 6th in both the Super-G and GS.

Congratulations to all the Rowmarkers for their effort, teamwork, determination, and resilience, and for their resulting strong finishes to the competition season!

By Todd Brickson, Rowmark Ski Academy Program Director

Rowmark Summer and Fall Highlights

Our Academy and Junior Program summer and fall activities have been very busy and productive with ski camps and daily dryland conditioning. Our on-snow preparation period started off with an excellent June ski camp at Mammoth Mountain, CA, where the snow conditions were still fantastic due to a season of record snowfall in the Sierras.

Then in August, our FIS Team had plans to travel to New Zealand for their second ski camp, but poor snow conditions there forced a sudden pivot to Saas Fee, Switzerland, instead. This turned out to be a good decision as they had an excellent camp where they were greeted with excellent weather, snow, and training conditions on a glacier deep in the Swiss Alps. The camp also provided a dynamic experience of Swiss culture.

At the same time in August, our U16s and U14s had a productive camp at Mt. Hood, OR. Many people are surprised to learn that there is year-round skiing at Mt. Hood, but there is! With that said, we did have to endure a couple of days of record heat during the camp. Despite this, the snow held up well for our training as the coaches prepared the snow each day by spreading a thin layer of salt on the snow surface. (This works because the salt melts the first inch of snow, which then causes it to refreeze into ice above the next snow layer, thereby creating a hard, durable surface for each training session.)

In early September, our academy team headed north to Bear Lake, UT, for our annual Academy Fall Orientation Weekend. Here we challenged the Rowmarkers’ teamwork and leadership skills with a series of social and physical challenges, including a mountain bike/road bike/hike triathlon, speedball and volleyball tournaments, beach and water relays, slacklining, and tug-of-war.

As I write this, our Rowmark Academy team is now in Colorado for an eight-day SL (slalom) and GS (giant slalom) camp at Aspen Highlands, while our U14s and U12s are headed to Big Sky, MT, for five days on snow there prior to Thanksgiving break. These camps also challenge the Rowmarkers’ academic and organizational abilities as they miss several days of school for these fall camps and work to keep up with school during nightly study halls proctored by the coaches.

In between all these camps, our teams have been busy with daily after-school dryland conditioning, which includes strength training, core, cardio, agility, coordination, and games, as well as periodic mental training sessions as we finally get on snow full time here in Utah to prepare for the fast-approaching competition season!

Rowmark Staff Updates

This summer we welcomed Andy Hare to Rowmark as our new Junior Program director. Andy brings with him a combined 40 years of ski racing, ski industry, coaching, and program directing experience. Andy started his ski racing career at Ski Butternut in Massachusetts, and then attended Stratton Mountain School in Vermont, where he won several Junior Olympic titles. 

After graduating from Stratton Mountain School, Andy qualified for the US Development Ski Team and spent a year training and racing around the world. He then attended the University of Utah, where won the 1996 NCAA GS National Championship title, was a three-time NCAA All-American, and was the recipient of the Alf Engen Sportsmanship Award. While at the U, Andy also coached FIS level athletes at Snowbird and worked as an intern with Rowmark.

After college, Andy began working at Nordica as the western race service manager. During his 23-year tenure at Nordica, he filled many roles ranging from race service, athlete (he competed in the 2000 X-Games in skier cross), product manager, marketing manager, and director of marketing. During this time Andy worked with a local ski area, Whaleback Mountain, restructuring the race program and as a member of the Board of Directors. Andy and his family then moved back to where he grew up and he was hired as the Ski Butternut program director where he worked for three years redeveloping the program, which grew to 230 athletes and 20 coaches.

Four years ago, Andy and his family had an opportunity to move to Utah, which had been a goal of his since the day he graduated from the U of U. Here, Andy has continued to consult for Nordica and has worked closely with US Ski and Snowboard, Professional Ski Instructors of America, and National Ski Patrol. Andy and his wife, Wendy, our Rowmark team manager, have two children, Parker and Emma, who both attend Rowland Hall. In his free time, Andy likes to ski, ride motorcycles, mountain bike, and spend time with his family.

We would also like to welcome the following new coaches to our programs:

• Jimena Carlin, FIS (U18 and older) assistant Academy coach
• Tyler Utendorfer, U14 Academy Prep assistant coach
• Sydney Weaver, U14 Academy Prep assistant coach
• Andrea Fiore, U12 All-Star assistant coach
• TJ Weaver, U10 All-Mountain Ripper assistant coach
• Hayley Trockman, U8 Love to Ski head coach

Alumni Updates

We are thrilled to announce that US Ski Team members and sisters Mary Bocock ’22 and Elisabeth Bocock ’23 each earned their first World Cup starts on October 28 in the giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.

At the same time, congratulations to Madi Hoffman ’18, Australian National Team and University of Utah two-time NCAA champion. On November 11, skiing with bib 36, the 23-year-old scored her first career World Cup points in her third World Cup start, finishing 25th in Levi, Finland!

These are huge milestones in these athletes’ young careers, and we are very proud of their impressive accomplishments on the world stage at the highest level of our sport.

On March 1, the Spencer F. Eccles Olympic Mountain Center at Utah Olympic Park formally opened for training. This event, the culmination of the second phase of mountain expansion on the park’s west peak, upgraded the park’s training capabilities, which will benefit Rowmark Ski Academy as well as Park City Ski and Snowboard Club and the University of Utah Ski Team, the venue’s three founding clubs.

A 1,200-vertical-foot, full-length super-G, giant slalom, and slalom venue, complete with a high-speed quad chairlift, snowmaking, and lights, West Peak is a state-of-the-art training facility that will long benefit Rowmark Ski Academy and Rowmark Junior athletes.

KCPW: West Peak expansion formally opens at the Utah Olympic Park

Deseret News: New Olympic training and competition ski runs unveiled at the Spencer F. Eccles Mountain Center

back to the finish line

Rowmark

By Troy Price, Rowmark Junior Program Director

The Rowmark Junior program has wrapped up another successful season. This year, we welcomed a record number of new families to our community. I’m pleased with the skill development of these new members; however, I’m very proud of the growth in personal character within the athletes as the coaches reinforced our team values every week. I will recognize our athletes later in the article, but first I want to discuss the remarkable community we have in the Rowmark Junior Program.

Our community of athletes, coaches, parents, teachers, and administrators created an incredible environment where we all placed priority in our core values. By keeping the development of the whole athlete as a paramount, we were able to find the balance in academics and athletics. Moreso, we were able to identify the best opportunities for each athlete. The coaching staff and athletes created an environment of high expectations and inclusivity. They practiced positive character traits in trust and perseverance. Meanwhile, there was always a balance between team pride and sportsmanship. Our Rowmark parents were supportive to all competitors and thankful to the volunteers at each race. I’m very pleased with our team culture and look forward to building upon our successes moving forward.

During the season, we celebrated our increasing diversity at our family day at the Utah Olympic Park with a flag ceremony and ski race for all. With the generosity of a donor, we have established the Trailblazer Scholarship to help support our efforts in bringing more diversity into our program.

We enhanced our introduction level, known as Love to Ski, under the leadership of Tiffany Flygare. Tiffany created a lesson plan each week that kept the young athletes engaged and always looking forward to the following week.

I’m so very proud of the hard work that all our student-athletes have applied this season. They were ready to showcase their talents at their given championships across the Western US. Please join me in celebrating the following Rowmark athletes for reaching their championship events.

U14 Regionals, Jackson Hole, WY

Callie Lipson, Andrew Hanrahan, Luke Kanarowski, and Rhys Schillinger

U14 Tri-Divisionals, Grand Targhee, WY

Paulina Ize-Cedillo, Finley Taptich, Darshan Pani, Jake Snyder, Niklas Tognina, and Wyatt Williams

U12 IMD Championships, Snowbird, UT

Asher Williams, Chet Rhodes, Dylan Kinkead, Elle Wucetich, Elle Hanlon, Hadley Rhodes, Mei Mei Morgan, Nate Snyder, Stella Copeland, and Will Hanlon

U12 IMD Finals, Park City, UT

Dylan Galen, Iris Fisher, Wyatt Daniels, Aaron Chen, Chandler Corcoran, Emmie Walker, Evie Chen, Owen Donigan, Rohan Pani, Zach Mazur, Arya Martinez, Beck King, Bergen Sneen, Cece Quinn, Ceri Pihl, Easton Walker, Eliza Phyfe, Emily Melman, Hunter Stamps, Hunter Fiore, Johnson Philips, Krishna Siripurapu, Lasher O’Connell, Lilla Sneen, Mahadev Siripurapu, Mila Patel, Pedro Huerta Strodthoff, Talia Brylawski, Victoria Hall, Walter Wucetich, and Will Wucetich

It will be a season we all remember for a long time. I’m thankful to everyone for making it successful.

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Rowmark

Three Rowmark Ski Academy women swept the podium at a NorAm GS in Stratton, Vermont: Madi Hoffman ’18 (University of Utah/Australian National Team) was first, Mary Bocock ’22 (US Ski Team) was second, and Elisabeth Bocock ’23 (US Ski Team) was third! In the giant slalom (GS), Mary was first, Elisabeth was third, and Madi was fourth.

Mary Bocock won both the NorAm Super-G and Overall NorAm Titles for 2023, and earned World Cup starts for 2023–2024.

Rowmark alum and US Ski Team member Katie Hensien ’18 is 23rd (third American!) at the World Championships GS in Courchevel Méribel, France, in her first World Championships.

Congratulations to Rowmark Ski Academy/Rowland Hall alum and US Ski Team member Breezy Johnson ’13 on her sixth-place finish in the World Cup Finals Downhill in Soldeu, Andorra. This result culminates an impressive return from a season-ending injury last year.

NCAA National Championships
White Face, NY March 8-11

Madi Hoffman continued on her incredible roll by winning both the GS and slalom (SL) at the NCAA Nationals, propelling the University of Utah to its fourth consecutive national championship. Also, Zoe Michael, who attended Rowmark/Rowland Hall from 2016 to 2018, and who skis for the University of New Hampshire, was 19th in SL and 28th in GS, while Sophia Yubero ’17, a senior at Middlebury College, was 15th in SL and 22nd in GS.

Congratulations to all on a strong finish to their competition season!

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Rowmark

Below are the competition highlights of Rowmarkers who captured top finishes during the last month of the competition season.

U18 National Championships
Mittersill, NH, March 9–15

Four of our U18s qualified for and competed in the prestigious U18 Nationals at Mittersill, NH: Brooke Brown, Lili Honey, Cam Prichard, and Karsten Schillinger. First-year U18 Brooke Brown was impressive in the downhill (DH), with 11th place, while first-year U18 Karsten Schillinger scored 18th in slalom (SL).

Western Region U16 Championships
Sun Valley, ID, March 21–24

Nine of our U16 team members competed in the Western Region U16 Championships at Sun Valley. For the boys, Jack Hoffman had an outstanding week, with a fifth and seventh in super-G (SG), second in SL, first in giant slalom (GS), and first overall! Freddy Gowski skied well in the GS into sixth place, and first-year U16 Teo Shamah was impressive with an 11th in  SL. For the girls, Vivian Turner had two great races, with a seventh in SG and sixth in GS, while Sophia Hijjawi was fast with 14th in GS and 16th in SL. Congratulations to all!

With their performances, Jack Hoffman and Vivian Turner both qualified for the U16 National Championships in Mission Ridge, WA.

IMD Tri-Divisional Championships
Grand Targhee, WY, March 23–26

Nine of our Rowmark U16 and U14 team members traveled to Grand Targhee for the Tri-Divisional Championships (Intermountain, Northern, and Alaska Divisions), where four feet of snow fell during the series. Due to all the snow, the GS race was canceled, but they were able to pull off the SG and SL (and a lot of epic powder skiing). Jax Salinas broke through with a second place in SG, and Kendall Kanarowski matched him with second place in SL.

FIS Spring Series
Big Sky, MT, and Palisades Tahoe, CA, March 30–April 11

Our FIS Team had their final races of the season at the Big Sky, MT, and Palisades Tahoe, CA, Western Region FIS Spring Series races, competing against stacked fields. Rowmark alum and US Ski Team member Mary Bocock ’22 won the first Palisades GS. Brooke Brown had several strong races, including an 11th, 13th, and 15th in GS (on the podium for U18s in third), 13th in SL, and 18th in SG over the two series. Lili Honey skied to a 10th (fourth for U18s) and 15th in GS, and a 20th in SL at Big Sky. Grace Venverloh was 19th in SL at Palisades. Also at Big Sky, for the boys, Cam Prichard was 15th in GS, while Jack Zipp was 18th in SL and Jamison Oleksy was 20th in SL. At Palisades, Karsten Schillinger impressed with a 14th in SL (fifth for U18s), and Ian Hanrahan was 19th in SG and 20th in GS.

U16 National Championships
Mission Ridge, WA, April 2–6

Two of our U16s competed in the prestigious U16 Nationals at Mission Ridge, WA. Jack Hoffman was eighth in the SG and in second place after the first run of GS before slipping to 15th after the second run. Then in the SL, he was in fifth after the first run before a mistake took him out of contention. Nevertheless, it was clear that Jack had podium pace in both races. Vivian Turner was 18th in the GS (ninth in the second run) and an impressive fourth in the parallel team event.

back to the finish line

Rowmark

By Troy Price, Rowmark Junior Program Director

The Rowmark Junior Program is enjoying the early snowfall. We recently returned from a ski camp in Loveland, Colorado, with our Academy Prep group. Since our last article, we have enjoyed a camp at Mt. Hood in June with both the All-Star and Academy Prep groups, then an additional Mt. Hood camp in August for the Academy Prep group. Mt. Hood continues to provide excellent training opportunities to advance athletes’ skills during the off-season.

Returning to school in August, we shifted our focus to our physical conditioning and getting everyone set up with their new ski equipment. September and October provided more time for conditioning, as well as our annual parent meetings for each program. We have recently completed our dryland training sessions, along with our annual fitness testing. We had so many athletes set personal records in several test areas. This is a great reflection of the growth mindset used throughout our program. We are very proud of our team environment, which allows every student to pursue their personal best as they are encouraged by their teammates.

It was great to host our annual fall BBQ to welcome our new members and to share highlights from the summer and fall. We had to take a couple years off due to the pandemic, so it was so fun to unite as a team.

As mentioned above, we have now moved into our fall on-snow prep period. These early season camps and local training sessions will prepare our athletes for the upcoming competition phase. We have a full roster, with a record number of 22 athletes in our All-Mountain Rippers program, along with 16 All-Stars and 14 Academy Prep athletes. Our Love to Ski program for first and second graders is filling up fast too.

Our Academy Prep program has already returned from their first ski camp in Colorado (please see the summary of their camp below from Coach Matt Brown). They are now getting ready for our next camp in Sun Valley. The All-Star program will join them in Sun Valley as well, followed by our All-Mountain Rippers and Love to Ski programs starting up in December.
 
From Coach Matt Brown:

We had three days of beautiful Colorado sunny skies at Loveland Ski Area.

The hospitality from our hotel was perfect, with spacious rooms and space for meetings, studying, and ski tuning; hot breakfast; a short one-minute walk to restaurants for dinner; and a close distance to our afternoon dryland activities.

We want to congratulate the athletes and coaches for coming in with a huge growth mindset to learn and support each other as a team over the entire camp. The daily schedule was super busy, with a 6 am wake-up for movement prep and breakfast, followed by loading, a ski session, conditioning, and study hall. We ended our day at 9 pm, with lights out.

We skied for about four hours each day, with the kids split up randomly into different groups each day with different coaches, allowing athletes and coaches to find what works best for each individual and to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Back to the Finish Line

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