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Anna Swanson ’21 Speeds to a Spot at the U14 Championships

The Taos Winter Sports Team went to Crested Butte, CO for the Annual Rocky Mountain Division U14 Championships last month. The Prater Cup acts as a qualifier for the Rocky/Central Division Championships, which brings together all the best U14 ski racers from the Rockies and from the Central US states. Athletes qualify by adding up the total of their two best runs out of 6 total runs from the Prater Cup.

Anna Swanson ’21 lit it up with excellent skiing earning her a spot on the Rocky Mtn. division squad. After two days of Super G training, the athletes were treated to blue skies and a cold morning, making for a superb day for Super G racing. After Swanson finished she commented, “I just really felt like I was going fast today.” In fact she was going really fast as she torched her way to an 11th place finish out of a field size of 132 female U14’s!

The next event was the Giant Slalom (GS) and Anna fired out of the starting gate and crashed near the bottom of the hill, leaving behind both her skis. Swanson rebounded from her crash in the morning showing determination and resiliency and attacked the second run. According to coach Sean Cassily, “ I was nervous watching Swanson’s second run. She already had one good run in the books and she needed a second finish in order to qualify. Although she fell in the morning she was skiing fast enough to get it done. However, in ski racing it’s always such a fine line between crashing and winning, especially when the racers are really hanging it all out there on the side of an icy mountain like she was doing.” Swanson made it to the finish in 17th spot, earning her ticket to the Rocky/Central Championships. Congratulations Anna!