“One of my favorite years at Northwood was my first year at Northwood, 2022-23, since we had almost a month and a half off from school in the middle of the year for FISU Games. Also, we didn’t have school on Fridays that year, which is really nice.
“Over my four years at Northwood, I’m super proud of the program that we’ve built here. I was the only ski jumper in my first year here. In my second year, we got one more, Mitchell Penning ’25, from Canada. And the next year, we expanded to Mitchell, Henry, Eli, Max, and me. This year, we added Islay, Duncan, and Cadel. So, from one to seven.
“Some highlights of my time at Northwood ski jumping are probably last year, winning Junior nationals for ski jumping, and getting second for Nordic Combined. That’s one of the main reasons I decided to defer my enrollment at Bates College and come back for a PG year.
“I was a Nordic Combiner, which combines cross country skiing and ski jumping for most of my career, and then after winning nationals for ski jumping last year, I decided to focus all my efforts on ski jumping and see how far I could take it. I came back to qualify for the Junior World ski championships this year, and I almost did. On another day, maybe I would have been on that team. But that’s part of the sport. Anyone can have a good day, and anyone can have a bad day. I worked hard, making up a lot of ground and getting myself to the level I needed to be at. On another day, it could have been me, and that’s what I am going to take away from this and be proud of. Now it’s back to work.
“As of now, I intend to move to Lillehammer, Norway, next year with Henry Loher ’26 as well as a few other US athletes to train and compete there. The US team is based there, and it also cuts down on travel, since most of our competitions are in Europe.
“I’m going to miss the people. Although most of my friends graduated last year, Northwood still feels like home. I’ll often catch myself saying I’m going home when I’m talking about Northwood. It goes to show that if you spend enough time with people, they become like family.
“Shout out Ben LeBlanc, great teacher. In junior year, I was probably two units behind for most of the year after extensive back-to-back travel, and he helped me catch up. Also, he drives us every day to ski jumping practice.
“Also, Marge. Marge used to be a Nordic coach, so we talk a lot and spend a lot of time together. She is super nice, and I’m going to miss talking to her every day.”
As told to Sasha Luhur ’27. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.
