We next spotlight Kaelyn Woods of Gray-New Gloucester who won the Class B Freestyle and Classical state meet. We asked her about her impressive ski
success and her season goals.
1) What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?
My training on and off snow, leading up to the ski season and during the ski season prepared me for the successes I had at the state meets. I followed a training plan that my coaches had set up for me to help achieve the goals I had for the season. I trained with my high school team and with my club team (Maine Winter Sports Center), to get the best possibly training I could. I tried not to get sick, and stayed super hydrated a healthy throughout the season.
2) How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?
The pressure and emotions that come along with the state meet is just all part of the process. I have to trust myself, my coaches and their waxing, and the training that I have put forth and know that it has brought me to be the best athlete I can be at the right time. States is just another race, no different than any other conference race. I just have to think of it like that and the rest will come.
3) You've had a phenomenal high school skiing career with multiple state champion wins, what do you credit your success to?
The success in my high school career can be attributed to multiple things. I would have to say that the support from my friends, family, and coaches plays a large role. The support that I have received from my coaches throughout the years to push me to be the skier they know I can be is something that I am incredibly grateful for and I would definitely not be where I am today without their incredible support. The training opportunities that I have gotten to experience on and off the snow, I think also plays into the success that I have had as a high school skier. A final thing that I can attribute my success to in high school skiing is being able to have fun. Skiing is something I do because I love it and being able to go to practice with peers who push me to become a better ski racer, but also enjoying occasional photo shoots on sunny days, long skis, and blasting Taylor Swift when waxing are things that keep me going and determined to succeed in skiing. I think that is one of the most important things, not loosing interest in something that I love to do just because sometimes I might get sick, or have a hard interval workout, or maybe I didn't reach the goal I wanted in my last race. Those are only a few things that I can credit my success too.
4) Coming into the season, what were your goals and did you achieve them?
Coming into the season I had multiple goals that included result goals and performance/technique goals. I had set goals for myself outside high school skiing that included making the New England Junior National Team for a second year, and being able to travel to Truckee, California and compete against the best junior skiers in the country. I did achieve this goal and got to attend Junior Nationals for a second year in a row. As for high school skiing, I was coming into the season with a state championship under my belt. I wanted to defend this but also knew that it wouldn't be easy. After two days of really fast racing from everyone I had achieved this goal! It was great to be able to stand atop the podium with people who I have been competing with all year. If anything I wanted to have fun this year, that is always the ultimate goal, luckily that wasn't hard!