Sports

Appleton Impresses at First Ski Patrol Skills Competition

The 15-year-old high school freshman surpassed all expectations, placing eighth in the entire Eastern Division at the 2013 Young Adult Patrol seminar in Vermont earlier this month.

Maddie Appleton looked around Smugglers Notch earlier this month, wowed by those skiing around her. As one of just six Connecticut residents attending the annual Young Adult Patrol seminar at the Vermont mountain, she knew the competition would be fierce.

By the time Appleton, a 15-year-old freshman at South Windsor High School, took to the slopes for the Outdoor Emergency Care skills competition however, the jitters were gone and Appleton surprised judges and even fellow ski patrol members as she placed eighth overall in the northeast, outperforming many of the 46 competitors despite being one of the youngest participants at the annual competition.

“It was kind of intense,” said Appleton, a member of the ski patrol at Mt. Southington and the only representative of the mountain at the 2013 competition. “You look at those there and there were so many great skiers. Coming from a small mountain, I didn’t know what to expect.”

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Despite being in her first year on ski patrol, Appleton barely qualified for the competition. The Young Adult Patrol seminar offers competitors 15-years-old through graduation an opportunity to test their skills against others throughout the northeast, according to the National Ski Patrol website.

Justin Regan, Connecticut Region Young Adult Advisor, said many people overlooked Appleton because she was one of the youngest competitors, but said instead she displayed a skill set usually only seen in some of the more senior competitors.

“This is Maddie’s first year on the patrol however her performance at the seminar left many examiners stunned that she was a candidate merely a few weeks ago,” Regan said. “Her hard work and dedication to the program really shined during the seminar.”

“I was on the evaluation side of this event and she really demonstrated her confidence here. She had a very smooth and consistent run, smiling the whole way down of course. Combining all of the areas of patrolling, Maddie placed 12th overall,” he said.

As the only representative of Mt. Southington this year, Appleton said she didn’t expect to place so high but is looking forward to the chance to try and improve on her scores in the future. Appleton is eligible to take part in the seminar three more times and said she can’t wait to take part again.

“I learned so much, I mean, it’s hard to point to any one thing,” Appleton said. “It’s just a great experience all around.”

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