WINTER PARK, Colo. (April 10, 2025) – Cecile Brown and Victoria Whiteley, two members of the Adaptive Sports Foundation’s (ASF) Race Team, competed at the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) Spring Championships in Winter Park, Colorado, from April 7–10.
“On top of this being a competitive race for points, this experience has been really amazing,” Whiteley said. “We’re skiing with other high-level athletes, which pushes you to be more competitive and to be at the level that they are.”
“It’s also nice to build this community of skiers and be a part of this adaptive family,” Brown added. “Everyone supports everyone, and we all race each other up instead of bringing each other down. It’s a lot of fun.”
Throughout the week, both athletes raced in five alpine skiing events: a slalom race, two giant slaloms and two super-Gs – the latter being the first super-G competitions of their young careers.
Competition began Monday, April 7, with the first giant slalom. Brown recorded a combined time of 2:37.05, placing fourth while Whiteley finished fifth with a total time of 2:43.11.
In their second giant slalom the following day, Brown earned another fourth-place finish with runs of 1:25.61 and 1:23.25, totaling 2:48.86. Whiteley followed closely behind with times of 1:27.96 and 1:26.04, finishing fifth overall at 2:54.00.
Wednesday marked a milestone for both athletes as they raced their first-ever super-G events.
“I was stressed before the race because I thought super-G would be very similar to giant slalom, but it isn’t,” Brown said. “It was very helpful talking to a lot of the other athletes here to get their thoughts and opinions on super-G, and after the first race, my confidence was up and so was my speed in the second race.”
“We only had a couple of runs on our super-G skis, so at first I was super nervous,” Whiteley explained. “Once I got the first race over with, I learned how to be comfortable with it.”
Despite limited practice on the nearly 20-centimeter-longer super-G skis, Brown reached the podium with a time of 1:08.24 in her first race, earning the bronze medal. Whiteley rounded out the top five at 1:16.21. Both athletes improved in their second race of the day: Brown clocked in at 1:06.95 to take fourth, while Whiteley finished sixth at 1:15.19.
The week concluded Thursday with the slalom. Brown broke the one-minute mark in her first run, finishing in 59.87 seconds and placing fifth overall with a combined time of 2:01.49. Whiteley earned seventh place with a total time of 2:17.02.
The NSCD Spring Championships marked the final national competition of the season for both athletes. ASF Volunteer Paralympic Coach Rich Bolog, who has coached Brown and Whiteley for the past two seasons, reflected on their progress.
“Cecile and Victoria came into the season determined and committed,” Bolog said. “They both worked really hard all season, they traveled to a lot of competitions and there was a huge improvement over the year. This was their first season of being Para Alpine Classified racers, and I’m proud of both of them. It has been great to be on this journey with them and their families, and we’re looking forward to what’s next.”
“I’m proud of my accomplishments and I’m proud of my growth this season,” Brown said. “Off the snow I spent more time conditioning and prepping for the season, which led to better results.”
“I’ve seen my improvement after every race and every run. I’m inching closer and closer to where I want to be,” Whiteley said. “This may sound unrealistic, but it’s my goal to qualify for the Paralympics. My long-term goal for the past two years has been to qualify for the 2030 Paralympic Games, so qualifying for those bigger and more-known races is the next step for us.”
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Source: Adaptive Sports Foundation