I was lucky enough to have grown up in Saranac Lake, NY which is located a short 15 minute drive away from the two time Olympic village of Lake Placid.  From a young age I was involved in many winter sports including alpine and nordic skiing.  When I was six years old I went to a "Learn to Fly" program at the MacKenzie Intervale ski jumps in Lake Placid, after taking my first jumps on the K18 hill I knew I was hooked.  I worked my way through the beginner's program at the ski jumps and knew that I had found the sport for me.  Ski jumping was exciting because even at such a young age it was easy to see the progression I was making and I worked hard year round to improve my skill.  I worked my way up to the bigger hills and when I was 11 years old I took my first jump of the 90m hill.  Throughout middle and high school I kept working on my jumping.  I competed in the Junior Olympics for 5 years and managed to make the top five as well as winning the team competition.  When I was 15 I won the Chicago Supertour Competition and it was then that I realized that I could compete with older more experienced jumpers and hold my own.

During my senior year of high school my jumping took a turn for the best; I took second and fourth place finishes in a FIS cup in Lauscha, Germany and scored Continental Cup points in Korea, Vikersund, Norway and Sapporo, Japan.  I also placed 12th at the Junior World Championships in Hinterzarten Germany.  In mid-January, while in Germany for World Juniors I found out I had been named to the 2010 Olympic team.  Making the Olympic team is obviously the goal of any athlete and I was ecstatic, although a bit surprised as I had been working toward the 2014 games.  Needless to say I packed up my things gratefully and headed to Vancouver.  At the games I managed to hold my own in the intense international competition and came out with a top finish of 32nd in the large hill competition.  When I returned to Saranac Lake for my high school graduation I knew that I wanted to keep pursuing my jumping career.  After I graduated with the class of 2010 I decided to defer my acceptance to the University of Denver so that I could continue jumping full time.

Since my graduation in June of 2010 I have continued to compete at the international level.  In the summer I won the US national competition and in October of 2010 I set the hill record on my home hill--Lake Placid's 90m.  I plan on traveling throughout Europe for the season and anticipate improving on my skill and getting some solid results at the FIS, Continental and World Cup levels.  I also anticipate a return to the Junior World Championships which will be held in Estonia in January.  I hope to continue improving upon my skill so that I can show up to compete with the best in Sochi 2014.