Champion skier
Wesley College Glen Waverley student, Katie 'KT' Parker, has continued her domination of the ski circuit throughout the year. At the Australian Interschools held at Falls Creek in September 2013, Katie was named the Victorian and Australian Under 16 Alpine Champion, Victorian Interschools Division 3 Skiercross Champion, as well as the Victorian and Australian Interschools Division 3 Alpine Champion. "It's good, having people that are closer to me makes me try harder and I get more nervous, so they're pushing me to go faster and do better as well," KT said.
In December, she will travel to Austria to train with the Australian team for two months.
Earlier this year in March, Katie conquered the North American Alpine ski circuit at the Under 16 Junior Championships held in Vail, Colorado. Katie spent three months race training at Winter Park Mountain, where she competed in the Under 16 North American Junior Championships, after qualifying in all four disciplines (downhill, SuperG, giant slalom and slalom) at races held in Aspen and Vail, Colorado. In the final series the best 13-15 year old ski racers were determined, where Katie finished first overall in the 13 year old division, and seventh overall in the Under 16 category.
When she is training and competing, Katie takes time off from her classroom studies, but continues to study with Wesley via correspondence.
During Australia’s winter and Colorado’s snow season, Katie trains six hours a day, with four days of training, then one day of rest. Out of the snow seasons, she does dry land training 2-3 hours a day, six days a week.
When asked whether she gets nervous about the competitions, she says “I don't really get nervous. I enjoy competition and try to do everything I have learnt in training at my races”. Katie is a very determined young lady, and says that she “knows that I have to make sacrifices to achieve my goals”.
Katie has been selected in the Australian Under 16 Squad to represent Australia in the Northern Hemisphere 2013 World Races in Canada and Italy. From December 2012 to April 2013, Katie will train at Winter Park, Colorado, with her coach of eight years, Richard Haslau.
In April Katie represented Australia at The Whistler Cup in Canada, which is the biggest children's alpine race in the world for 13-16 year olds.
It was a fantastic event, bringing together the best alpine athletes from over 20 countries to compete for the World Children's title in three disciplines - giant slalom, slalom and SuperG.
Out of 74 competitors, Katie came 3rd in the giant slalom and 4th in the slalom.
We congratulate Katie on her fantastic results.
Update May 2014:
Wesley College is delighted to announce that KT has been accepted into the Sugar Bowl Academy in California. KT will continue her studies at this academy for elite sportsmen and women, while she focuses on international skiing, as one of the world’s top 10 skiers for her age group. We congratulate KT on this wonderful achievement and wish her the very best for her bright future, on and off the slopes.
Update November 2013:
Katie was recently crowned Under 16 Australian Alpine Champion at the end of the 2013 Australian season for the fourth year running, after taking out the competition in both the slalom and the giant slalom events.
