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Wednesday, 17 Oct 07
Skyping with Hitchy (and her dad)
By Vanessa Pierce
U.S. alpiner Katie Hitchcock is as laidback as can be, but this Cali girl will gladly smoke you at any sport including skiing.
Case in point: Golfing. Her “Happy Gilmore” shot, you know the one — running full bore at the tee and swinging as hard as you can — well, she can actually do it. It was debatable this summer whether that ball went 300 or 500 yards. Either way, she cracked it.
Point No. 2: She was the only girl on her baseball team until 8th grade, and not the only girl but an All-Star pitcher.
Over a Skype video call, Ski Racing got a peak into the Hitchcock family in Sacramento, Calif. While “Hitchy” was drinking her favorite Talking Rain grapefruit sparkling water — “Have you had this? It’s so good,” she said — her dad, Phil Hitchcock, all of a sudden yells, “She pitched so hard that all the fathers went home and taught they’re boys how to knit.”
Point No. 3: Maybe that explains why she is a top U.S. ski racer.
Hitchcock competed in 52 races in 11 countries last season, winning FIS-B races in France (GS), Switzerland (slalom) and at season's end in her home state (GS). She also competed in her first World Cup races — in slalom, giant slalom, super G and super combined.
The 22-year-old picked up skiing early when her family would take weekend trips to Tahoe “to keep her brothers out of jail,” Phil Hitchcock jokingly yelled at the computer — again. Then in high school, Hitchy headed to the Tahoe area fulltime to go to the Sugar Bowl Academy where she honed in her racing skills.
Sometimes Hitchy does more laughing than talking. Instant Messenger recipients get a lot of “ha ha’s” when they chat with her in Europe or wherever skiing may take her, or she’ll bark a booming “shooooot” if she’s frustrated or joking. Otherwise, she is pretty tight lipped about skiing. Right now she is concentrating on consistently doing well.
“I need to make top 45 in the world to make the ski team again next year,” she said. She currently is sitting in the top 100 in the world in slalom, GS and super G going into the 2007-08 season.
Of all the sports, ski racing is her favorite. She has stuck with it because it was an individual sport unlike baseball, soccer and all the other sports she naturally picked up (golf excluded) as a young kid.
Katie, right, and teammate Leanne Smith at a Chilean beach
“Soccer was just annoying, the politics and everything,” she said about that team sport. “I had fun with skiing because it’s so different and we’re all crazy and I think that’s entertaining. We really are — a little loopy.” — Vanessa Pierce
Profile: Katie Hitchcock
Comment on this PostSkyping with Hitchy (and her dad)
By Vanessa Pierce
U.S. alpiner Katie Hitchcock is as laidback as can be, but this Cali girl will gladly smoke you at any sport including skiing.
Case in point: Golfing. Her “Happy Gilmore” shot, you know the one — running full bore at the tee and swinging as hard as you can — well, she can actually do it. It was debatable this summer whether that ball went 300 or 500 yards. Either way, she cracked it.
Point No. 2: She was the only girl on her baseball team until 8th grade, and not the only girl but an All-Star pitcher.
Over a Skype video call, Ski Racing got a peak into the Hitchcock family in Sacramento, Calif. While “Hitchy” was drinking her favorite Talking Rain grapefruit sparkling water — “Have you had this? It’s so good,” she said — her dad, Phil Hitchcock, all of a sudden yells, “She pitched so hard that all the fathers went home and taught they’re boys how to knit.”
Point No. 3: Maybe that explains why she is a top U.S. ski racer.
Hitchcock competed in 52 races in 11 countries last season, winning FIS-B races in France (GS), Switzerland (slalom) and at season's end in her home state (GS). She also competed in her first World Cup races — in slalom, giant slalom, super G and super combined.
The 22-year-old picked up skiing early when her family would take weekend trips to Tahoe “to keep her brothers out of jail,” Phil Hitchcock jokingly yelled at the computer — again. Then in high school, Hitchy headed to the Tahoe area fulltime to go to the Sugar Bowl Academy where she honed in her racing skills.
Sometimes Hitchy does more laughing than talking. Instant Messenger recipients get a lot of “ha ha’s” when they chat with her in Europe or wherever skiing may take her, or she’ll bark a booming “shooooot” if she’s frustrated or joking. Otherwise, she is pretty tight lipped about skiing. Right now she is concentrating on consistently doing well.
“I need to make top 45 in the world to make the ski team again next year,” she said. She currently is sitting in the top 100 in the world in slalom, GS and super G going into the 2007-08 season.
Of all the sports, ski racing is her favorite. She has stuck with it because it was an individual sport unlike baseball, soccer and all the other sports she naturally picked up (golf excluded) as a young kid.
Katie, right, and teammate Leanne Smith at a Chilean beach
“Soccer was just annoying, the politics and everything,” she said about that team sport. “I had fun with skiing because it’s so different and we’re all crazy and I think that’s entertaining. We really are — a little loopy.” — Vanessa Pierce
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