Several Bend skiers, boarders stand out at regional competition
(Update: adding video, new info, comments from competitors & series regional director)
Many took home gold, silver & bronze medals
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Young local skiers and snowboarders, mostly from Bend, had a strong showing at the USA Snowboard and Freeski Association (USASA) Regional Championships at Mt. Hood Meadows last week.
"I'm pretty proud of myself,” 13-year-old Bend resident Aida Brown said Tuesday, modestly assessing her spectacular weekend.
There were four events at the USASA Regional Championships: Boardercross and Ski Cross, Slopestyle, Halfpipe and Rail Jam.
Aida took home three gold medals and one silver.
"Never really thought I'd go far with snowboarding, but now I want to,” Aida told NewsChannel 21.
Success is no stranger to Aida. She's ranked No. 3 in the nation in slopestyle for 13-14-year-old girls.
One of her friends, fellow Bend athlete, Tatym Smith, stole the show in her respective divisions last week.
Tatym, now 13, skied in the 11-12-year-old age group. Similar to Aida, Tatym also took home three golds and one silver.
"They're kinda heavy,” Tatym joked Tuesday while wearing all her hardware.
Tatym, the top-ranked halfpipe competitor in the nation for her age group, says that's pretty typical.
"Most of the time, I do come home with gold,” she admitted.
At the competition, 17 athletes from Bend placed in the top three of their event, taking home 36 total medals across 28 different divisions.
USASA’s Pac-NW Regional Series Director (and Aida’s father) Adam Brown said this is the first time ever the organization set up a regional championship. The national event, usually held in Colorado, was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Pacific Northwest was the only one of the five regions nationwide that was able to put on a competition.
“This year's been extremely tough for a lot of people,” Adam Brown said. “Kid suicide is up. There's a lot of factors that play into that, but it's mostly about the kids."
Aida and Tatym both hope competing in the Olympics is in their future. For now, they are just going to take it one event at a time.
