Local Snowboarders, Sister and Brother, Earn Top Recognition at Events
Local Snowboarder extraordinaire, Mackenzie Frackoviak of Summit, recently competed in two major snowboarding events in Vermont where she kept her successful momentum alive in this exciting mountain sport.
“Homesick,” a snowboarding community event where old pros and amateurs come together to compete where snowboarding was born in Stratton, VT. The second was USASA Nationals, which is an invite-only competition series where participants come from all over the country. This is the end of season event with the very best attending.
During the Homesick competition, consisting of three events, Mackenzie came in third in the downhill race, and sixth in the Rail Jam. At only 10 years old, Mackenzie pulled off this very difficult feat among a field that included participants much older.
Next up was the USASA Nationals at Copper Mountain in Colorado. Mackenzie was one of 30, 9-10 year old girls to be invited to the USASA National Competition where, despite fighting altitude sickness at 10,000 feet and the immense pressure of this star-studded event that has included Olympian champions and such industry notables like Shaun White and Chloe Kim, she persevered in the six events, Mackenzie came in fourth for Halfpipe, first in Giant Slalom, first in Slalom, second in Boardercross, and first overall for the entire competition.
With her proud parents in attendance, her dad James said that “To summarize just how big of a deal what Mack did at Nationals….At nationals, being on the podium once is very difficult, much less four times.” And that Mack holds the title of ‘best 9-10yo Snowboarder in the country.”
“Needless to say we’re immensely proud of her hard work on and off of the snow.”
Mack’s brother, Wyatt Frackoviak (7), was one of 30 7-8 year-old boys to be invited to the USASA National Competition at Copper Resort in Colorado. There were only two other boys in his series and eight on the entire East Coast to receive invitations to compete at this National level.
At this level of competitive snowboarding there are six events. Wyatt earned invitations to compete in five of the six competitions held back-to-back over the course of eight days. Wyatt had little-to-no down time to recoup or train in between competing. The pressure during each competition is intense. With at least 100 spectators at a time and some events being broadcasted over YouTube. This is the same stage and program that every FreeStyle Snow Sport Pro and Olympian has gone through, such as Shaun White and Chloe Kim.
Despite having a few familiar faces behind the starting gates and in the crowd Wyatt rose above it all and made a name for himself among the competitive snowboarding community. Competing on the same courses as Jr Olympians such as Sumner Orr and Noah Avalon. Wyatt pulled ahead of the majority of his peers and showed off his passion for the sport.
Wyatt earned these top spots during his competitions.
- 10th Place at Half Pipe 22 ft Tall
o Broadcasted on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TOsaBIW4zxA?t=14784
- Time Stamp: 4:06:30
- 4th Place at Slalom
o Where Wyatt only missed the podium by 0.2 seconds
- 7th Place at Giant Slalom
- 5th Overall Best Snowboarder for his age bracket
Other fun highlights
- Wyatt met Shaun White (again). Wyatt was not star struck, despite having posters of Shaun all over his walls at home. Mommy and Daddy were VERY excited… again
- 2x Olympian and Stratton VT native Lindsey Jacobelis was at the top of the BoarderCross race coaching Wyatt and his teammates
- Olympian Nick Baumgartner was around handing out Fist Bumps and High Fives during the entire event
- Every famous Snowboarder that is present at these events knows and remembers Wyatt. He’s so little and can hang with the big KIDS. Wyatt is oblivious to who he is making an impact on in this community
Again, all a very proud mom and dad, and sister, could do was smile!