Jeremy Cota of Carrabassett Valley is racing toward Olypic qualifications. CARRABASSETT VALLEY -– Call him a horse of any color, but Carrabassett Valley Academy’s alumni, Jeremy Cota is racing toward Olympic qualifications, a goal he had listed much further down on his to-do list just a few weeks ago.

Cota’s mogul success began on Sugarloaf’s Skidder trail. Competing on Carrabassett Valley Academy’s mogul team he won Eastern Freestyle Championships and U.S. Junior Olympics during his high school competitive career. Two years after graduation, in 2009, he won the NorAm Grand Prix, a prize that also earned him a spot on the U.S. Ski Team.

Now living in Steamboat, Colo., Cota kicked off his rookie year on the U.S. Ski Team with two podiums at U.S. Selections in December. The next week Cota had the crowd on their toes for a possible dark horse victory at Olympic Trials when he sat in the lead until the final competitor, last year’s World Champion, took the victory. A first place finish at Olympic Trials would have granted Cota a golden ticket to Vancouver. Second place earned Cota domestic World Cup starts and additional opportunities to earn selection to the U.S. Olympic Mogul Team.

One week after Olympic Trials Cota attacked the World Cup mogul course at Deer Valley, Utah. In his debut on the global mogul stage the 21-year-old posted sixth place, the second best U.S. Ski Team finish. Two days later, at the second World Cup at Deer Valley, Cota confirmed that he was legit amongst his new international field of competitors when he earned seventh, the highest score for the United States team.

After wrapping up at Deer Valley, Cota boards a plane for World Cup round two at Lake Placid where World Cup experience may be an advantage for many competing in New York, but momentum is on Cota’s side when he competes on Jan. 21 and blazes down Whiteface’s Wilderness Trail in his final chance to land a berth on the Olympic team.