Home field advantage for Leavitt

CARRABASSETT VALLEY — This week, Sierra Leavitt of Casco, competes against the top 1-5 and 16-year-old female ski racers at Sugarloaf in the 2010 J2 National Championships.

Leavitt began skiing at 21 months. At age 11 she joined the Shawnee Peak Race Team and progressed in subsequent years to Future Stars and Junior Olympics. Last year she qualified for US Alpine Championships as a sophomore.

A third year high-honors student at Carrabassett Valley Academy, Leavitt has continued her development as a ski racer in Eastern Cup FIS races where she competes head-to-head with up to 140 of the best ski racers from colleges and academies from across the east and Canada.

“Sierra has shown steady improvement all year. She continues to make great progress in all the race disciplines,” according to her coach, Carrabassett Valley Academy Head Women’s FIS Alpine Coach, Martin Gray. “Her greatest strengths are that she’s very calm and extremely coachable. Physically she has improved a great deal. Fifteen girls qualify out of the East for Junior Nationals, Sierra qualified 4th and under the qualifying system, she is the only female to qualify from Maine.”

“She loves to ski. We knew that if at all possible we wanted to give her the opportunity to excel in her skiing but it was a big decision for us as a family,” Leavitt’s parents Jon and Robin commented. “CVA has made an impact on all of our lives. Her results show that she is in this for the long haul. She has goals and sets her sights on them while still being very practical.”

When not at CVA, Leavitt is living at home in Casco attending Lake Region High School where she continues to play varsity soccer and hiking and outdoor activities together with her family.