Ski and Snowboard Club Vail mogul skier wins second U.S. Freestyle Junior National title

For Ava Keenan, age is just a number.

“I never think about it coming into competitions,” the 13-year-old Ski and Snowboard Club Vail mogul skier said. “I’m never making that as an excuse for myself.”

There was no need for any excuses at last weekend’s U.S. Freestyle Junior National championships. Keenan, who was a U13 athlete when she finished runner-up to Eden Kruger in the U15 category last year, stepped to the top of the podium in Utah on Saturday.

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“It felt really good, especially because I knew there was going to be some really good skiers there and in training I saw how much better they got,” she said. “I kind of started to doubt myself, but once I started skiing, I just realized, ‘I’ve got this.'” 

Keenan blitzed the Axios course at Utah Olympic Park in 20.79 seconds in the final. She coupled her speed with a back grab top air to a back ‘x’ bottom air — her aerial package had the highest degree of difficulty in the field — to tally a score of 70.87.

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“Ava led the way with smart tactics building on her lead from the qualification to bring out her best run in the final,” said John Dowling, SSCV moguls program director.

Keenan finished 1.73 ahead of the runner-up: Kruger. The idea of facing off against the Killington Mountain School star has inspired Keenan to be disciplined all year.

“It’s definitely a healthy rivalry,” Keenan said. “I feel like it helps both of us for motivation. Some mornings I don’t want to go to training and I’ll just think, ‘oh well, maybe Eden’s going to training today — I should probably go, too.”

Thirteen SSCV athletes made the trip to Utah as the club earned three podiums across moguls and dual moguls.

“We brought a big squad to juniors and saw some excellent performances from the team,” Dowling said.

Jackson Cupp earned a bronze in the U17 division and teammates Matthew Grattan (seventh), Owen Wannamaker (8th) and Ryan Hughes (ninth) all finished in the top 10.

“The U17 men’s field was deep and we had strong skiing,” Dowling said.

Ryan Stockton flew to a third in the U19 moguls before getting bounced by eventual champion Jackson True in the dual moguls semifinals.

“Stockton had great tactics out of the top air and put down smooth turns,” Dowling said, adding that the course’s southern exposure “made for firm conditions in the mornings.”

Katie Dreitlein led the U17 girls field after qualification and Dowling said she looked to be “on her way to the win” but came up short on her back ‘x’ bottom air to slide into 16th. Eliana Carr was the team’s top U17 girls finisher in 14th. Beckett Dickson’s fourth-place finishes in both the U15 moguls and dual moguls offered another highlight.

“As a team, I thought we definitely did great,” Keenan said.

Keenan’s main goal this year was to win the junior national title and qualify for the 2024 U.S. Selections next December, which she’ll finally be eligible to compete at next winter. Mission accomplished.

“Next year I really want to come out firing,” Keenan said after rattling off an extensive list of summer on-snow camps from Whistler, Canada to Bend, Oregon to Chile. Keenan is targeting a top-5 finish at U.S. Selections next winter — an event which awards World Cup starts to the three podium placers.

“Which would be amazing,” Keenan said of making it to the biggest stage. “But I wouldn’t be old enough to do it.”

When it comes to FIS rules, it turns out age is sometimes more than just a number.

Keenan, however, has several role models who have made the World Cup leap before getting their drivers licenses. Tess Johnson, who hopped on Keenan’s ‘The Happy Podcast’ in 2022, was the youngest athlete ever nominated to the U.S. Freestyle team. The SSCV alumna was 14 when she made the squad in 2015. Kai Owens placed 11th in her first World Cup start in 2020 at the age of 15 and fellow SSCV star Liz Lemley has accrued five World Cup podiums, one World Cup win and two Youth Olympic Games gold medals before the age of 18.

“Me and Liz are really close,” Keenan said, casually adding that she texted Lemley two nights ago to find out when her friend is coming home. “Any time she comes back, she kind of has that older sister role model — like, someone I really look up to.”

Johnson, Owens and Lemley, along with Cali Carr, Porter Huff and Olivia Giaccio all have their names etched into the ‘Go for the Gold’ trophy. The annual Rocky Mountain Division award is given annually to one boy or girl in the region who demonstrates the most Olympic potential.

This year, it went to Keenan.

“I was honored, just seeing all those names on it,” she said.

“It’s also really cool because now it’s motivation…there’s all these names on there, but there isn’t a name for someone who’s actually won a gold medal. That would be really amazing if I could be the first person to do that.”