Hartman Race

Hi All,

This past Saturday the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted the annual Ralph Hartman Tribute Race. It was a great event and fun was had by all! I saw the best conditions that I have ever seen for a Hartman Race and it really allowed everybody to showcase the improvements they made over the course of the season! I finished with a silver medal and am already looking forward to next season!

I am now back in Happy Valley after my Spring Break, so I've been very busy with work as I had to give a speech on Tuesday and a big test on Thursday. Now that the week is over, I can breathe a bit easier and look forward to the weekend.

Unfortunately, the Penn State Men's Basketball Team got robbed of an NCAA berth and wound up with a #2 seed in the NIT as our consolation prize. Some students are extremely disappointed, but I have chosen to move on and enjoy the fact that we have a postseason. Also, a huge plus to being in the NIT instead of the NCAA is the opportunity for home games.

Since we were the #2 seed, we played George Mason at home on Tuesday. George Mason was a #7 seed that gave us a run for our money! We almost lost and, as a matter of fact, trailed for the majority of the second half. With 4.8 seconds left and George Mason up by one, we fouled one of their players who made both of his free throws. Down by three, our star player, Taylor Battle, got the ball and ran down the court and released the ball with under a second left from beyond the arc. The ball went in and the game was sent into overtime! We wound up winning that game and moving on to the second round! It was a great game to be at!

The second game was held last night (Thursday) and was against Rhode Island, a #6 seed that we lost to earlier in the season. Many people blame our loss to Rhode Island as one of the many reasons that we did not get an NCAA berth. The game was marketed as "REVENGE" and it was revenge that we got! We never trailed in the game and won by 11 with a final score of 83-72. We thought it would be a bit closer as one of our captains did not play as he injured his shoulder. Our underclassmen stepped up and the game was a pleasure to watch! I had great seats for the game as I was in the first row of the student section at center court. I was literally right between the two TV announcers and was on TV for the pregame and halftime talks. It was so cool!

We play the winner of Florida and Miami (a game that is on ESPN U at 7:00 PM tonight). Ideally, we want Miami to win because Florida is the #1 seed which would mean we would have to travel. If Miami wins, we get one more home game this season. If we win our next game (whether it be home or away) we are in the final four and play at the Madison Square Garden!

As you can see, ski season may be over, but I am still extremely busy between schoolwork and sporting events! I am already looking forward to ski season next year, but am kind of excited for the warmer weather and baseball season.

I hope everyone had as great of a season as I did!

- Tracker
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"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." - Proverb

Back to Back Races

Hi All,

I have my Spring Break this week - smack dab between two of the ASF Race Team's races. Unfortunately for me, it actually feels like Spring out there and not Winter. The snow is really starting to melt away which makes it very difficult for those of us with outriggers to ski in because it is so thick. Oh well - snow is snow (even if it is melting)!

This past Saturday we had our Michael Gray Memorial Race which is in memory of a Windham Mountain Instructor who passed away a few years ago. While the conditions were variable, the race team made the best of it and we enjoyed our second to last race of the season.

I won the silver medal and ASF Race Team newcomer, Jake Cassidy, won the gold medal in the Physically Disabled category. My father made his racing debut and came up with a lightening fast time of just over 40 seconds. It was certainly a great time had by all!

Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to ski on Sunday because I caught a nasty bug that forced me under the covers for 21 hours straight!

This coming Saturday is the big Ralph Hartman Tribute Race and Pasta Dinner. Over 80 disabled racers usually compete in the race which is for everyone from beginners to experts! I can't wait for this race because it truly represents what the Adaptive Sports Foundation is all about and embraces the DSUSA motto, "If I can do this, I can do anything!"

I will update my blog again after my last tracks of the season, so have a great week!

- Tracker

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"You carry on no matter what are the obstacles. You simply refuse to give up - and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win." - Vince Lombardi

Let It Snow!

Hi All,

Just a quick update to tell you about my weekend skiing on the snow (or ice, depending on how you look at it). The rain from last week took a lot of the snow that Windham had and turned it into ice, but anytime you can go skiing is a great time!

I realized how spoiled we were throughout this season when I went to put my skis on outside of the ASF deck on Saturday and stepped onto a complete sheet of ice. That was not going to stop anybody from taking in some of the final tracks of the season, though, and everyone cautiously ventured off the deck onto the ice to pop into their bindings.

We spent the entire weekend getting used to the icy conditions that we were skiing on, but by the Sunday afternoon the race team was back to normal and having a great time! Over the course of the weekend, we practiced turning on glare ice on Wonderama and ventured onto some of the steeper terrain like Whistler (some of the race team members even did Upper Wolverine)!

On Sunday morning, the head coach of the race team, Mary Bozzone, and I were filmed for a special suprise! Keep your eye out over the next few months to see if anything new pops up onto the website! Speaking about suprises, the entire race team is beginning to prepare a few suprises for spectators the weekend of the Hartman Race! It will be very cool!

We have our second to last race on Saturday afternoon, the Michael Gray Memorial Race, and all proceeds go directly to the Adaptive Sports Foundation. The race is open to the public, so if you want to race in it you can download the registration form on ASF's Website!

Apparently, Mother Nature rewarded Windham once again as over 6" of powder were dumped on the mountain on Sunday night! I have my Spring Break next week and can't wait to hit the slopes once again!

Until then, let it snow!

- Tracker
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"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hi All,

I hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day and weekend! This weekend, I went home from Happy Valley to enjoy a weekend of beautiful skiing. Although the snow wasn't what it was, the skiing was still phenomenal. I made such an improvement in my skiing this weekend by finding edges on my skis that I did not know even existed! I am now skiing faster and better than I have ever skied before. I learned that I need to push my hips out further and more downhill to create a more effective edge. It felt great!

This weekend is a very big one at Penn State. This is THON weekend. For those of you who do not know what THON is, it is a student run fundraiser for pediatric cancer. Students go out around the Northeast four weekends to go "canning" at supermarkets or street corners. Also, students have a mass letter writing campaign to ask for donations from their friends and family. This weekend, we will be fulfilling a promise to all who donated money to THON by having over 700 students, or dancers, fill our basketball arena, the Bryce Jordan Center, by standing and dancing for 46 hours straight without any sleep breaks. While I am not a dancer, I am on the Finance Committee for THON which basically means that I am one of the people who counts all the money that is donated to us through cash, checks, or IOU's. I can't wait to see how much money we raise this year! Last year we raised $6,615,318.04!

I will definitely keep you posted on how that goes! I can't wait and my head is spinning with all the on-campus activities to help students prepare for the weekend!

Have a great week and let it snow!

- Tracker
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"When cancer is cured, we will dance for joy. Until then, we will dance for life." - Anonymous Dancer from THON

Congrats to our Special Olympians

Hi Again,

I just want to congratulate our Special Olympian Gold Medal winners! ASF sent Troy Desmond, Patrick Carroll, and Douglas Rogers to the New York State games at West Mountain where they swept the podium. Each of our racers raced on the Slalom and Giant Slalom courses in the intermediate and advanced divisions and took home two gold medals a piece! Congrats to Troy, Patrick, and Douglas!

I am heading back to Windham this weekend to go skiing (hopefully there is still snow)!

I will update again after the weekend!

LET IT SNOW! (We actually need it now!)

- Tracker
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"This is a fantastic opportunity for them.... They are really blossoming here because they are experiencing what freedom of the mind really is. They are experiencing the clothing, the weather, and learning about their health. It is a great opportunity for them to experience this feeling."
—Nasrullah Ibrahimzay, leader of the Special Olympics athletes competing from Afghanistan

Diana Golden Level 1 Race

Hi All,

What a weekend! This weekend, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosted a Level 1 Race through Disabled Sports USA inspired by Diana Golden (the three time Olympic Gold Medalist who only had one leg). It was an amazing event as skiers and snowboarders with both, physical and cognitive, disabilities came together to race. Part of an entire race circuit, the Adaptive Sports Foundation hosts this race each year.

Every year, they bring in a guest clinician who gives a clinic on the Saturday preceding Sunday's race. The past two years Mau Thompson of Adaptive Adventures has given the clinic. While we did not have a race course to work with for the clinic, Mau made the best of it by having us perform different drills as we skied down beginner terrain with the hope of bettering our skiing.

I was able to work on my outrigger usage on Saturday, primarily keeping my elbow "fused" to the side of my body and extending the outrigger with the sole use of my forearm. This enabled me to become a more efficient skier by using better outrigger placement and allowing me to edge more effectively. I see improvement in my skiing already!

On Sunday, we raced on a course that NASTAR set up on skier's right of Wonderama. It was a very well designed course for the adaptive category as it was a giant slalom course that started out with wide gates that gradually got narrower towards the end of the course. This allowed the skier to keep their momentum and have a fast finish!

I had the best two runs in a true racing scenario that I have ever had, but I still have a lot of room for improvement. I need to start turning earlier so I can carry more momentum down the race course. Nevertheless, both of my factored times were just over 40 seconds.

I won the silver medal, something I am very proud of because this was my third Diana Golden race. The first time I raced I won the bronze and the second time I did not medal. In winning the silver medal, I am able to pat myself on the back because I realize that I am always improving!

Everybody did a great job this weekend and I cannot wait for next year's race!

On another note, Penn State's basketball team knocked off #9 Michigan State which significantly beefed up our resume for March Madness and the NCAA tournament! I hope/ cannot wait to see how crazy Happy Valley becomes!

- Tracker
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"Faster and faster until your love of speed overcomes your fear of death". - Anonymous

Congratulations

Hi All,

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate all of the ASF racers and sliders that competed in the Special Olympics race this past weekend. All together, ASF collected 22 medals at West Mountain! Good job to all who participated!

I had a busy week this past week. I played in my second Wheelchair Basketball Halftime Show where our team played the "Celebrity Coaches" of Penn State Athletics. We beat them handily and I had two steals. I think everyone had fun!

We also played our first Wheelchair Basketball game this weekend against a real Wheelchair Basketball team. We lost both games in the double header, but learned a lot in the process. The team we played was called the "Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers" gave us a lot of pointers at the end of the game, so we have a lot of practice to do. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the game immensely!

I am coming home this weekend to race in the Diana Golden Level 1 Race at Windham Mountain on February 1st. I am looking forward to this a great deal and cannot wait to hit the snow again!

Talking about snow, it is supposed to snow a lot here in Happy Valley over the course of the next day or two! They are talking about over 6" of snow! I hope that it is snow and not ice because I have a lot of trouble walking in the ice, so LET IT SNOW!

Finally, Christine Southard was generous enough to e-mail me a copy of a speech that I gave to the volunteers at the Adaptive Sports Foundation at their annual organizational meeting this season. You can listen to it below:




Have a great week and LET IT SNOW!

- Tracker
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"Never, never, never, never give up" - Winston Churchill

Rose Bowl and Skiing

Hi All,

As I sit in the Adaptive Sports Center, I am absolutely exhausted from skiing three days in a row. After a very crowded Saturday, the mountain emptied out a bit on Sunday and even more on Monday. The skiing this weekend wasn't that bad, either and I think I am constantly improving and skiing the best that I have ever skied.

The mountain was freezing on Saturday, but the race team braved the elements (with a few new members - snowboarders Zach and Taylor) to take advantage of the great conditions! The mountain was too crowded to do any race drills, so we free skied and got a lot of mileage. It was a great day!

On Sunday, the mountain was much less crowded so we worked on edging. We found parts of the mountain a bit icy, but a diamond in the rough on Lower Wiseacres - it was pure powder! I also tackled my first double black diamond trail of the season on Upper Wolverine, but fell twice. I need more practice on steeper terrain!

On Monday, I skied with my father in the morning and took a lesson with Eric in the afternoon. I was so worn out by the end of the afternoon! We did five runs off of A-Lift in under an hour and a half! The snow was very icy and slick, but any day you get out on the mountain is a good day!

Now, let me backtrack for a few seconds to talk about the Rose Bowl. Despite a disappointing Penn State loss, it was an amazing experience all around! I enjoyed feeling like a part of something big - the Penn State family. When I got onto the airplane in JFK, there were Penn State fans! When I arrived in LAX, there were even more Penn State fans! Our hotel should have been called the Penn Stater because it was filled with Penn State fans!

I loved the Rose Parade because the floats were so beautiful and smelled so nice, but my favorite part was the game. I was sitting in the Penn State section, so it was an amazing feeling to be cheering for the same team when everybody else in the stadium was cheering for USC! It was a great experience!

That is about it, so lets all pray for snow (because the mountain can definately use it)!

- Tracker
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"We are...Penn State!"

What a Weekend!

Hi All,

The snow was absolutely amazing this weekend! I believe it redefined the term "Powder Day" on the East Coast! Windham got over a foot and a half of snow - something everyone is definitely happy about going into the Winter Break!

On Saturday, there were only seven racers and we had a "fun day" while we worked on our short radius turns. This was definitely beneficial as the powder is thick and harder to turn on. We all mastered the short radius turn by the end of the day, though!

On Sunday, we had our first race of the season - The Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge! Everyone did well in it and the ASF Race Team won five medals! After the race everyone decided to call it an early day and head home since it was snowing hard and everyone had a long drive ahead of them!

Overall, it was an amazing weekend and I cannot wait for the next one!

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy Kwanzaa!

LET IT SNOW!

- Tracker
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"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home. " ~Edith Sitwell

Finals Week

Hi All,

I have just six more days left here in Happy Valley before I head back home to NY! I'm very lucky in that I only have three finals (one this Friday, another on Monday, and the last on Tuesday), so I can go home before a lot of my friends that have finals on Friday night! I finished all of my actual classwork, so I've been studying since Sunday night.

I can't wait to go skiing in 10 days! We have a race in 11 days - the Mountain Dew Vertical Challenge. That should be exciting!

Well, I am going to go finish studying for my final exams, but I will continue to pray for snow so I will have a lot waiting for me when I get back home!

Let it snow!

-Tracker

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"They can because they think they can." - Virgil

About Me

Hi!

My name is Michael McHugh. I was diagnosed with a mild case of arthrogryposis at birth. This affected my legs to the point where I am unable to gain any muscle tone below the knee and my ankles are both fused at a 90 degree angle. This has hindered my ability to ambulate without the use of forearm crutches.

When I was 9 years old I learned about the Adaptive Sports Foundation's Winter Sports Program. At the time I played on a Challenger Little League Team in the summer and absolutely loved sports! I always enjoy trying new things, so I figured I would give skiing a try.





I had three instructors for my first lesson. My first skiing apparatus was a walker with skis on the bottom of it as well as skis attached to the bottom of my feet. One of my instructors helped me make my turns and slow down by using ropes called tethers that were attached to my walker. I loved the feeling of going fast, I had never moved with such speed under my own power. When I popped my bindings off that day I set a goal - to become a fully independent skier.










I continued to take lessons with the Adaptive Sports Foundation about once or twice a month for three more years until I graduated to a device called the snow slider (very similar to a walker, but it allowed me to ski in a bit more of an aggressive position). While I was still tethered and still had three instructors, I was able to feel what was going on beneath my feet when my instructor initiated my turns - something I was unable to feel when I used the walker.







After two more years of bi-weekly lessons, one of my instructors told me that it was time I make a big step - it was time to start using something called outriggers. Outriggers are basically forearm crutches with skis on the bottom of them. I was told that this was one of the last steps in achieving my goal of becoming an independent skier. At first, I absolutely hated the outriggers because my instructors made me stay on the bunny hill for a full-day lesson. While I was still tethered, the outriggers were not as stable as the snow slider or the ski walker. Eventually, I made it off of the bunny hill and began to enjoy the outriggers. I finally started to make progress - I was down to two instructors instead of three and once in a while I was able to initiate my own turn when I was going slow. I was extremely disappointed when the winter was over!

That summer I went handcycling with ASF and my father asked the race team coach, Kim, about the possibility of me joining the race team. She said yes because she did not realize that I was not yet an independent skier, but later told me that my goal for the entire year was to get off of tethers and become an independent skier.

My parents drove me up to Windham for a lesson every Saturday and Sunday that winter because they knew how much I wanted to achieve the aforementioned goal. After a lot of work and training, I was finally able to graduate from the tethers in mid-February. I was so excited! While I was only able to do easy terrain for the rest of that season, I was well on my way to becoming an independent skier. I even raced in the Ralph Hartman Tribute Race untethered!

I loved being on the race team! As I mentioned earlier, my only other experience on a team was a Challenger Little League team where I was the only one without a severe cognitive disability, so it was extremely difficult to foster any sense of team unity. The race team, however, has great team unity and your team members are are always there to help you out if you need a hand. We even have nicknames for each other - mine is "Tracker" because I make four tracks in the snow.




That next winter, I only had one instructor assigned to me (instead of the two or three I had in previous years) and continued to work extremely hard every Saturday and Sunday. I was able to do tougher and tougher terrain until I was finally able to do the NASTAR race course (on an intermediate trail) without falling! This past winter, I continued to improve to a double black diamond without falling.








I still have a great deal of work to do though to achieve my new found goal - to become a volunteer ski instructor with ASF. In order to do this I need to be able to get up unassisted after I fall and I also need to be able to ski difficult terrain without stopping.

Skiing has opened more doors for me than I ever could imagine. In June 2007 I had the opportunity, along with 48 other teenage disabled athletes and 25 coaches from across the country, to attend the US National Paralympic Academy at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. I did a great deal of networking at the event and still keep in contact with some of the athletes I met - one of which competed in Beijing this past September. I also had the chance to play Wheelchair Basketball for the first time as well as Wheelchair Volleyball. I scored the game winning point in Wheelchair Volleyball and participated in a post-game celebration for the first time from the perspective of an athlete!

I enjoyed Wheelchair Basketball so much that I decided to look for a team near my house. While I was unable to find one within three hours driving distance, I found out about Penn State and their Ability Athletics Program for disabled athletes. Penn State not only has a wheelchair basketball team, but they also train their disabled athletes to participate in different track and field events and power lifting.

I am currently a freshman at Penn State University on its main campus and an athlete with Ability Athletics. I not only play wheelchair basketball, but am practicing in track and field events. I am currently learning to throw the javelin, shot put, and discus - while they are still a work in progress, I am having a great time! Also, I will train for handcycle races once Spring comes around. I am lifting weights and trying to strengthen the muscles that are essential to throw, handcycle, and ski.


I never would have been able to attend a school like Penn State if I had never skied. Penn State has such a big campus and I often find myself trying to cross campus in 15 minutes - a daunting task. Two years ago, I made the transition from ambulating with a walker to forearm crutches. This allowed me to walk with less effort and at a quicker pace - something that is essential in order to cross the campus. I never would have been able to do this if I did not build up the strength that I built up so I could ski with my outriggers. Skiing also allowed me to set goals for myself and achieve them - something that a college student must get used to!

Well, ski season is almost here! I saw the first snowflakes here at Penn State about a week and a half ago. Hopefully, this is a sign of a great season to come!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

- Tracker

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"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." - Booker T. Washington