Angie DeLucia, a junior at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, is competing in the national snowboarding championships.

Submitted by Jackie Pisani, Kingswood Oxford School

Kingswood Oxford student, Angie DeLucia ‘18 of Simsbury is headed to Copper Colorado from March 31 to April 7 to compete in the U.S. Snowboard & Freeski Association’s National Championship, the largest snowboarding competition in the world hosting 2,000 skiers.

DeLucia has been snowboarding for the past nine years. Every weekend, DeLucia travels to Stratton, VT, to compete with the Stratton Competition Team and trains with five coaches who offer advice on everything from body position, rhythm changes on the courses, and different fall lines.

So far, all the hard work has earned DeLucia plenty of hardware and merchandise: 11 medals (seven gold, three silver, one bronze) and a snowboard from placing first in the Vermont Open for banked slalom. But the acclaim doesn’t end there. Additionally, she’s the Southern Vermont Champion for Giant Slalom and slalom, and n. 2 for boardercross in series for junior women ages 16-17. DeLucia is nationally ranked no. 2 for giant slalom, n. 3 for slalom, and no. 20 for boardercross in her age group.

Self possessed and determined, DeLucia is deeply committed to her sport. She enthuses, “I never get tired of it. I have a love for the sport. I can get away from everything. It’s great exercise. I love competition and meeting new people from other mountains.” The only downside for DeLucia is warding off cold hands which she counters by wearing heated gloves.

Not easily intimidated by the speed, DeLucia admits that the rollers, an area of snow where the slope gets flatter and steeper again, at the end of the border cross can be unnerving because they make it difficult to see what’s on the steeper part after you jump. Even competition is an adrenaline rush and provides DeLucia with an “excited nervousness.”

DeLucia produced an athlete instagram to squire sponsorships. LuLulemon has agreed to sponsor her and offers discounted merchandise. She’d love to count Oakley and Burton to be dream sponsors one day. Her ultimate goal is to be on the USA team.

Kingswood Oxford is an independent, co-ed college preparatory school in West Hartford just steps from Blue Back Square and West Hartford Center. It serves 502 students from 62 towns in Connecticut, western Massachusetts and South Korea.