West Hartford resident Dylan Udolf, a senior at Kingswood Oxford, has made the U.S. Snowboard Racing Team.

West Hartford resident Dylan Udolf, KO’16, has been named to the U.S. Snowboard Racing Team. Submitted photo

Submitted by Kingswood Oxford School

Just two years after badly injuring his knee, Dylan Udolf ’16 of West Hartford has been selected as a member of the U.S. Snowboard Racing Team (USSRT).

Snowboarding since the age of six, Udolf has twice won the national Giant Slalom championship, as well as eight other national titles. He races on the NorAm and USASA circuit and hopes to one day represent the U.S. in the Winter Olympics.

Dylan Udolf. Submitted photo

He is one of just six athletes on the USSRT’s newly formed junior team.

In April 2013, however, he thought he’d never snowboard again. Three days after taking second- and third-place awards at the U.S. Snowboard National Championships in Colorado, Udolf tore his left ACL and meniscus.

“To this day, the sound of my ligament tearing is indelibly impressed in my mind,” he said. “Writhing on the ground in pain, all I could think about was how my future as a professional snowboarder was suddenly in jeopardy. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to race competitively again.”

Under the care of orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist David Altchek, M.D. at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, Udolf rebounded from surgery and intense physical therapy and had one of his “best seasons ever” last winter, culminating in his selection to the USSRT.