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QMS freestyler is ready to make the jump

A student from Queen Margaret's School has been making tracks on the freestyle skiing circuit this year.

Keaton Heisterman, 11, took up the sport four years ago, and is on the cusp of getting to the next level.

"One of my parents' friends' sons is an extremely good freestyle skier, and I found it interesting, all the tricks he did in the park, so I started and got really into it and started competing," he said.

Heisterman, who hails from Cedar, trains and competes with the Mt. Washington Freestyle Club. At Apex in January, he took first in both the slopestyle and big air competitions, and second in moguls. More recently, at Silverstar in March, he finished second in big air, which is similar to aerials.

Next year, at 12, Heisterman will be eligible to compete at the next level, which includes moving from big air to aerials. He will also be old enough to qualify for events like the BC Winter Games, although the next BC Winter Games are in 2016.

This year, he competed in the super youth division for 10-and 11-year-olds, and he can't wait to make the jump, so to speak.

"It's pretty difficult to get good practice right now in super youth because the park is pretty small," he said. "You have to set yourself apart from everybody else."

Once he makes it to the next level, Heisterman has some other long-term goals.

"I want to make it to nationals and compete there, make the B.C. team," he said. "Hopefully I'll go to the Olympics, probably in moguls."



Kevin Rothbauer

About the Author: Kevin Rothbauer

Kevin Rothbauer is the sports reporter for the Cowichan Valley Citizen
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