Summer-Fall 2008:

Getting into the Game - Expanding your athletic horizons

by Eugene Buchanan

Skateboarding: Mac Carmony Photo by Corey KopischkeAccording to The Click’s Philip Johnston, Mac Carmony, 19, is “the best skater in town, by far.” Watch him surf the Howelsen skate park and you’ll see why. Riding a Rick McCrank 7.8 board, he blends frontside noseblunts and ollie backside lips as effortlessly as others drive by in the parking lot. His consistent, smooth style earned him a fourth-place finish at last summer’s Volcom competition at the X-Games Park in Denver, which qualified him for a trip to the finals in Austin, Texas. This year he’s hoping to grind out even better results. Skating in Steamboat since age 12, Mac, who works as a landscaper when not shredding the streets, sees things only getting better, especially with plans for a nepark at Howelsen. “The neconcrete park should bring a huge scene here,” Mac says. “It’ll be great to have that in Steamboat.” Gettin’ In: “Some of the employees at The Click put me on a board and told me to try it. I did and was hooked from then on.” Gettin’ Others In: “Just get a board and get out there. Everyone’s super cool whenever someone neshows up. And don’t let the pain stop you – just keep trying.” Hardest Knock: “I’ve done both of my ACLs. I injured one a feyears ago and right after I recovered from that, I did my other one in the summer of 2006. NoI’m just trying to keep them both strong and sturdy.”

Volleyball: Katie CarterFor Steamboat Springs native Katie Carter, 24, it’s not about the bumps on White Out but the bumps, sets and spikes of her storied volleyball career. After leading the Sailors high school team to a second-place showing at the 2002 state championships, she earned a scholarship to UCLA and took her game pro in Puerto Rico last year. This spring she played in Spain’s professional league. After a quick swing through Steamboat this summer, she’s returning to the professional beach volleyball scene in California and next year hopes to play on the Korean pro circuit. “You need confidence, courage and patience to play pro,” she says. “I could write a novel on hoit differs from playing at UCLA or Steamboat. But I’m incredibly lucky to have had a great community like Steamboat shape me into the athlete and person I am now.” Gettin’ In: “A friend – coincidentally the niece of my coach at UCLA – got me started in seventh grade, dragging me with her to a UCLA volleyball camp. That’s where the dream began to playthere some day.” Gettin’ Others In: “I’d recommend some of the club volleyball programs in town. They make you work harder, which will only get you better. I’m a ‘professional,’but I’m not nearly as good as I’d like to be.” Hardest Knock: “I sprained my ankle last October while training with UCLA before heading to Korea for a tryout. It was a third-degree sprain with torn ligaments on both sides and I was in a cast for three weeks. The hardest part was to stop training, and then arrivingin Spain (to play in their professionalleague) with a bandaged ankle and practicing with people I’d never met. It took awhile to get back to my normal self.”