Leanne Smith in the Olympics
CONWAY — Local ski racing fans will be cheering on Conway ski racing sensation Leanne Smith, 22, when she competes in her first Winter Olympics in Vancouver, which got under way Feb. 12.
Smith learned to ski and race at Cranmore Mountain while growing up as a young skier with the Eastern Slope Ski Club’s Junior Ski Program and then as a member of the Kennett High Ski Team and the Mount Washington Valley Ski Team at Cranmore. She also trained with the team at Attitash and Wildcat Mountain.
The affable speed demon wasn’t able to get home in time for an Olympic celebration held at Cranmore’s Eating House Feb. 5, as she arrived later that evening en route back from Europe, but her parents and sister were there, and they were honored by the community. Conway selectmen declared that Friday as “Leanne Smith Day.”
Selectman Crow Dickinson presented a framed copy of the proclamation to Leanne’s parents, Joe and Paula Smith, and sister (Kennett High alpine coach] Laurel Zengilowski at the standing-room-only bash at Cranmore. A Chinese auction and silent auction were also held, with the event raising $15,000 to help the family with its traveling expenses to go see Leanne at the games.
The event was presented by the Eastern Slope Ski Club, Cranmore, the Valley Originals and Alvin J. Coleman and Son Inc. Musical entertainment was provided by Hey Yeti and Cranmore’s Kathy Bennett, and several businesses donated items for the auctions.
Smith met with friends and family over the weekend before going to her alma mater, Conway Elementary School (Class of ‘99) for an assembly with the entire school population. She fielded questions like a seasoned pro, and told the youngsters that only 10 years ago, she too, was a Junior Program skier at Conway El. She then urged them all to “study and work hard.”
Smith is expected to compete in the super combined (features one run of slalom and a run of downhill, in the super-G and the downhill.
Smith, 22, is one of 10 New Hampshire athletes competing in Vancouver. She joins a legion of other locals who have competed in the Olympics, including Paula Kann (1948), Imogene Opton (’52), Brooks Dodge (’52 and ‘56), Gilford’s Penny Pitou (1960), Tyler and Terry Palmer (1972), David Currier (also ‘72), Abbi Fisher (’76 and ‘80) and cross-country ski racers Carl Swenson (’94, ‘02 and ‘06) and Marcus Nash (’94 and ‘98). Jack Lufkin, now of Bartlett and first director of the Jackson Ski Touring Foundation in 1972, competed out of Rumford, Maine, at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, and Sue (Long) Wemyss of Great Glen Trails competed in cross country at Sarajevo in ‘84.
For more on her results, go to www.skiracing.com — and be sure to watch all the Olympic action on NBC-TV 6.