Hazel Martin--State Champion Spotlight

1) What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?

To prepare for the state meet, I worked hard and pushed myself throughout the season, striving to improve a little bit more every day. Towards the end of the season, as I neared the state meet, I focused on the smaller fundamentals that I knew would help my skiing significantly. It is crucial in ski racing to always practice the fundamentals. 
2) How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?

Because I've ski raced for a long time, I've learned how to control my emotions over the years. Personally, I try to remind myself that I ski race for fun when I'm feeling stressed about a big race. 
3) What was going through your mind at the start?

As with all of my other race starts, I was thinking about specific parts of the course that I knew I needed to remember and be prepared for when there were still a few people in front of me. When I am in the gate waiting to be sent down, I always jump around and try to hype myself up, and I tell myself, "Do what you know how to do." Saying this makes me feel reassured that I know how to ski well, and that I just need to get out of my head. 
4)  What do you contribute your success to?

What contributed to my success was a mixture of grit, hard work, perseverance, and mindset. But out of all of those things, mindset is the most important. Having the right or wrong mindset coming into a race can make it or break it. Based on many years of many different races, I perform the best when I have a positive mindset and am having fun. There were a few races this season where I let fear take over, and those were my worst-performing races. 
5)  What are your goals/plans for next year?

Next year, my goals are to win another state title and make the Maine State Team again. I think that as long as I work hard and put in the effort, I can accomplish this. 
6) What surprised you the most about this season?

After coming back from a severe leg injury, I was surprised by my performance throughout the whole season, specifically the beginning. I remember being extremely nervous for my first race, as it was my first race since the injury, but I ended up winning. When I came down the course and got told that I was in first place, I couldn't believe it, but I was very proud of myself. 
7) What moment/event will you remember the most from the season?

What I will remember most about this season is the feeling of revival; after a long recovery from my leg, it felt surreal to be back in the starting gate, and even more surreal to have won my first race back. Along with these feelings, some of my best friends now are people I met and got to know this season, and for that, I am extremely grateful. 
8) What do you like most about Alpine Skiing?

I love that alpine skiing really pushes people to be better versions of themselves. Not only is spline skiing a very difficult and complex physical sport, but the mental part of the sport is equally as important. Being a ski racer for most of my life is what I have to thank for a big part of my personality and who I am today. Ski racing has taught me many complex lessons that integrate into my everyday life, and I would say that my favorite part of ski racing is the amazing feeling it brings me when I have a good race, but also the lessons I learn after a bad race. 
9) Anything else that you would like to add?

I feel extremely grateful to have been able to share such a fun season with some of my best friends, and at the end of the day, skiing is just a fun sport that brings people together.