Salt Lake Community College is thrilled to cheer on its very own Olympic athletes during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Erin Jackson, Kristen Santos, Ethan Cepuran, Giorgia Birkeland, Corinne Stoddard and Ryan Pivirutto are all part of the United States Speedskating (USS) team competing in either long track or short track speedskating events during the Games, which run Feb. 4-20. The athletes over the past several years have been taking classes at SLCC while training at the nearby Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns and competing for a coveted spot in the Winter Games.
“It’s wonderful to see the speedskaters fit college coursework into their busy training schedules, excelling in the classroom while simultaneously excelling on the ice,” said Ryan Farley, associate vice president for Enrollment Management at SLCC. “We’re excited to cheer them on during the Beijing Olympics.”
In 2018, SLCC joined USS in support of speedskaters as the official higher education provider for students trying to realize their dream of competing in the Winter Games while also being able to attend college. Jackson and Santos were enrolled at SLCC when the program began in 2018. Many Olympic hopefuls are often forced to choose between training and continuing their education – SLCC and USS found a solution so that athletes didn’t have to make that difficult choice.
“The partnership with SLCC is a game-changer for our athletes and organization,” said Ted Morris, executive director of USS, back in 2018 when the joint effort was announced. The agreement calls for waiving all tuition for USS athletes for up to nine consecutive semesters, which SLCC has done leveraging federal Pell grants and SLCC Promise scholarship funds.
The partnership also established SLCC as the exercise science performance provider for USS, using the college’s Fitness Technician program to gather real-time data on athletes during workouts toward optimizing their training and performance on the ice oval.
Jackson's place on the 2022 Olympic team was made even more amazing last month when she slipped at the start of a qualifying race, dashing her hopes of competing in Beijing. But her longtime friend and fellow speedskater, Brittany Bowe, gave up her spot in the 500-meter event this month, ensuring that Jackson will compete in the Winter Olympics. Jackson became the first Black woman to make the U.S. Olympic long track speedskating team in 2018. Bowe, who has been friends with Jackson since they were 10, will compete in the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter events in Beijing.
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