I was born on March 27, 1989 in the small Chicago suburb of Cary. This is where I would spend my childhood and grow up with my two brothers Chris (23) and Dennis (17).

I was first introduced to ski jumping at the age of five by my parents because my Uncle John had been a recreational ski jumper at the Norge Ski Club for most of his life. Ever since I can remember I have been hooked on the rush that is ski jumping. I would call the Norge Ski Club my home training venue for the next 13 years. My family was involved in a lot of sports throughout the years such as soccer, baseball, and wrestling. My Dad has been coaching football and wrestling since as long as I can remember. There came a time when I had to choose between all the sports to put all my effort into, and I decided to go with ski jumping.

The Olympics had always been a dream of mine and up until a few years ago seemed pretty farfetched. I had been to the Junior Olympics and won some medals as well as winning the Super Tour overall a few times but had really never had any decent international results. I had made a few Junior World Championship teams but had never really put together any international results.

I graduated high school a semester early in January of 2008 and decided to move out Park City, Utah for a full summer of training. This would turn out to be one of the best decisions of my ski jumping career to this point. Over the summer of 2008 I really began to improve my technique with the help of an Ex-Ski Team and Olympic team member Alan Alborn. The 2008/2009 winter ski season would become the best season I’ve ever had. I made the Junior World Championship team for the 4th time and was headed over to Europe for a month and a half.

At the Junior World Championships in Strebske Pleso, Slovakia I ended up taking a 14th place which was the best U.S. finish in the last 5 years. After this I was asked by the head coach Jochen Danneberg to stay in Europe for the rest of the winter for the chance to compete in some World Cup events and go ski flying which is the biggest ski jump in the world. It was an opportunity that I never thought would have been possible. Ski Flying was the most amazing experience of my life and I cannot wait to do it again.

After the winter season I moved to Lake Placid to stay in the Olympic Training Center and train out of there when I wasn’t traveling. This summer I also had some excellent results. I would qualify for World Cup Competitions in Hinterzarten, Germany and in Zakopane, Poland, but the best result would have to be the 3rd place podium finish in the FIS Cup in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.

With the way training has been going this winter should be one for the ages.