HUDSON – Spring is in full swing. But Hudson teenager and snowboarder Jake Prendergast still enjoyed a triumphant finale to his winter last month when he competed at the United States Ski and Snowboard Association Nationals Competition at Copper Mountain, Colorado.
Prendergast, who is a member of the snowboarding competition team at Wachusett Mountain, competed in the slopestyle and rail jam events in the competition, which ran from April 3 to April 9.
He finished 24th in the slopestyle and 18th in the rail jam.
“I gave it my all and did my best,” Prendergast said in a recent interview. “I’m planning to do better next year, hopefully.”
Snowboarder qualifies for national competition
Prendergast qualified for the competition with his performance in the local Southern New England series.
Prendergast was the youngest in his nationals age group of 18- to 22-year-olds.
He said that getting to Copper Mountain was intimidating at first, with many other competitors having experience snowboarding on large mountains.
“I’m only from Wachusett,” Prendergast said. “…I really didn’t know what to expect at the start.”
The slopestyle at Copper Mountain had three jumps and two rail sections, while the rail jam had three rail sections.
He navigated those courses, though he believes he bruised his tailbone during a rough landing on his last run of the slopestyle competition.
“Other than that, it was an amazing experience,” he said.
Interest in skateboarding spiraled into snowboarding
Prendergast said that he first got interested in snowboarding when he was younger. He was into skateboarding at the time and made the jump because the two sports looked similar.
While he now says that the two are actually nothing alike, he has continued snowboarding and competes in events whenever he can.
“It’s fun,” he said. “You can go out there for a few hours and have a blast.”
“The people you meet, you make some pretty good memories,” he continued.
Outside of snowboarding, Pendergast attends Hudson High School, where he is currently completing his freshman year.
He is a member of the football and track teams at HHS.
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