Lindsey Whitton: The Two-Time Skimeister Winner Who Finds More Joy in the Journey

Reaching a state championship meet is an incredible accomplishment for any high school athlete. It’s an elite club that only features the highest caliber of talent in the state for a given sport that requires tremendous amounts of work and commitment.

Accomplishing that feat in multiple sports is almost unthinkable. Vail Christian’s Lindsey Whitton is one of the few to achieve that degree of excellence.

Whitton is the back-to-back Girls Skimeister of the Year and she is looking to become just the fourth student-athlete ever to win the award three consecutive years. She is also a member of Team USA’s U20 Trail Running squad, competes in track and field and is a member of Vail Christian’s girls soccer team.

During the winter ski season, she spends nearly four hours skiing every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Sunday is the only day where she isn’t scheduled to strap a ski boot on. Plus, she will soon incorporate running back into her regimen, as the soccer and track seasons approach.

So, why would anyone pile on an entire calendar’s worth of athletics on top of their already busy high school schedule?

It’s not in pursuit of glory or some form of recognition. It’s because this is what Whitton truly loves to do.

“She has fun [competing],” Robert Parish, one of Whitton’s cross country coaches at Battle Mountain, said of her rare temperament. “She just has fun doing all of her different sports, you know, of course, she runs track in the spring too, but she also plays soccer for Vail Christian. So, she takes advantage of all these opportunities and enjoys it and she enjoys [the journey]. I don’t know if I have had an athlete that enjoys more of ‘the pieces’ than her. She enjoys the bus rides, and she enjoys the easy days, and she enjoys the banter with kids and coaches, and she enjoys the meetings. It’s more than just a sport for her, it’s the experience, and she enjoys the journey.  And, she not only enjoys the journey, but she makes the journey so much more fun for everybody else that is on the journey with her. Whether that’s athletes or coaches or parents or family members, she just makes everything more enjoyable.”

Coach Parish isn’t the only one with that sentiment.

“As a Nordic coach for many years, a student-athlete like Lindsey is a treat,” one of Whitton’s ski coaches, Jeffrey Apps, added. “You guide her, tell her what to do, and she does it with a smile and a positive attitude. It’s an honor to be a part of her growth. She does not boast or brag, just performs at the highest levels.”

That ability to enjoy the journey – a wise mantra that is lost on many adults decades older than her – has allowed her to become the state’s most elite all-around skier two years in a row, despite not skiing Nordic prior to high school.

When the ‘journey’ is fun, stacking days and chasing that constant improvement doesn’t have to be taxing, and Whitton realizes that.

“I do like to win, but I try not to center myself on the end result and focus more on this week and what I can do instead,” Whitton said. “It’s always in the back of my head, thinking about [winning Skimeister], and it’s obviously my end goal, but I do try to make sure I’m balanced and focusing on what I can do now because if I get too focused on [season-long goals], I feel like I won’t be able to do the small things now that will get me there in the end.”

It’s about more than just stopping herself from getting distracted by the big awards or the season-long competitions though. It’s also about managing the disappointments and bouncing back from a difficult race.

“I think there are days where I don’t perform nearly to the level of my expectations, and I get upset, as anyone would, and it’s been my goal throughout high school to move past those moments. Honestly, I’ve had a few rough races all-around in all of the sports I’ve done, and I just try not to dwell on it, because there are more opportunities, and I don’t get anything good over hyper-fixating on what I do wrong. Instead, I learn from it and I’m like, ‘I don’t want to feel like this again.’ And so, I use that feeling to drive me to do better the next time. I would say I haven’t had countless bad races, but there have been a few where I’ve definitely been quite upset, but I don’t want to carry I don’t want to carry on to the next day. I just move on and I’m like, ‘I gotta move past it. It can’t be perfect all the time.’”

It’s a mindset that her coaches haven’t seen often, which they say sets her apart from most other student-athletes they’ve seen.

Whitton is a different beast.

“If you know you’re capable of more than other people are, then don’t compare yourself to other people,” Whitton’s alpine ski coach, Erik Gilbert said. “So I really think that that’s kind of Lindsay’s, M.O. She just out there trying to satisfy her own desire to see what she can do. I have not had to once redirect her and help her stay focused, because that’s just kind of how Lindsey rolls.”

It’s impossible to deny the incredible nature of Whitton’s journey so far, but there’s still a lot of time for her to continue add to her sterling legacy.

For now, it’s time to see if this season’s journey can carry her all the way to another Skimeister title at this year’s CHSAA’s Skiing State Championships.

Next week, on Feb. 15 and 16, she’ll compete in the Alpine Skiing State Championships, and the week after, on Feb. 22 and 23, she’ll compete in the Nordic Skiing State Championships.