Montgomery continues legacy
Hudson Montgomery entered the Section II Alpine skiing championships at West Mountain hoping to sweep the giant slalom and slalom events. The eighth grader from Queensbury did just that, although he finished tied with Broadalbinperth’s Colin Cotter for the championship in the giant slalom with a time of 55.18 seconds.
Montgomery finished his run first and waited to see what Cotter would accomplish.
“I was a little nervous,” Montgomery said. “We are good friends, so when he came down and I heard we tied, I went over to him and we were laughing. It was pretty cool that we both got to win that race.”
There was no sharing when it came to the slalom as Montgomery prevailed in a time of 46.49 seconds, edging out Cotter (the 2022 state champion in the slalom).
“It felt really good winning both, especially as an eighth grader,” Montgomery said. “I have been competing with Colin for a while. We have good competition. I have been making a lot of progress and it was good to see it all pay off this season. I went in there wanting to win both because I have done so much work during the offseason.”
For his efforts, Montgomery has been selected as the Times Union’s Boys’ Athlete of the Week for Feb. 13-19.
Montgomery, who has been working with former U.S. Olympian Thomas Vonn, is the fourth skiing standout from his family to star on the slopes at Queensbury. His oldest sister, Maddie Montgomery, now a star lacrosse player at William Smith, started things. Hunter Montgomery, who plays football at Middlebury College, won multiple state titles. Meredith Montgomery won a slalom state title and helped the girls’ lacrosse team win a state championship before graduating Queensbury last year.
“I like to say stuff to my brother. I joke with him that I am better than him,” Montgomery said.
In 2022, Montgomery went to the state championships and finished fourth in the slalom and seventh in the giant slalom as a seventh grader. He was thrilled with his showing at sectionals and is ready to compete at the state championships Monday and Tuesday. Montgomery, who like his brother also plays football and lacrosse at Queensbury, says getting Vonn’s help has elevated his skills.
“It has helped a lot,” Montgomery said. “He has helped me a lot with gear and my setup with my skis. I have been training with him a lot and getting good feedback. It has really helped. He videos every run, so it is good that I can see every run and know what I need to work on and fix.”