Lander Valley High School senior Bennett Hutchison has signed a commitment letter to compete in Nordic skiing for Harvard University. The two-time state champion will compete in the prestigious Ivy League for the Crimson. The Ivy League is the only Division I conference that does not offer athletic scholarships.
Harvard finished 14th in Nordic Skiing at the NCAA Championships in Steamboat Springs back in March.
Hutchison has big plans as a Harvard student pursuing a degree in Neuroscience with the goal of becoming a physician.
“I’d like to keep going in my sport, and the academics are incredible,” Hutchison said.
Aside from national championship events which are usually held in the west, Hutchison will compete in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
As in swimming, cross country, and track and field, his training at altitude above Lander will be a tremendous boost when he competes at lower altitudes on the mountain slopes of the upper Appalachians.
Bennett is the son of Jim Hutchison and Jennifer Lamb.
“I’d like to thank Norm Cessna, he’s the only reason I made it,” Hutchison said. “And my parents.”
Hutchison is the second Lander Valley High School student to attend Harvard University in the last five years. McKenzie Lilygren a 2019 Lander graduate, graduated from Harvard last year.