Thursday is shaping up to be a big day at the Winter Olympics for fans in Rochester, with two hometown athletes competing on the world stage, one of them in a gold medal game.
Bad weather and heavy snowfall in Livigno, Italy, pushed back the men’s aerials competition this week, delaying Rochester native Chris Lillis' qualifying run. The event has now been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 19, with qualifiers at 5 a.m. local time and finals at 7 a.m.
Lillis has made headlines off the slopes, recently speaking out against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies, saying he is “heartbroken about what is happening in the U.S.”
Later Thursday, all eyes locally will be on Haley Winn, a Rochester native and star defender for Team USA, as the Americans face Canada in the women’s Olympic hockey gold medal game. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
The matchup is the latest chapter in one of the fiercest rivalries in sports. The U.S. team is currently undefeated and beat Canada 5–0 in their most recent meeting. Overall, the Americans are 6–0, and five of those wins were shutouts.
Winn, who played college hockey at Clarkson University, is making her Olympic debut and has already made an impact. She’s recorded multiple shots on goal, two assists, and scored her first Olympic goal in the game against Switzerland.
While many players are recruited from around the country, some, like Winn, are homegrown.
At Bishop Kearney, students are watching closely. Sixteen-year-old Micayla Hunt says seeing Winn compete is both surreal and motivating.
“We’ve walked the same halls, we have the same teachers,” Hunt said. “I’ve known her since I was little. She’s coached me, I’ve skated with her.”
Hunt says Winn often skated and coached younger players, including her and her sister, at the Rochester Ice Center in Fairport, becoming a role model long before she became an Olympian.
"It's so amazing to watch people who you know in the Olympics," she said. "And so inspirational for me, at least, especially because I've known her from such a young age. To look up to her and be like, I can be that one day. Hopefully, I can be there."
That sense of possibility is part of what Bishop Kearney’s program emphasizes, Hunt said, along with hard work and long-term development.
“Coach Jake [Anderson] likes to say, ‘Get one percent better every day,’” she said. “I think that's a main thing through all of us, through everybody who's in the Olympics right now, that's really preached around here.”
Other Bishop Kearney alums include Kirsten Simms, Caroline “KK” Harvey, Laila Edwards, and Ava McNaughton.
