FACES OF MAC

Brent, Parker, and Grant Andersen won the Eigenvector Fastest Family Award at the 2021 Summer Fun National ski races held at Timberline on July 17-18. “One of the great honors in any sport is to win a family challenge, showcasing the breadth and depth of talent in multiple generations of a family,” says Susie Andersen, wife of Brent and mother of Parker and Grant.

Brent, Parker (18), and Grant (16) also placed at the top of their individual categories. The Andersens competed as a family for the first time at the two-day event in giant slalom and slalom races, with two runs each day. They unseated another MAC clan, the Scroggins family, who’ve held the title for three years.

Parker and Grant both entered the MAC Ski Racing program at age 5 with Jesse Scroggins as their coach. Their parents are avid skiers but have never raced. Brent now says he wants to start training! Parker was ranked third in the USSA National Standings in downhill.

The Andersen family

He won the 2021 Oregon State High School Championships giant slalom, slalom, and combined events. Grant finished top 10 as a sophomore at Riverdale High School.

Competitors came to Mt. Hood from across the United States, including from North Carolina, Maine, Rocky Mountains states, Washington, and California. Canadians couldn’t make it this year with the border being closed. Many other MAC members also participated.

Gus Johnson

Summer jobs aren’t always the high point of a teenager’s life, so you know that a seasonal gig is great when they volunteer to talk about it. MAC Scholar Athlete Gus Johnson is so taken with his current role learning to build bows with Other Worlds Archery that he let fly an email to magazine staff feathered with enthusiasm at the prospect of discussing it.

“Shooting and making bows have always been stress relievers for me. Before this job, I had been making and shooting bows for about a year whenever I found free time. Getting paid to learn how to make the most efficient bow required focus and perfection in each step. One mistake can make the bow unsellable. That is what I love most about this job, the attention to detail needed to create something perfect,” he says.

Johnson was offered the job when he met Jake Keenom, owner of the small Portland shop, for a shooting session at the Washington Park archery range. “I had brought a homemade crossbow that I had designed and built myself to test. Although it didn’t perform as I wished, Jake saw my creativity and love for making bows and offered me the job.”

For anyone thinking of building their own bow at home, make sure to include an adult in any conversation about the topic. The crossbow wasn’t Johnson’s first attempt to string a projectile. “I was first introduced to archery about five years ago when my grandfather and I tied a string to a ¾-inch white PVC pipe. I shot it hundreds of times before it eventually broke due to overuse,” he explains. “Watching the arrow hit the target, especially with a bow I have made myself, calms me to the point where I forget worldly problems and can focus on a single thing.” Since becoming a MAC Scholar Athlete earlier this year, he’s also used the club’s 50-meter Pool, Fitness Room, and basketball, racquetball, squash, and tennis courts to calm his mind through exercise, pushing

Maddy Sweeney joined MAC’s Fitness and Wellness team in January as a Fit Staff employee. While assisting the Fitness areas adjust to the ever-changing COVID19 protocols, she says she quickly felt immersed in, and responsible for, maintaining the member experience despite the unusual times. During her time with Fit Staff, she has learned a deep respect for the rich culture of MAC and is excited by the many opportunities ahead.

In May, Sweeney was asked to join the team fulltime as fitness and training supervisor. She hopes to help develop club personal training and expand offerings in the Fitness department through workshops, seminars, and specialty classes. Sweeney is a certified strength and conditioning coach and is excited to work with members in the updated Fitness spaces.

Hailing from the small Northern California town of Cotati, Sweeney grew up playing a range of sports, but found soccer to be her primary love. Her father played semi-professionally in Ireland and taught her a deep passion for European football from a very early age.

In 2009, Sweeney moved to Portland to attend PSU, where she studied exercise science and public health while working in the intramurals with the Campus Recreation department. After graduating in 2012, she moved to Detroit to volunteer with an AmeriCorps program, mentoring and tutoring inner-city students. She spent the next two years there earning her master’s degree in sports administration from Wayne State while working as a graduate assistant for the university’s Athletics and Campus Recreation department.

After her stint in Detroit, she migrated back to Portland in 2018 with her girlfriend and sees herself staying put for the foreseeable future. She looks forward to growing with MAC and hopes to bring her creativity to both the employees and members she serves. himself further by taking swim lessons with coach Patrick Williamson. Johnson recognizes the opportunity that he’s been given and says he’s using the club to the fullest to train for sports, establish connections with members, and prepare for the future. “I hope to continue to work for Other Worlds Archery over the next summer or two before heading to college, hopefully at the Naval Academy,” he says. “After college, I am thinking about going into the medical field, although I think my dream job will always be building bows.”

Submit information for Faces of MAC to wingedm@themac.com.

Corrections

The following MAC Olympians were unintentionally omitted from the August Faces of MAC story:

Maria Elena Romero de Blank competed in spring board diving, representing Mexico, at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta games. Shannon Boxx is a three-time gold medalist, as part of the U. S women’s soccer team, at the 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, and 2012 London Olympics. Henri LaBorde won a silver medal in discus at the 1932 games in Los Angeles.