While many of the Hackley community are sleeping, some students are on the road, at the rink, or at an early morning practice. These students spend hours upon hours at practice and competitions, and are passionate about their sport. Three Hackley students have extraordinary hidden talents that have led them to prestigious awards, state regattas, and national tournaments. Senior Sienna Mori is a competitive figure skater, who won the prestigious Dorothy Hammel Cup. Senior Christian Kelling, a rower, won the New York State Championship last year, as well as placing second in the Independence Day Regatta. Junior Andrew Stopera, a curler, won the GNCC Regional Tournament, and came third in the National Tournament.

Sienna Mori, a competitive figure skater, not only deals with the struggles of Hackley work, but also has to be at the rink three hours a day, every day. Sienna competes every month in competitions, and has won multiple gold medals and even the Dorothy Hammel Cup, a prestigious skating competition award. Sienna began skating when she was eight. When describing her introduction to the ice, Sienna said, “I just fell in love with it right away and wanted to be on the ice all the time.” She loves to skate, and is incredibly passionate. When asked about her future goals, Sienna said, “ When I go to college, honestly, I’m not sure if I am going to continue my skating career. And if I do, to what extent? After doing this sport for so many years and coming so far, I feel like I’ll be ready to hang up my skates and start a new chapter of my life.” She added, “Skating has given me so much and no matter what I decide, I know it’ll always be a part of me.”

Christian rows 25 hours a week, almost as many hours as he spends in school. He works out in the morning and in the afternoon, and he does not get home until 6:30 most nights. Christian hopes to row in college, even though rowing is not a NCAA sport for men. Christian has five competitions in the spring and fall and two in the winter. Christian believes that his friendships have strengthened through rowing because he spends so much time with his team of 100. Last year, Christian was on a quad, which means he rowed with three other people. He said, “Last year I was in a quad, and we won the New York State Championship.” They then went on to place second in the National Championship. Christian believes that his proudest accomplishment is “when in the Independence Day we took second to the number one boat from Guam.”

Andrew has a unique hidden talent that has led him to national competitions in curling. Andrew curls six to seven hours a week, and an additional 10 if there is a tournament that weekend. He and his team, Team Dunman, compete in approximately two bonspiels, tournaments consisting of many curling games. The bonspiels take place from October to March. Last year, Andrew and his team won the GNCC Regional Tournament. They came third at the National Tournament in Boston. But this year, Andrew has even higher hopes. “I also want to win that and go to the Junior World Championships,” he said. “One day it would be great to represent the United States in the Olympics.” Andrew travels throughout the Midwest and Northeast for curling. But he does not see the rest of his team very often because they all live in different places. Andrew’s idol is his father, who won the 2012 Men’s Curling National Championships and is going to the Olympic trials for the Sochi 2014 Olympics. When asked about his father, Andrew said, “He’s taught me almost everything I know about the sport of curling and I hope to accomplish some of the things he’s done one day.”