Her style

MAT-SU — A few years ago, Desi Diselrod didn’t even know she could be snowboarding in college. Now, she’s an All-American in the sport.

“I never saw myself as a college snowboarder,” said the 2008 Colony High School graduate and Westminster College freshman who earned All-American honors in boardercross, slope style, halfpipe and the individual combined class. “I did not even know that was a varsity sport in college.”

But luckily for Diselrod — a multi-sport prep standout — learned during a college fair at Colony High School that college varsity snowboarding actually existed.

“I went home and researched and found about 158 colleges and universities at all levels,” Diselrod said.

Intrigued, Diselrod continued to research the possibilities which ranged from small colleges to huge universities.

“I looked at the larger schools, but there were too many students, so much that most classes are held in auditoriums and you need binoculars to see the professor,” Diselrod said. “This was not for me, so I focused on smaller schools near major ski resorts and settled on Westminster in Salt Lake City, (Utah).”

Diselrod said she was surprised by her immediate success. In addition to earning All-American status in four different categories, Diselrod also helped the first-year Westminster snowboarding program make history at the U.S. Collegiate Skiing and Snowboarding National Championships in March.

“We had a great first season,” Diselrod said.

Westminster finished first in three events and third in another. The team also finished first in the combined events, including halfpipe, boardercross, slope style and slalom.

As an individual, Diselrod finished first in the slope style, and was second in the halfpipe, boardercross and combined class at the national championships, held in Winter Park, Colo.

Diselrod said she did so well at the national championships that there was a legitimate chance to transfer to a bigger school and compete for a bigger program, but she wants to stay at Westminster.

Diselrod, who was named to the Westminster Dean’s List following the fall semester, was also named an academic All-American. She’s studying biology and environmental science, with a list of classes that includes chemistry, biology and math. A former volleyball standout at CHS, Diselrod had an chance to also compete in volleyball at Westminster, but opted against the idea to focus on academics.

“The coach needed another setter,” Diselrod said. “But my major is pretty involved.”

Diselrod played volleyball and softball at CHS, and received offers to play both sports at the college level.

“I started the college recruiting process with softball and volleyball in mind, but found you had to be super tall (in volleyball) especially as a front-row setter,” said Diselrod, who was known more for her quickness and skill than her stature on the prep court.

She had a chance to play volleyball at the Division II level and a college in Oregon was interested in her for softball, but Diselrod is more than happy with her choice to leave the court and diamond in favor of the mountain.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.