Recent Susquehannock graduate Summer Britcher is heading to Sochi, Russia to take  part in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

  Britcher, who is a resident of Glen Rock, will be taking part on the Luge team for Team USA. She is one of three women in the United States to make it this far.

  Luging is a french word for sled. Sleds were used since AD 800; whether it be for travel, trading, or just for fun, sleds are now often used for athletic events.

 Britcher earned a spot on the USA luge team by placing ninth in the World Cup event in Park City, Utah in December. This marks Britcher’s first time in the US Winter Olympics.

  Guidance Counselor Rosa Baer was very ecstatic when she got the call about Britcher making it into the Winter Olympics.

  “I was absolutely excited! In my 40 years in the district, this is the first time we have had somebody making it into the Winter Olympics,” said Baer. “I am very proud of her, and I’m sure the entire district is.”

  Britcher began training for Luge in seventh grade; as time went on, she got more serious with the sport and continued training. In eleventh and twelfth grade she went to school in the beginning of the year until October. In October she went to Lake Placid, New York and trained. She then returned to Susquehannock in March for the rest of the school year. Up in New York, she accomplished her school work and kept her grades up so she could achieve her goal of making it into the Winter Olympics.
Spanish teacher Heather Walker had Britcher as a senior in her Spanish three, while she was away from the district.

  “It is very rare, and hard to do,” said Walker. “We communicated via email once she left in October. It’s a very hard task to learn Spanish when you’re not in a classroom setting, and she always maintained an A-average.”

  Her hope and dreams were to make it into the 2018 Winter Olympics, but her dreams came earlier.

  Britcher was introduced as an Olympian at the winter concert at Susquehannock. The staff

and student body watched a short clip of Britcher doing her run trial, and then the school presented her with Warrior Nation apparel and flowers.

  Art teacher Wesley Myers is very proud of her accomplishment.

  “I wish her all the well,” said Myers. “She was a good student and is a great role model. She worked hard and showed her dedication to school.”

   Britcher was told she will become the first-ever York County native to be a part of the Winter Olympics.