Miles Sattely, an 8-year-old New London resident, finished third overall in his age group at the USA Snowboard and Freeski Association national championships earlier this month at Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado.

Sattely, who attends New London Elementary School and trains at Ragged Mountain in Danbury, N.H., took third in his favorite event, the boardercross. He also finished fifth in the slalom and sixth in giant slalom, and competed in slopestyle, rail jam and halfpipe as well. His overall finish means he is now ranked third in the country in snowboarding for the 7- and 8-year-old age group.

Coach Shane Mahoney has been building a competitive program at Ragged Mountain, Sattely’s father, Josh, said. Teams and athletes from Vermont and Maine have historically outperformed those from New Hampshire in regional and national events, but in Mahoney’s first year coaching at Ragged Mountain, all of his athletes qualified for nationals in at least one event.

Eula Kozma, Sattely’s mother, started a fundraising campaign for Mahoney to be able to coach Sattely and his other athletes in Colorado, and Mahoney said he had tears in his eyes as Sattely was given his bronze medal.

“He started the year hardly able to clear small jumps and just progressed so rapidly. It was mind-blowing,” Mahoney said. “This is a monstrous accomplishment for him, and I couldn’t be any more proud of him and his family.”

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