After being nominated for Olympic contention by her coach, Kristi Reid, Grove needed to capture all gold medals at the Seven Springs Winter Games in order to qualify for international competition. Following a triumphant Seven Springs run came a trip to Utah for a series of trials, some final coaching and preparations at Copper Mountain in Colorado, and finally the big trip to Italy—a flight to Milan, a bus to Turin, and then up to Sestriere in the Italian Alps for the Games themselves.

Similar to other Olympic venues and competitions, all athletes from the representing countries have a parade entry to kick off the events and set the celebration into motion, which Grove got to be a part of this year. According to Grove’s father, Tom, nerves did not seem to have any discernible impact on her whatsoever, citing a “business as usual” mentality at the forefront of his daughter’s disposition. Her favorite part of the experience would ultimately be receiving the bronze medal on the podium in Sestriere—the culmination of Grove’s hard work and a tangible token of her extensive and demanding journey.

While obviously crediting Reid and all of her coaches as having been invaluable in the physical and skill aspect of her success, Grove and her family are also confident that everything Bearcat B.E.S.T. taught, provided, and reinforced played a huge role in Grove’s ability to manage what is an inarguably overwhelming undertaking with poise, aplomb, and, ultimately, outstanding output and achievement.

“From the standpoint of becoming independent, traveling with coaches, able to get through airports and terminals while being responsible and held accountable for managing her own equipment and other items to living and traveling with team members previously unknown or not very well acquainted to taking directions and input from Coach Reid,” Grove’s father remarked. “The program developed and implemented the confidence and interactive skills to make this all go quite smoothly.”

In terms of what’s next, Grove is looking forward to skiing again this winter. The trips to Utah and Colorado as well as the degree of difficulty in Italy raised her to another level of skill, commitment, and experience. The next competition is not for another three years, but Grove is hoping to continue to improve and to find a spot on that roster as well. She has every intention of adding to her collection of memorabilia alongside that letter from Mrs. Shapiro, who traveled to Italy to support Grove and even invited the Grove family to the Capitol to be introduced to Congress and the governor himself afterwards.

Whether the next superstar product of the Bearcat B.E.S.T. program will interpret the backronym to mean “bonding with eleven sophisticated treasure-hunters” or “baking eclairs with silky textures,” the excellence of the skills training imparted upon these individuals from the Program has all students equipped for big things. In the meantime, Grove will continue representing Bearcat B.E.S.T. and representing the Bearcats best.