- Six Team USA Olympians who attended Westminster University raced at Milano Cortina 2026, and two won medals. Here is who they are, the two Paralympians, and what the renewed U.S. Ski & Snowboard partnership offers U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes through 2034.
- This story sits inside Utah's olympic sports lane and connects to the larger statewide sports picture.
- The story is backed by 9 sources and a visible last-verified date.
October 17, 2026
October 17, 2026
5 min / 1,058 words
9 official links
Six Team USA Olympians who attended Westminster University in Salt Lake City raced at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, and two of them came home with medals. Ryan Cochran-Siegle won silver in the men's super-G, and Jacqueline Wiles won bronze in the women's team combined with Paula Moltzan. Two Paralympians with Westminster ties, Andrew Haraghey and recent graduate Mikey O'Hearn, raced alpine skiing at the Paralympic Games.
This is the third episode of Utah Legends & Legacies, our series on the people and programs behind Utah sports history. It follows the University of Utah ski team's 18 national titles and SLCC's Beyond the Podium program.
Who were Westminster's 2026 Olympians?
Westminster announced on January 28, 2026, that six athletes who attended the university would compete for Team USA in Italy:
- Bryce Bennett: alpine skiing
- Ryan Cochran-Siegle: alpine skiing, silver in the men's super-G
- Alex Ferreira: freeski halfpipe
- Nick Goepper: freeski halfpipe
- Faye Gulini Thelen: snowboard cross
- Jacqueline Wiles: alpine skiing, bronze in the women's team combined
Cochran-Siegle's silver was his second straight Olympic silver in the super-G; his 1:25.45 was beaten only by Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen in 1:25.32, NBC reported. Wiles skied the downhill leg of the team combined and Moltzan the slalom, in the event's Olympic debut.
"I felt a wave of emotion by the time that this race was over, and I felt like I actually knew I got second," Cochran-Siegle told Team USA, as Westminster's recap quoted him. Wiles told The Oregonian: "This is a feeling I'll never forget."
Westminster's Olympic legacy page counts the 2026 group differently. It lists seven Olympians from Westminster who represented four countries, three current students and four alumni, without naming them. The six named above are the Team USA athletes in the university's January release.
Olympians and Paralympians, counted separately
Westminster's June recap lists its Paralympians on their own: Andrew Haraghey and Mikey O'Hearn, both in alpine skiing. The recap calls O'Hearn a recent Westminster graduate and tells his story in his words: he shared that his parents were told he would not survive birth, and later that he would never walk.
"Ski racing is my purpose. My sanctuary and my happy place," O'Hearn said. "I've given everything to this sport and in return it's given me everything."
The two Olympic medals Westminster lists for 2026 belong to Cochran-Siegle and Wiles. The recap lists no Paralympic medals.
What does Westminster's U.S. Ski & Snowboard partnership offer?
On September 9, 2025, Westminster and U.S. Ski & Snowboard re-launched a partnership that makes the university an Official Four-Year College Provider through 2034. The original partnership began in 2005 and was renewed through 2018. Westminster says it gave dozens of athletes significant tuition discounts and tailored academic advising, and that more than 30 U.S. Ski & Snowboard athletes have earned Westminster degrees since 2005.
Under the new agreement, as Westminster described it:
- Tuition: a tiered tuition discount model that rewards completing an undergraduate degree
- Flexibility: flexible degree completion timelines and access to online coursework
- Expectation: athletes must stay in good academic standing
Westminster's Olympic legacy page also lists a tuition-grant program for national A, B and C team athletes.
"Education is a core part of our mission," U.S. Ski & Snowboard president and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said at the launch. Beth Dobkin, then Westminster's president, pointed to "our proximity to top-tier training facilities." Dobkin has since been succeeded by Sylvia Torti, Westminster's 20th president.
These terms are as Westminster lists them, checked October 16, 2026. Athletes should confirm current eligibility and the size of any discount with the university.
Varsity skiing is a separate question
Olympic ties and varsity college skiing are different things at Westminster. Its athletics page lists 13 NCAA Division II teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, and its freeski and snowboard teams are coached club teams in the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association, not NCAA programs. Westminster's alpine ski teams raced in the NCAA through 2025-26; whether they compete in 2026-27 is not confirmed, as our guide to Westminster's 13 NCAA teams explains.
Westminster's Olympic history by the numbers
Westminster's Olympic legacy page says more than 140 elite winter athletes have taken classes there, and lists its Olympic participants Games by Games:
- 2006 Turin: 3 students, no medals
- 2010 Vancouver: 14 participants, 1 bronze
- 2014 Sochi: 23 participants, 10% of Team USA, per Westminster; 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- 2018 Pyeongchang: 18 participants, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- 2022 Beijing: 18 participants; 2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze
- 2026 Milano Cortina: 7 participants, 1 silver, 1 bronze
The same page says more than 50 Olympians have pursued their education at Westminster, with 16 Olympic medals; older university news releases give the medal figure as 10.
The connection reaches past the athletes. During the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, Westminster housed public safety officers on campus, and President Torti now serves on the Steering Committee for the Utah 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games, according to the university.
Devin Logan, the 2014 slopestyle silver medalist who graduated from Westminster in 2023, put the campus side of it this way: "When I walked across the stage at graduation, it felt just as powerful as standing up on that Olympic podium."
How can a small campus make a global sporting impact? Tell us which Westminster Olympian or Paralympian we should profile next. For more on the build toward the Games, visit our Utah 2034 Olympics hub and the Westminster school page.
Key facts:
- 2026 Olympians who attended Westminster (Team USA): Bryce Bennett, Ryan Cochran-Siegle and Jacqueline Wiles (alpine), Alex Ferreira and Nick Goepper (freeski halfpipe), Faye Gulini Thelen (snowboard cross)
- 2026 medals: Cochran-Siegle, silver, men's super-G; Wiles, bronze, women's team combined with Paula Moltzan
- 2026 Paralympians with Westminster ties: Andrew Haraghey and Mikey O'Hearn, alpine skiing
- Partnership: Official Four-Year College Provider for U.S. Ski & Snowboard through 2034, re-launched September 9, 2025; first launched in 2005
- Terms (as listed, checked Oct. 16, 2026): tiered tuition discount tied to degree completion; a tuition grant for national A-C team athletes on the legacy page; flexible timelines and online courses; good academic standing required
- Varsity status: 13 NCAA Division II teams; freeski and snowboard are USCSA club teams; alpine's 2026-27 status unconfirmed
- History: Westminster lists Olympic participants at every Winter Games from 2006 to 2026, including 23 at Sochi 2014