June 15, 2021
When Kim Bourne ‘12 looks back on the MSHSL state Nordic ski championships her senior year, her second consecutive year at state, her most distinct memory doesn’t come from the actual race but rather the feeling she got when four of her MPA teammates also qualified.
“It was so clear how much the team had grown and developed since I was in eighth grade,” she said. “There was so much MPA pride and excitement that day, and I look back on it very fondly because it reminds me about the best part of skiing at MPA: the great community, and the competitive but supportive and friendly atmosphere.”
Bourne’s individual accomplishments helped mold a culture of success on the Nordic ski team. A five year letter winner, two year captain and three time Tri-Metro Conference co-champion, she earned all-state honors as a senior and led the Panthers girls Nordic team to their first ever Tri-Metro Conference championship in 2012, winning that season’s most valuable skier award for her efforts. Bourne also earned letters and all-conference honorable mention awards in both soccer and track and field. She was honored for her athletic successes with the 2012 Panther Award.
Outside of athletics, Bourne was also inducted into the National Honor Society and had her earthenware pottery piece exhibited in the 2012 Tri metro art exhibition.
Bourne chose to ski collegiately at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. As a member of the Mule’s Nordic ski team, she earned four varsity letters, qualified for the NCAA regionals in each of her four years and was named to the all-Maine second team in 2016. A true student athlete, she earned New England Small College Athletic Conference all-academic team honors every year in college and was a two time team captain.
Bourne’s athletics experience at MPA prepared her well for competing at Colby. “I learned to balance different seasons, teams and training,” she said. “In college, we were gone all the time training, traveling and racing. Thus, learning to manage all my commitments in sports and school was invaluable as a collegiate athlete.”
Bourne studied Psychology and Spanish at Colby and has worked as a lab manager at both Davidson College and NYU. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Washington.
