Staff

Executive Director: Heidi Lange
[email protected] | 603-286-0278 (m)

Heidi is as passionate about cross country skiing as she is about the culture and lifestyle of the sport and the people involved, and she is committed to advancing the sport, sharing it with others, and fostering a vibrant and engaged New England ski community.  

Heidi grew up and attended school in Massachusetts, but spent nearly every weekend skiing and adventuring in the White Mountains.  She was an avid downhill skier and racer and she found joy in coaching and mentoring younger children while in high school.  As a young adult, she discovered the agility and thrill of gliding fast on cross country skis.  She towed her children and taught them to ski, and eventually they all found a home in the Bill Koch League and with the NENSA community..

Heidi began coaching with Ford Sayre Ski Club when her children enrolled.  Over the years, she worked with all children in the program, kindergarten through 8th grade, and with the entire coaching staff as co-Head Coach of the BKL program and a Nordic Committee member.  Heidi was also a collegiate rower and has coached Hanover High School crew since 2010.  She finds no greater joy than in working with young people, helping them to discover their strengths, develop life skills, build confidence, and find joy.   

In addition to her work with youth, Heidi brings experience with a variety of nonprofit organizations and boards, including many years of service on the local school board.  She lives in Lyme, NH with her family.  When she is not skiing, she enjoys spending time traveling, trail running, rowing, and gardening.

---

Youth & Introductory Program Director: Mackenzie Rizio
[email protected] 

Mackenzie grew up in Wilmington, VT and began skiing at Prospect Mountain BKL at a young age. She loved attending the BKL Festival annually and found magic and long lasting friendships there. She went on to attend Stratton Mountain School and excelled regionally and nationally as a junior skier. At UVM, Mackenzie studied Business with a concentration in Finance and minors in Economics and Sports Management. She was a member of the Varsity Nordic Ski Team and an officer of the Student Mental Health Awareness Committee. After college, Mackenzie remained invested in the ski community, coaching at Mount Anthony Union High School for 3 years and serving as a Board Member, Coach, and founding member of the Prospect Mountain Ski Club. She is an active member of the Women’s Ski Coaches Association and was selected as a recipient of their GearUp program. Professionally, she worked in consumer goods both in production and inventory before joining the NENSA team.

Competitive Program Director: Justin Beckwith
[email protected] | 802-345-6720 (m)

Justin grew up on skis in his backyard and down the road at Indian Hill, where he chased his older brothers and sisters, in Barneveld, New York. He started racing in the BKL as a lollypopper and quickly fell in love with gliding fast on skis. He raced for the Holland Patent High School before spending his senior year at the Stratton Mountain School. During these years he raced for both Mid-Atlantic and New England at Junior Nationals where he had numerous All-American Results.

Justin went on to attend Middlebury College, where he raced at two NCAA Championships, Junior Worlds and a World Cup. After college Justin ventured West to explore the mountains with both cross-country and telemark skis. After a winter of skiing and grooming and skiing trails in Whitefish, Montana he returned East to take a job coaching at the Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vermont. He remained there for eight years and was a part of many Junior National and World Junior coaching and waxing staffs. After GMVS he pursued his passion for mentoring and waxing skis for the best juniors in the US, traveling to cool places like Kazakhstan, Romania and Central Europe.

Justin looks forward to working with the New England Nordic Ski Association and sharing his passion for skiing and adventure.

---

Prior to NENSA, Preston was based in New York City and worked in Advertising Operations at Newsweek, Nature Publishing Group, and the New York Times. Preston is the Operations Manager for both NENSA, and the USBA.

Preston graduated from the University of Maine with a BA in English and minored in Art History. He received his masters degree in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU. He then went on to teach Digital Arts at Bennington College post grad and is currently an Adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine. Preston lives in Freeport, with his wife and two children, where he volunteers on the Zoning Board of Appeals and is an active member in his community.