The Snow Belt, it must be pointed out, does more than accumulate snow. In the northern reaches of the US, somewhere along the rims of the Great Lakes, the same people who know how to manipulate the snow shovel also know how to fiddle around with something else—the Olympic medal.
I learned this the other day when, roaming around near Lake Ontario, I stumbled upon an afterthought.
It all started with the usual string of businesses: Dunkin’, Chipotle, McDonald’s, and the constant reminder I’m in the vicinity of Canada—Tim Hortons.
I hung a left and noted an administrative building belonging to Rochester Regional Health, as in the type of place where people who were popular in high school collude to torture healthcare professionals.
But it was something across the street that really caught my attention.
I was in a suburb of Rochester (NY) called Irondequoit, known like many towns in Western New York for oppressive property taxes, the kind that flood public schools and make private schools like the one I was looking at struggle to find students.
The place was called Bishop Kearney, and in 2014, the small Catholic school was bailed out from the brink by local billionaire Tom Golisano, the founder of Paychex and husband of tennis great Monica Seles.
In any event, the institution of a few hundred students stayed afloat.
A couple years later, in 2016, Bishop Kearney started something known as BK Selects. In addition to maintaining its longstanding day program for locals, the school would enter the boarding school business, specifically to launch a girls’ hockey program.
Soon, recruits from all over the country—and world—began to pour in, using the program as a stepping stone to land Division I hockey scholarships.
A decade later, it became obvious that the same athletes were using Bishop Kearney as a stepping stone to something else—the 2026 Winter Olympics.
A grand total of eight Bishop Kearney alumnae found themselves involved in the proceedings in Milan-Cortina.
One played for Czechia.
Two played for Germany.
And five played for the United States, comprising over 20 percent of the American roster.
On February 19, 2026, that roster won an Olympic medal.
It was gold.
You’re welcome.*
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*Note: The author has difficulty on ice skates.
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