University of Denver Athletics

Heather Mooney completed her second season as the Assistant Nordic Coach for the University of Denver Ski Team in 2023, helping the Pioneers to a third-place finish at the NCAA National Championships for the second-straight season.
 
Mooney joined the Pioneers after spending the 2020-21 season as a post-grad coach at the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman, Montana. In that role, she primarily worked with athletes taking a gap year after high school, developing their skills in preparation for competing at the collegiate level. Mooney also worked closely with the pro team on a daily basis and coached BSF’s collegiate summer training group.
 
Mooney skied collegiately for Middlebury College in Vermont where she qualified for the NCAA National Championships three times and picked up seven wins in the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association during her senior year.
 
Following college, she joined the professional ranks for four years, earning four top-10 finishes at the U.S. National Championships throughout her career (2011, 2013, twice in 2015). A two-time Junior World Championship qualifier, Mooney also made Team USA’s World Championship Under-23 Team twice and represented the United States at the 2012 Youth Olympics where her team won a bronze medal in the mixed relay.
 
The Peru, Vermont, native earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Middlebury in 2015, while also picking up minors in environmental studies and geology. She earned her Master of Design Studies degree in design for human health through the Boston Architectural College in spring 2022.
 
Mooney has two younger siblings. Her sister Brooke competed at the Tokyo Olympics in summer 2021 and finished fourth with Team USA in women’s eight rowing. Mooney owes her start to full-time coaching to her brother Scott, who encouraged her to co-coach a college summer training group with him in 2020.