Showing her mettle

CHARLENE JONES | Special to Laker Weekly

Natalie Mills with Cupcake, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, displays the her gold medal outside her parents' home in Windtree. Natalie was first in slalom skiing at the Special Olympics in Wintergreen in January.

Courtesy of Ana Mills

Natalie Mills won a first-place medal in slalom skiing at the recent Virginia Alpine Championships in Wintergreen.

Natalie Mills has never skated on ice. She's hasn't snowboarded, wakeboarded or shot a round of golf. Yet.

When it comes to sports, there are only a few the 19-year-old high school senior hasn't mastered. And she hasn't just mastered a slew of sports, Natalie's excelled in them. She has the hardware to prove it.

Natalie, who has Down syndrome, recently brought home to Fairfax Station two more medals, including one gold, to add to the 40 or so she has won in Special Olympics competitions. She captured first place in slalom skiing, won a silver medal in the giant slalom and finished fourth in the downhill at the Virginia Alpine Championships in Wintergreen in January.

Natalie has competed in the Special Olympics in basketball, soccer, swimming, cheerleading, snow skiing and track and field. She also plays baseball, is a junior varsity cheerleader at her Catholic high school and swims on a club team in the summer, specializing in butterfly and freestyle.

Even though she's "fabulous" at soccer, according to her mother Ana, it's snow skiing that's won her daughter's heart.

"I like skiing downhill; I like the snow -- it's very fun," said Natalie.

This summer, you might see Natalie on the water or the golf course. Mother Ana, a CPA, and Bob, her father, who works in sales, recently purchased a home in the Windtree section of Moneta. They are looking forward to spending weekends at SML and getting out on the lake, Ana said.

And Natalie is looking forward to riding on a personal watercraft and learning more about golf. One sport you won't see her trying is ice skating, said Natalie, who watched the figure skating competition at the recent Vancouver Winter Games on television.

"I think it's too hard," she said. "I might fall."

Natalie has actively competed in sports since she was 8 years old. She started gymnastics at 4 and took up skiing at 6 when she accompanied her parents to Canaan, W.Va.

Sports seem to come naturally to Natalie, said her mother. And it seems natural that she compete. Both her older and younger brothers are athletes.

"She takes every sport very much to heart," said Ana. "She's very competitive and is there to win."

Like all successful competitors, Natalie spends hours practicing her sports.

"If we have a 9 o'clock basketball game, she's outside shooting baskets at 7 a.m.," Ana said.

Her daughter gets the same satisfaction from participating in sports that any athlete does, she said.

"It's really helped make her very outgoing," said Ana.

"I like it so much because I make a lot of friends and I love sports," Natalie said.

Special Olympics competition has reaped additional benefits for Natalie.

Last year, she represented Virginia at the Global Youth Summit at the World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho. She was part of a team of ambassadors who learned to advocate for Special Olympics globally.

In April 2008, Natalie lunched with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, at the Special Olympics headquarters in Washington, D.C. Brown was gathering information about classroom inclusion and Special Olympics.

The highly decorated athlete has garnered several awards, including most dedicated and most improved on her swim team, where she is the only member with an intellectual disability. She's been a jayvee cheerleader for three years and received the "Heart of the Team" award.

Besides a lot of heart, talent and dedication, Natalie, her mother said, has one more trait that's contributed to her sports success.

"She's a daredevil," said Ana. "She gets on those skis and downhill she goes."