Anna Pryce, an alumna of Montana State University’s nursing program and a Nordic skier, has surpassed expectations at the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy. Pryce, who competed for Team Great Britain, participated in three events and achieved the best-ever result by a British woman in the sprint classic.
During her time at Montana State University (MSU), Pryce balanced the demands of nursing coursework with her commitments to the MSU ski team. She sometimes had to miss morning practices for classes and request assignment extensions due to travel for races. Despite these challenges, support from mentors and teammates encouraged her to continue competing.
“My senior year of school, I had such a fun season. It was just a really good time with my teammates and my coaches,” Pryce said in a video interview from Milan. “I was kind of thinking about quitting skiing (after college), but I decided to do one more year. I’m now really enjoying myself and that was all because of skiing at MSU. I really owe it to everyone there for keeping me going.”
Pryce credited Juanita Wade, a clinical instructor at MSU’s Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing, for helping her decide between pursuing nursing or focusing on skiing after graduation in May 2025. Wade advised that while nursing would always be available as a career option, the opportunity to focus on ski racing should be taken now.
“When I knew I was going to the Olympics, I texted her like, ‘I just want you to know that that meant so much to me,’” said Pryce.
Pryce raced in three Olympic events: the women’s skiathlon on February 7, women’s sprint classic on February 10, and women’s 10K interval start freestyle on February 12. In the sprint classic, she recorded a time of 3:50.88—just over one second shy of qualifying for quarterfinals—and finished 24th in the 10K freestyle with a time of 24:55.1.
“I was kind of shocked and was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ It was a really fun day,” Pryce said. “My body felt good and it was a good surprise. I wasn’t expecting to feel that good or do that well.”
Other former Bobcats joined Pryce at the games: Riley Seger (Alpine skier for Canada), Keely Cashman (Alpine for the U.S.), Johanna Taliharm (biathlon for Estonia), along with current student Justine Lamontagne (Alpine for Canada).
Reflecting on her experience at MSU, where she completed clinical shifts overnight in Bozeman Health’s emergency department while attending classes on campus, Pryce acknowledged both academic rigor and athletic commitment.
Rebecca Rassi, clinical instructor of nursing at MSU’s Bozeman campus who taught Pryce early in college and attended many ski races, commented: “Few can fully appreciate the difficulty of balancing demanding nursing coursework, clinicals and the intensity of collegiate Nordic skiing. Earning her nursing degree this past May and then now competing at the Olympics on one of the world’s largest stages in Italy is a testament to her incredible work ethic and spirit.”
Adam St. Pierre, MSU Nordic coach who recruited Pryce based on high school results with Canada’s ski team, praised both Pryce’s determination and cooperation from MSU’s nursing college regarding scheduling needs.
“They’re very willing to work with people who have proven their abilities,” St. Pierre said. “Because Anna is such a hard worker, and really just a pleasant person, people wanted to help her.”
St. Pierre added: “We’re just proud. There’s no other word for it, given what she’s been able to accomplish and how she grew and matured as a person in her time at MSU,” he said. “She’s just a great example of the kind of athletes we need. We want every athlete to have a similar maturity to Anna.”
After completing her Olympic events in Italy—where she stayed among other Nordic skiers due to Milan’s use of existing infrastructure rather than building new Olympic facilities—Pryce traveled to Norway for further World Cup training sessions.
“It’s great to always know that I’ve got nursing when I’m done,” Pryce said about future plans.“There’s going to be a job for me somewhere.”
Montana State University supports collaboration across its four campuses statewide as part of its mission as Montana’s land-grant institution [source]. The university provides hands-on research opportunities while focusing on educational access [source], community service [source], stewardship [source], outreach efforts [source], and maintaining Extension offices throughout all counties [source].
