Local jump ropers mourn the loss of teen killed in plane crash
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IDAHO FALLS — A local jump rope coach and her team are mourning the loss of a North Carolina teenager killed in a plane crash near Palisades Reservoir Monday, Jan. 4.
Mackenzie Ruston, 17, was a member of Chapel Hill’s Bouncing Bulldog jump rope team. The group often participates in events with the Idaho Falls ProForm Airborne jump rope team.
Monica Foster, the coach of ProForm Airborne, was stunned when she learned Mackenzie had died. The two met several years ago at a jump rope competition and had worked together on many occasions.
Last year Mackenzie and several of her teammates were Foster’s on-call coaches at the Pan American Jump Rope Championships.
“They would come down and judge for me when I was short a judge,” Foster said. “With Kenzie all we had to do was look up at her in the stands and she’d come running down.”
Foster said Mackenzie was an remarkable jump roper. She was also patient, kind, and willing to help anyone.
The energetic teenager began the sport when she was 4-years-old and had received national and world recognition. She was a team captain to the Bouncing Bulldogs.
“Kenzi was an exceptional jumper,” Foster said. “She was always in the top on all of her individual events. At the World Jump Rope Championships last year in Paris she came away with several trophies.”
According to a report from WTVD-TV in North Carolina, Mackenzie had one other passion – flying in airplanes. Facebook photos show her surrounded by different aircrafts and folks commented that she was in her “natural habitat.”
In March of 2015, a photo shows her receiving a private pilot’s license after acing her test.
According to authorities, Mackenzie was a passenger in a Yak 52 Russian trainer aircraft with Reade Genzlinger, 61, when the plane went down. Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash.
Even though she’s gone, Foster said Mackenzie’s life doesn’t end here.
“Our team is definitely saddened by the loss of Kenzie,” Foster said. “Her legacy will live on through jump rope.”