Sun Valley native and slalom specialist Hailey Duke, 22, of Boise has been chosen as one of 46 skiers—25 men and 21 women—on the 2008-09 U.S. Alpine Ski Team.
Duke is a daughter of Sun Valley ski instructors. She started skiing at age two on Dollar Mountain and raced in her first Kindercup at four. Her competitive racing experience was with the McCall Ski Team and Park City Ski Education Foundation.
A Taekwondo teacher like her father Larry Duke, Hailey is the reigning U.S. national slalom silver medalist and had four slalom podiums on the Europa Cup last winter.
U.S. Alpine director Jesse Hunt made the team announcement Thursday, Aug. 7 from the headquarters of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association in Park City, Utah.
Headlining the 2008-09 U.S. team, which will aim for the 2009 FIS World Championships Feb. 3-15 at Val d'Isere, France, are reigning World Cup overall queen Lindsey Vonn, 23, World Cup men's giant slalom king Ted Ligety, 23, and Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso, 23.
Men's World Cup champion Bode Miller is again planning to train under his own program. Hunt said, "While our primary focus is on the athletes training in our U.S. Ski Team program, we want to also support Bode in achieving his success."
Several other athletes who did not qualify are training with the team, including Boise's Dane Spencer. One other veteran, Caroline Lalive, 29, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., is making a strong comeback from an injury and is on the Reserve List.
Veteran ski coach Jim Tracy, who was women's head speed coach from 1997-2004, is returning as women's alpine head coach. Leading the men's program is Sasha Rearick, promoted in April from head technical coach.
The team is currently gearing up for month-long training camps in New Zealand and Chile, with the World Cup season set to open Oct. 25-26 in Soelden, Austria.
Here are rosters, by team:
A Team, men: Jimmy Cochran, 27, N.H.; Ted Ligety, 23, Park City, Utah; Scott Macartney, 30, Wash.; Steven Nyman, 26, Utah; and Marco Sullivan, 28, Squaw Valley, Ca.
A Team, women: Stacey Cook, 24, Mammoth, Ca.; Julia Mancuso, 23, Olympic Valley, Ca.; Kaylin Richardson, 23, Minn.; Resi Stiegler, 22, Jackson Hole, Wyo.; and Lindsey Vonn, 23, Vail, Colo.
B Team, men: Erik Fisher, 23, Middleton, Id.; Tommy Ford, 19, Bend, Ore.; Kevin Francis, 26, Bend; Tim Jitloff, 23, Reno, Nev.; Tim Kelley, 22, Vt.; TJ Lanning, 23, Park City; Cody Marshall, 25, Vt.; Erik Schlopy, 35, Park City; Jeremy Transue, 25, N.Y.; and Andrew Weibrecht, 22, Lake Placid, N.Y.
B Team, women: Hailey Duke, 22, Boise; Jessica Kelley, 25, Vt.; Chelsea Marshall, 21, Vt.; Megan McJames, 20, Park City; Sarah Schleper, 29, Vail; and Leanne Smith, 21, N.H.
C Team, men: Chris Beckmann, 21, N.Y.; Will Brandenburg, 21, Wash.; Travis Ganong, 20, Squaw Valley; and Tague Thorson, 23, Park City.
C Team, women: Sterling Grant, 21, Wisc.; Kelly Kelleher, 24, Big Sky, Mt.; Julia Littman, 24, Vail; Laurenne Ross, 19, Ore.; and Kiley Staples, 19, Park City.
Alpine Development Team: Michael Ankeny, Nick Daniels, Colby Granstrom, Will Gregorak, Nolan Kasper, Wiley Maple, Felicia Byers, Julia Ford, Kayla Fry, Alice McKennis and Jennie VanWagner.
