Two-time World Cup overall champion and double World Championships gold medalist Lindsey Vonn along with Olympic gold medalists Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso lead a high caliber group of athletes named June 23 to the 2010 U.S. Alpine Ski Team.
The team includes four training groups competing across the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup, Europa Cup and NorAm Cup levels. Separate teams will also be named for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and FIS Alpine Junior World Championships later in the 2009-10 season.
On the team are 51 athletes—10 on the A Team, 20 on the B Team, six on the C Team and 15 on the Development Team.
Vonn moves into the Olympic season on the heels of the most successful season in U.S. women's alpine skiing history.
In five months, Vonn defended her World Cup overall and downhill titles, added the super G title, captured two gold medals at the World Championships and nine World Cup victories across four disciplines, including an international record four consecutive super G wins. She also finished in the top 10 World Cup standings for slalom and giant slalom, making the 24-year-old a solid medal contender in five events.
"It goes without saying that we have the reigning world champion and two-time World Cup overall champion in Lindsey Vonn on this Team," said Women's Alpine Head Coach Jim Tracy. "She's already doing whatever it takes to continue that run in both the World Cup and at the Olympics."
Mancuso was an underdog going into the Torino Games, yet exited the event as a 21-year-old Olympic giant slalom champion. Now a proven winner on the World Cup, she enters the 2009-10 season following a winter that didn't live up to her ability or expectations.
"Julia is the defending Olympic giant slalom champion and that's something she's serious about defending," added Tracy. "She's taking charge of her program and so are all the athletes on this Team. We have a number of racers with the experience and talent to make their mark. That's the tone we're setting this season."
Already a proven medal threat after stunning the 2006 Olympic field with a combined gold, Ligety earned a bronze medal in giant slalom at the recent World Championships and is the discipline title winner from the 2008 World Cup season.
Joining Ligety are World Cup winners Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman along with a solid group of young guys eager to make a personal impact on international skiing. Last season, the men's program produced the greatest finish in U.S. Ski Team history as five Americans finished in the top 10 during a downhill in Val Gardena, Italy.
"This is a larger Team than we've had in the past, but it's still a very young team" said Men's Alpine Head Coach Sasha Rearick. "The average age of the A Team is 26 and that says a lot about the future of this program. We also have a group of C Team athletes with tremendous talent and they're going to push the other guys. It's a good balance."
Also named are a group of 15 Development Team athletes all with birthdates in the early 1990s. The Development Team is the first step on the U.S. Ski Team ladder and includes the best young athletes from some of the top ski racing clubs in the country.
2010 U.S. Alpine Ski Team
(including birthdate, hometown and club program; * indicates Olympian):
A TEAM
Men
Erik Fisher (3/21/85; Middleton, ID; Bogus Basin);
Tim Jitloff (1/11/85; Reno, NV; Park City Ski Team);
TJ Lanning (8/27/84; Park City, UT; Park City Ski Team);
Ted Ligety (8/31/84; Park City, UT; Park City Ski Team)*;
Scott Macartney (1/19/78; Crystal Mountain, WA; Crystal Mountain Alpine Club)*;
Steven Nyman (2/12/82; Provo, UT; Park City Ski Team/Sundance)*;
Marco Sullivan (4/27/80; Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team)*;
Andrew Weibrecht (2/10/86; Lake Placid, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation).
Women
Julia Mancuso (9/9/84; Olympic Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team)*;
Lindsey Vonn (10/18/84; Vail, CO; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail/Buck Hill Ski Team)*.
B TEAM
Men
Thomas Biesemeyer (1/30/89; Keene, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation);
Will Brandenburg (1/1/87; Spokane, WA; Schweitzer Alpine Racing);
Jimmy Cochran (5/29/81; Keene, NH; Cochran's/Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club)*;
David Chodounsky (6/25/84; Crested Butte, CO; Dartmouth Ski Team);
Tim Kelley (5/20/86; Starksboro, VT; Cochran's/Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club);
Cody Marshall (11/15/82; Pittsfield, VT; Burke Mountain Academy);
Paul McDonald (6/25/84; Bellevue, WA; Crystal Mountain Alpine Club);
Jeremy Transue (6/1/83; Hunter, NY; Green Mountain Valley School);
Jake Zamansky (6/26/81; Park City, UT; Aspen Valley Ski/Snowboard Club).
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Women
Stacey Cook (7/3/84; Mammoth, CA; Mammoth Mountain Ski Team)*;
Hailey Duke (9/17/85; Boise, ID; Park City Ski Education Foundation/McCall Ski Team);
Sterling Grant (6/1/87; Amery, WI; Buck Hill Ski Team);
Keely Kelleher (8/12/84; Big Sky, MT; Rowmark Ski Academy);
Jessica Kelley (10/5/82; Starksboro, VT; Cochran's/Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club);
Chelsea Marshall (8/14/86; Pittsfield, VT; Green Mountain Valley School);
Megan McJames (9/24/87; Park City, UT; Park City Ski Education Foundation);
Kaylin Richardson (9/28/84; Edina, MN; Team Gilboa)*;
Sarah Schleper (2/19/79; Vail, CO; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail)*;
Leanne Smith (5/28/87; Conway, NH; Mt. Washington Valley Ski Team);
Resi Stiegler (11/14/85; Jackson Hole, WY; Park City Ski Team/Jackson Hole)*.
C TEAM
Men
Tommy Ford (3/20/89; Bend, OR; Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation);
Will Gregorak (9/30/90; Longmont, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail);
Nolan Kasper (3/27/89; Warren, VT; Burke Mountain Academy).
Women
Alice McKennis (8/19/89; Glenwood Springs, CO; Rowmark Ski Academy);
Laurenne Ross (8/17/88; Klamath Falls, OR; Mount Bachelor Ski Education Foundation);
Kiley Staples (2/2/89; Park City, UT; Rowmark Ski Academy).
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Men
Michael Ankeny (1/17/91; Deephaven, MN; Buck Hill Ski Team);
Nick Daniels (4/5/91; Tahoe City, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team);
Colby Granstrom (9/21/90; Lake Stevens, WA; Mission Ridge Ski Education Foundation);
Wiley Maple (5/25/90; Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski Club);
Keith Moffat (2/3/91; Berkeley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team);
Ben Morse (4/23/92; Carrabassett Valley, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy);
Hunter Schleper (3/26/91; Vail, CO, Iced Out Racing).
Women
Vaneesa Berther (2/11/92; Sammamish, WA; TAS Alpental Snoqualmie Ski Foundation);
Felicia Byers (12/17/91; Sandy, UT; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation);
Greta Byrne (5/12/93; Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail);
Rose Caston (7/20/92; Salt Lake City, UT; Park City Ski Team);
Devin Delaney (2/24/91; North Conway, NH; Green Mountain Valley School);
Julia Ford (3/30/90; Plymouth, NH; Holderness Ski Team);
Anna Marno (11/23/92; Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club);
Lauren Samuels (10/13/92; Minneapolis, MN; Team Gilboa).
