U.S. Ski Team Names 10 Vermont Skiers to Team

The U.S. Ski Alpine Ski Team announced its team nominations today and of the 46 racers named to the team, 10 are either from Vermont or trained here. Leading the A team women’s roster is, not unsurprisingly, Burke Mountain Academy’s Mikaela Shiffrin and while no Vermont men made the A team, New Hampshire’s Bode Miller will be back as will Lake Placid’s Andrew Weibrecht.

Starksboro’s Ryan Cochran Siegle (of the legendary Cochran family) and Warren’s Nolan Kasper (a Warren native who has trained at Burke) earned spots on the B team.

Perhaps one of the sweetest news was that Waitsfield’s Drew Duffy is on the C team. Duffy, as VT SKI + RIDE’s Biddle Duke reported in our Fall 2015 issue “Ski Racing’s Big Surprise,” had a tough year last year after watching two of his best friends and fellow ski racers die in an avalanche. He ended 2015 on a high note, coming from a 30th place start to beat Steve Nyman and a host of A-teamers to win the Super G at the Nationals.

In  2016, Duffy made his World Cup debut in Lake Louise with the super G and scored his first World Cup points at Kitzbuehel in the combined. He went on to grab two top-15 finishes at World Juniors on the 2014 Olympic track in Sochi, with 10th in downhill and 11th in super G.

The National Collegiate team was also announced with University of Vermont’s Griffen Brown, of North Fayston, Vt. earning one of the four spots. A full list of who’s on the team follows:

A TEAM

Men
David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO; Crested Butte Ski Team; 6/25/1984)
Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team; 7/14/1988)
Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV; Park City Ski Team; 1/11/1985)
Ted Ligety (Park City, UT; Park City Ski Team; 8/31/1984)
Bode Miller (Franconia, NH; Carrabassett Valley Academy; 10/12/1977)
Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT; Park City Ski Team/Sundance Ski Team; 2/12/1982)
Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation; 2/10/1986)

Women
Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA; Mammoth Mountain Ski Team; 7/3/1984)
Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team; 3/9/1984)
Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO; Rowmark Ski Academy; 9/19/1989)
Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR; Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation; 8/17/1988)
Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, CO; Burke Mountain Academy; 3/13/1995)
Leanne Smith (North Conway, NH; Mount Washington Valley Ski Team; 5/28/1987)
Resi Stiegler (Jackson, WY; Jackson Hole Ski Club; 11/14/1985)
Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Buck Hill Ski Team; 10/18/1984)

B TEAM
Men
Michael Ankeny (Deephaven, MN; Buck Hill Ski Team; 1/17/1991)
Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team; 7/14/1992)
Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation; 1/30/1989)
Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT; Cochran’s/Mount Mansfield Ski & Snowboard Club; 3/27/1992)
Tommy Ford (Bend, OR; Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation; 3/20/1989)
Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; 6/15/1991)
Nolan Kasper (Warren, VT; Burke Mountain Academy; 3/27/1989)
Wiley Maple (Aspen, CO; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club; 5/25/1990)

Women
Breezy Johnson (Victor, ID; Rowmark Ski Academy; 1/19/1996)
Lila Lapanja (Incline Village, NV; Diamond Peak Ski Team/Sugar Bowl Academy; 12/3/1994)
Anna Marno (Centennial, WY; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; 11/23/1992)
Jacqueline Wiles (Aurora, OR; White Pass Ski Club; 7/13/1992)

C TEAM
Men
Erik Arvidsson (Woodside, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team; 9/3/1996)
Drew Duffy (Warren, VT; Green Mountain Valley School; 6/1/1995)
Mark Engel (Truckee, CA; Sugar Bowl Academy; 10/1/1991)
AJ Ginnis (Vouliagmeni, Greece; Green Mountain Valley School; 11/17/1994)
Nick Krause (Northboro, MA; Stratton Mountain School; 5/12/1993)
Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy; 5/27/1996)
Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, UT; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation; 4/8/1991)
Kipling Weisel (San Francisco, CA; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 3/26/1995)

Women
Cecily Decker (Saranac Lake, NY; New York Ski Education Foundation; 5/16/1998)
Patricia Mangan (Derby, NY; Holimont Race Team; 3/7/1997)
Alice Merryweather (Hingham, MA; Stratton Mountain School; 10/5/1996)
Galena Wardle (Basalt, CO; Aspen Valley Ski Club; 4/24/1998)

D TEAM
Men
Patrick Kenney (Hingham, MA; Burke Mountain Academy; 2/13/1997)
River Radamus (Edwards, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 2/12/1998)
George Steffey (Lyme, NH; Stratton Mountain School; 8/8/1997)
Florian Szwebel (Avon, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 9/4/1996)

Women
Keely Cashman (Strawberry, CA; Squaw Valley Ski Team; 4/4/1999)
Nina O’Brien (Edwards, CO; Burke Mountain Academy; 11/29/1997)
Nellie-Rose Talbot (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail; 8/24/1999)

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY TEAM
Griffin Brown (North Fayston, VT; University of Vermont; 2/8/1995)
Garret Driller (Tahoe City, CA; Montana State University; 8/24/1996)
Alex Leever (Vail, CO; University of Denver; 7/6/1995)
Brian McLaughlin (Topsfield, MA; Dartmouth College; 6/24/1993)