Vermont Trained 1/5 of this Year’s U.S. Ski Team
Meet the Vermonters and Vermont-trained who make up 20 percent of this year’s U.S. Ski Team —By Biddle Duke
It’s no surprise that one fifth of the 50 skiers named to the U.S. Alpine ski team this summer hail from Vermont racing programs. A cradle of American skiing, Vermont has been producing the nation’s top skiers for the past 50 years, skiers such as Olympic champions Billy Kidd, Barbara Ann Cochran and Tiger Shaw (who is currently chief executive of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, which manages American ski racing and the national team). The team is broken into four groupings, A through D, with A teamers offered the most funding.
The USSA also names a university team of top collegiate racers. This year’s team members with Vermont roots are:
A Team: Mikaela Schiffrin, Burke Mountain Academy
B Team: Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Cochran’s Ski Area and Mt. Mansfield Ski Club; Nolan Kasper, Warren and Burke Mountain Academy; Kieffer Christianson, Burke Mountain Academy
C Team: Tim Kelley, Cochran’s Ski Area and Mt. Mansfield Ski Club; Drew Duffy, Warren and Green Mountain Valley School; Nicholas Krause, Stratton Mountain School; Nina O’Brien, Burke Mountain Academy
D Team: Patrick Kenney, Burke Mountain Academy; Alice Merryweather, Stratton Mountain Academy National University Team: Griffin Brown and Sandy Vietze, University of Vermont
