Twenty-Three Athletes Nominated to 2020-21 Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team (Press Release)

U.S. Ski and Snowboard Press Release

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team nominations for the 2020-21 season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the prior season.

 “The 2021 U.S. Cross Country Team has more depth than any team in modern American cross country ski racing history,” said Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Program Director Chris Grover. “From our seasoned veterans who will be focused on bringing home hardware from the 2021 FIS World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, to the members of the Development Team, who can nearly all boast having at least one World Junior Championships medal, this team offers so many ways to win. Athletes in this group have systematically broken down every barrier in cross country performance that traditionally blocked American athletes, including World Junior gold, to World Championships gold, to Olympic gold.”

The 2020-21 team is highlighted by an experienced group of World Cup, World Championship and Olympic Winter Games athletes, including Olympic gold medalist, Jessie Diggins and 2020 FIS Junior World Championship double-gold medalist Gus Schumacher.

The 2020-21 team also includes the largest D Team squad ever nominated with 11 athletes, including members of the gold-medal winning 2019 and 2020 FIS Junior World Ski Championships men’s relay team: Luke Jager, Ben Ogden, and Johnny Hagenbuch. The D Team also includes all four members of the silver-medal winning FIS Junior World Ski Championships women’s relay team: Kendall Kramer, Sydney Palmer-Leger, Novie McCabe and Sophia Laukli.

“The strength of the 20- 2021 U.S. Cross Country Team speaks to the commitment and professionalism of the community that has helped these athletes achieve excellence,” Chris said. “Our coaches’ education system, the stability and quality of our development preparation projects, and the dedication and knowledge of our club and school coaching partners has been instrumental in helping these athletes succeed internationally.

 “The big steps forward over the last two decades have happened via community collaboration and pulling in the same direction,” he continued. “Together, we’ve created a truly American solution that meets the needs of our culture and our geography.”

 Athletes nominated to the team are scheduled to open the season in with their first training camp in Park City, Utah (pending COVID-19 considerations).

 Each athlete accepting the nomination to U.S. Ski Team receives world-class program support, along with access to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Center of Excellence, as well as athletic benefits including an elite coaching, sport science, sports medicine, and high performance staff, and education opportunities.

 An official Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team announcement will be made in the fall.

2020-21 Cross Country Nominations

(Hometown; Club; Birthdate)

A TEAM

Women

Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 11/21/89)

Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 12/21/88

Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 3/22/90)

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91)

Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97)

Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/10/98)

Men

Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 5/14/87)

B TEAM

Women

Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School/Dartmouth College; 11/17/97)

Men

Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 4/11/93)

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 1/28/92)

Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00)

Logan Hanneman (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 6/2/93)

DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Women

Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 2/19/98)

Novie McCabe (Winthrop, Wash.; MVNT; 12/15/01)

Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, Alaska; NSCF-FXC; 6/25/02)

Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Sun Valley Ski Ski Education Foundation; 2/4/2002)

Sophia Laukli (Yarmouth, Maine; Middlebury College Ski Team; 6/8/00)

Men

Johnny Hagenbuch (Ketchum, Idaho; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 10/1/2001)

Luke Jager (Anchorage, Alaska; APU/University of Utah; 1/17/00)

Noel Keeffe (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; SSWSC/University of Utah; 8/24/99)

Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School/University of Vermont; 2/13/00)

JC Schoonmaker (Tahoe City, Calif; Auburn Ski Club; 8/12/00)

Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 8/7/98)