The Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Announces the Team for Period 2 of the 2023-24 World Cup Season & Tour de Ski

 

Dear Cross Country Community,

We are pleased to announce the Team for Period 2 of the 2023-24 World Cup season – the Tour de Ski:

 

2023-24 Tour de Ski

Men

Michael Earnhart                      Objective          23-24 Overall SuperTour Leader

Ben Ogden                                Objective          7^th World Cup Sprint 23-24

JC Schoonmaker                        Objective          10^th World Cup Sprint 23-24

Gus Schumacher                       Objective          18^th World Cup Distance 23-24

Kevin Bolger                             Objective          33^rd World Cup Sprint 23-24

Zanden McMullen                     Objective          34^th World Cup Distance 23-24

John Hagenbuch                       Discretion         13^th Östersund WC 10 km F

Scott Patterson                         Discretion         20^th Ruka WC 20 km F Mass

 

Women

Sammy Smith                            Objective          23-24 Overall SuperTour Leader

Jessie Diggins                            Objective          23-24 Overall World Cup Leader

Rosie Brennan                          Objective          3^rd World Cup Distance 23-24

Julia Kern                                  Objective          7^th World Cup Sprint 23-24

Sophia Laukli                            Objective          21^st World Cup Distance 23-24

Novie McCabe                          Objective          25^th World Cup Distance 23-24

The Working Group decided not to nominate additional athletes to the Tour de Ski due to the logistic, support demand, and health concerns surrounding the Tour, as well as to create a balanced and fair selection platform at the U.S. Nationals, where athletes currently performing at comparable levels can demonstrate their abilities.  The ski service demands of the Tour alone are massive, with each athlete competing 7 times in 9 days and requiring world-class skis each day to compete for podiums.  The Working Group views the Tour de Ski as platform for elite performance and not a primary development opportunity.  Individual World Cups are much better designed for developing athletes and we intend to populate starts much more generously in the remainder of the World Cup season.

The above discretionary selections were nominated by a 15-person working group that included:

James Southam                         Athlete Rep.

Ida Sargent                               Athlete Rep.

Cami Thompson-Graves            Dartmouth College

Andy Newell                             Bridger Ski Foundation

Eliška Albrigtsen                        University of Alaska Fairbanks

Erik Flora                                  Alaska Pacific University

Chad Salmela                            Team Birkie

Chris Mallory                            SVSEF Gold Team

Pepa Miloucheva                      Craftsbury GRP

Perry Thomas                           SMS T2

Sophie Caldwell Hamilton          AVSC

Kristen Bourne                          U.S. Ski Team

Jason Cork                                U.S. Ski Team

Matt Whitcomb                        U.S. Ski Team

Chris Grover                             U.S. Ski Team

The nominations were then approved by a discretionary selection review group comprised of:

Kelsey Phinney                          U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athlete Rep

Anouk Patty                              U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport

Bryan Fish                                 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Director

The above discretionary selection process will be repeated for each period of World Cup this coming season.  As always, if you have questions or concerns about this process, feel free to contact me directly.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Grover

Cross Country Program Director, U.S. Ski Team

chris.grover@usskiandsnowboard.org