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Lake Tahoe-Truckee athletes named to U.S. Alpine Ski Team

Staff and U.S. Ski Team report
Squaw Valley skier Bryce Bennett was named to the 2015-16 U.S Alpine Ski Team's C Team on Saturday.
Courtesy / USSA |

2015-2016 U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM

Men’s A Team

*David Chodounksy (Crested Butte, Colo.; Crested Butte Ski Team)

*Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

*Tim Jitloff (Reno, Nev.; Park City Ski Team)

*Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah; Park City Ski Team)

*Bode Miller (Franconia, N.H.; Carrabassett Valley Academy)

*Steven Nyman (Sundance, Utah; Park City Ski Team)

*Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

*Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, N.Y.; New York Ski Education Foundation)

Women’s A Team

*Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.; Mammoth Mountain Ski Team)

*Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

*Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.; Rowmark Academy)

*Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore; Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation)

*Mikaela Shiffrin (Eagle-Vail, Colo; Burke Mountain Academy)

*Leanne Smith (North Conway, N.H.; Mt. Washington Valley Ski Team)

*Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Jackson Hole Mountain Resort)

*Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.; Buck Hill Ski Team and Club/Ski and Snowboard Club Vail)

Men’s B Team

Michael Ankeny (Deephaven, Minn.; Buck Hill Ski Team and Club/Dartmouth College)

Thomas Biesemeyer (Keene, N.Y.; New York Ski Education Foundation)

Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.; Cochran’s/Mt. Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club)

*Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.; Mt. Bachelor Ski Education Foundation)

*Jared Goldberg (Holladay, Utah; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation)

*Nolan Kasper (Warren, Vt.; Burke Mountain Academy)

Kieffer Christianson (Anchorage, Alaska; Burke Mountain Academy/Dartmouth College)

Hig Roberts (Steamboat Springs, Colo; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Middlebury College)

Wiley Maple (Aspen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club)

Women’s B Team

Paula Moltzan (Lakeville, Minn.; Buck Hill Ski Team)

Katie Ryan (Aspen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard)

*Jacqueline Wiles (Aurora, Ore.; White Pass Ski Club)

Men’s C Team

Erik Arvidsson (Woodside, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

**Bryce Astle (Sandy, Utah; Snowbird Sports Education Foundation)

Bryce Bennett (Olympic Valley, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

**Ronnie Berlack (Franconia, N.H.; Burke Mountain Academy)

Drew Duffy (Warren, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School)

Samuel DuPratt (Dixon, Calif.; Park City Ski Team)

Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.; Sugar Bowl Academy)

AJ Ginnis (Waitsfield, Vt.; Green Mountain Valley School/Dartmouth College)

Tim Kelley (Burlington, Vt.; Cochran Ski Club)

Nicholas Krause (Northboro, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School)

Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, Utah; Snowbird Ski Team)

Kipling Weisel (San Francisco, Calif.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation)

Women’s C Team

Lila Lapanja (Incline Village, Nev.; Sugar Bowl Academy/Diamond Peak)

Anna Marno (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)

Nina O’Brien (Edwards, Colo.; Burke Mountain Academy)

Men’s Development Team

Addison Dvoracek (Truckee, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

Patrick Kenney (Hingham, Mass.; Burke Mountain Academy)

Sam Morse (Carrabassett Valley, Maine; Carrabassett Valley Academy)

River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail/TEAM Academy)

Women’s Development Team

Breezy Johnson (Victor, Idaho; Rowmark Ski Academy)

Stephanie Lebby (Big Bear Lake, Calif.; Squaw Valley Ski Team)

Galena Wardle (Aspen, Colo.; Aspen Valley Ski Club)

Patricia Mangan (Derby, N.Y.; Holimont Race Team)

Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School)

National University Team

Alex Leever (Vail, Colo.; University of Denver)

Brian McLaughlin (Topsfield, Mass.; Dartmouth College)

Garret Driller (Tahoe City, Calif,; Montana State University)

Griffin Brown (North Fayston, Vt.; University of Vermont)

Sandy Vietze (Warren, Vt.; University of Vermont)

Tanner Farrow (Ketchum, Idaho; Westminster College)

* Denotes Olympian

**Denotes posthumous team naming

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Fifty-eight athletes, including a dozen from the Lake Tahoe area, were officially named to the 2015-2016 U.S. Alpine Ski Team during a public celebration to kick off the Audi FIS World Cup tour on Saturday.

Former Olympic downhill specialist Daron Rahlves of Truckee served as emcee for the day of festivities, which took place at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain.

Highlighting the list from the Tahoe area are Olympians Travis Ganong, Marco Sullivan and Tim Jitloff on the Men’s A Team, and Julia Mancuso and Stacey Cook on the Women’s A Team. Mancuso will miss the season due to hip surgery, but has her sights set on the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.



“It’s an off year — no big event like a World Championships or an Olympics — but it’s an important year for us,” said U.S. Ski Team Alpine Director Patrick Riml. “I think we have very high goals. A lot of our World Cup-level athletes have very high goals for globes or world titles.”

The Men’s C Team includes Bryce Bennett and Erik Arvidsson, both out of Squaw Valley, and Mark Engel from the Sugar Bowl Academy. Lila Lapanja, who skied for Diamond Peak and Sugar Bowl, is one of three members of the Women’s C Team.



Squaw Valley skiers Addison Dvoracek and Stephanie Lebby are on the rise on the U.S. Development Teams, and Squaw Valley’s Garret Driller, who skis for Montana State University, is one of six members of the new National University Team.

After securing the title of winningest female in alpine skiing history with a total of 67 victories, Lindsey Vonn is again making a return to snow after fracturing her ankle training in New Zealand over the summer. Bode Miller will miss the season but remains on the Men’s A Team.

World Cup racing begins with the Nature Valley Aspen Winternational in Aspen, Colo., from Nov. 27-29 and continues with the Audi Birds of Prey at Beaver Creek, Colo., from Dec. 4-6.

“It’s going to be a great season,” Riml said. “The preparation was good. Colorado is great right now with lots of snow and good training. We’re all excited about getting going.”


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