USA Nordic Announces 2018/2019 Teams

USA Nordic Sport is excited to announce nominations to the National Teams in the disciplines of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined for the upcoming 2018/2019 season.

Kevin Bickner, 21 (Wauconda, IL), will once again lead the Men’s Ski Jumping National Team. After posting his strongest season to date, with seven top 30 World Cup finishes, including a season’s best 16th place at the Ski Flying World Cup in Planica, Slovenia, Bickner has been named to the “A” team. Joining Bickner will be Michael Glasder, 29 (Cary, IL) on the “B” team, and Casey Larson, 19 (Barrington, IL), will be named to the “C” team.

Sarah Hendrickson, 23 (Park City, UT), former World Champion and the longest tenured member of the Women’s National Team, has been named along with Nita Englund, 25 (Florence, WI) to the Women’s Ski Jumping “B” team. Hendrickson and Englund were both members of the 2018 US Olympic team. They will be joined by Nina Lussi, 24 (Lake Placid, NY), Tara Geraghty-Moats, 25 (West Fairlee, VT), Logan Sankey, 19 (Steamboat Springs, CO), Samantha Macuga, 17 (Park City, UT), and Annika Belshaw, 15 (Steamboat Springs, CO) who have all been named to the Women’s “C” team. This is the first year on the team for Sankey, Macuga, and Belshaw, all of whom were members of the Women’s Junior National Team last season.

2018 Junior World Championships medalist and 2018 Olympic athlete Ben Loomis, 19 (Eau Claire, WI), will lead the Nordic Combined National Team this year. Loomis’ results during the 2017/2018 season, including multiple top five finishes on the Continental Cup circuit, have earned him a spot on the “A” team. Veteran Taylor Fletcher, 28 (Steamboat Springs, CO), has been named to the “B” team along with Jasper Good, 22 (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Stephen Schumann, 18 (Park City, UT). Grant Andrews, 20 (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Jared Shumate, 18 (Park City, UT), have both been named to the Men’s Nordic Combined “C” team.

For the first time ever, USA Nordic is excited to announce that they  will be nominating a Women’s Nordic Combined Team. In addition to her nomination to the Women’s Ski Jumping “C” Team, Tara Geraghty-Moats has also been nominated to the 2018 Women’s Nordic Combined National “C” Team.

USA Nordic Sport Executive Director Bill Demong said  “We are excited about our continued expansion of our teams and with the exciting development of Women’s Nordic Combined including confirmation of the event in the 2021 World Championships! Tara Geraughty-Moats continues to be one of our top talents in the sport and, though she was unable to compete in any Nordic Combined competitions last year due to injury, USA Nordic recognizes the importance of growing our sports and developing athletes who have the ability to push the envelope and we are excited to lead growth and opportunity in this new discipline of Womens Nordic Combined.”

“USA Nordic staff and coaches are excited to get back to training with our national teams.  We have a great group of young, motivated athletes that will no doubt continue to make big strides forward this season.  We are also planning for the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined teams to work together whenever possible.  Both teams have certain strengths that we feel will benefit our program as a whole.”

USA Nordic Sport is also excited to announce that 23 skiers have been named to the 2018/2019 Junior National Teams in the disciplines of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. Now in it’s second year, the program is designed to assist younger athletes in their development, as well as providing a stepping stone between regional clubs and the USA Nordic National Teams. This year, 14 young men and 9 young women from around the country have been named to the largest team to date. A total of 11 new skiers have been added to the team for their first time, including the creation of the first ever Women’s Nordic Combined Junior National Team.

Team Members

Men’s Ski Jumping

• Decker Dean, 17,  Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Andrew Urlaub, 17, Eau Claire, WI, Flying Eagles Ski Club
• Greyson Scharffs, 16, Park City, UT, Park City Ski and Snowboard
• Hunter Gibson, 17, Fox River Grove, IL, Norge Ski Club
• Patrick Gasienica, 19, Spring Grove, IL, Norge Ski Club
• Mathew White, 17, Lake Placid, NY, New York Ski Educational Foundation

Women’s Ski Jumping

• Anna Hoffmann, 18, Madison, WI, Blackhawk Ski Club
• Mollie Immens, 18, Fox River Grove, IL, Norge Ski Club
• Cara Larson, 17, Barrington, IL, Norge SKi Club
• Sophia Nester, 18, Park City, UT, Park City Ski and Snowboard
• Paige Jones, 15,  Park City, UT, Park City Ski and Snowboard
• Jillian Highfill, 14,  Park City, UT, Park City Ski and Snowboard

Men’s Nordic Combined

• Beckett Ledger, 18, Lake Placid, NY, New York Ski Educational Foundation
• Bennett Gamber, 17, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Canden Wilkinson, 16, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Erik Belshaw, 14, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Niklas Malaciski, 14, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Aidan Ripp, 17, Cloquet, MN, Cloquet Ski Club
• Henry Jonstone, 17, Concord, MA, Andover Outing Club
• Evan Nichols, 14, Lyme, NH, Ford K. Sayre Memorial Ski Council

Women’s Nordic Combined

• Tess Arnone, 14, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Alexa Brabec, 13, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club
• Charlotte Ripp, 13, Cloquet, MN, Cloquet Ski Club

 Jed Hinkley, USA Nordic Sport Development Director/Nordic Combined Junior National Team Director said  “I am really excited for the coming year and I think we have a great group of young athletes to follow in the footsteps of those retiring or taking some time off.  The older guys better watch out because the next crop is talented and hungry.  Each year I think we are taking small steps forward on clarifying and strengthening the pathway from the U10 athletes all the way up. We know we still have a lot of work to do and we still need to support clubs more from the top down but I believe we are making progress. “

“I am especially excited about having a Women’s Nordic Combined Junior National Team for the first time ever, and consider it a privilege to be able to help guide the future of the sport in this country.  We have some really talented young ladies and I am thrilled to see what they can do this year and beyond.”

Blake Hughes, Ski Jumping Junior National Team Director added “USA Nordic staff and coaches are excited to continue our progress with our growing junior national teams. We feel this is an intricate part of our program to help, in conjunction with our clubs across the country, to develop our youth and better prepare them for our national teams. This year we were excited to promote members from our Junior team to the national teams. From our women’s jumping team Logan Sankey, Annika Belshaw, and Samantha Macuga and from our Nordic Combined athlete Jared Shumate have all qualified for our national team. This program has shown a clear path for our athletes to get to the highest level.”

“This program has shown a clear path for athletes to get to the highest level. USA Nordic understands that our future is reliant on the strength of our pipeline. We invest in development across many fronts and bringing together this group of talented juniors, to train under the auspices of our world class coaching staff and alongside the best athletes in the United States, has proven to be a strategy which helps these athletes accelerate their development.”