USA Nordic Sport is 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
(New athletes/new teams denoted in bold print)
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
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Quotes-
Jed Hinkley, USA Nordic Sport Development Director/Nordic Combined Junior National Team Director:
“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:
“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 our 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.
1 Comment
Congrats to all