The 2018-2019 US Ski & Snowboard Team Nominations are In
On May 21, The US Ski and Snowboard Team started rolling out its member nominations for the 2018-2019 season. For 2018-2019, ten Vermonters were nominated for the US Ski and Snowboard Team. Fourteen more athletes trained or went to school in Vermont. The teams will be finalized in the fall. Here they are:
Alpine Team:
This year, three Vermonters were nominated for the US Alpine Ski Team. That’s half as many as were nominated in 2017-2018. Veteran Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 25, of Starksboro and the Mount Mansfield Ski and Snowboard Club, was nominated for the B Team. He’s part of the dynasty behind Cochran’s Ski Area, where his mother, Barbara Ann Cochran, who won a gold medal in slalom at the 1972 Olympics, taught him to ski at age two.
Abi Jewett, 18, of Ripton and Green Mountain Valley School earned her first nomination this year. Jewett’s classmate Ben Ritchie, 17, of Waitsfield, was also nominated for the Development Team.
Cross Country Team:
Vermont is a breeding ground for Olympic cross country skiers. Sophie Caldwell of Peru and Ida Sargent of Orleans both represented the US in the Olympics in Pyeongchang this winter for the second time and were nominated for the 2018-2019 US Ski Team’s Cross Country A Team. Caldwell finished sixth in freestyle sprints in the World Championships for 2017. Also nominated were siblings Benjamin
and Katharine Ogden of Landgrove Vermont. Both were nominated for the D Team. Benjamin is a newcomer to the US Team, but this will be Katharine’s third season on the team. Both the Ogdens and Caldwell trained at Stratton Mountain School. Sargent is a product of the Craftsbury Green Racing School and is sponsored by Maple Syrup manufacturer Butternut Mountain Farm.
Snowboard Team:
Alex Deibold and Lindsey Jacobellis were both nominated for the Snowboardcross A Team. Deibold is from Manchester and Jacobellis is from Stratton. Both trained at Stratton Mountain School. Deibold took Bronze in Snowboardcross at the Sochi Olympic games in 2014 and came in second place at the World Cups in 2017. Jacobellis came in first place at the 2017 World Cup for snowboardcross.
Freestyle Team:
This year, Shelburne’s Megan Nick was nominated for the Aerials Team. Nick trained with the Elite Aerial Development Program in Lake Placid and is a former gymnast. She had seven top-10 finishes on the NorAm tour during the 2015-2016 season and has dabbled in World Cup competition. This is her second nomination.