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Twenty Three Athletes Nominated to 2020-21 Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team

By Tom Horrocks
May, 4 2020
Junior Women Relay Team
Kendall Kramer, Sydney Palmer-Leger, Novie McCabe, and Sophia Laukli won the silver medal in the team relay at the 2020 FIS Junior World Cross Country Championships. (@FlyingPoint)

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team nominations for the 2020-21 season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the prior season.

“The 2021 U.S. Cross Country Team has more depth than any team in modern American cross country ski racing history!”
 - Davis U.S. Cross Country Team Program Director Chris Grover.

“From our seasoned veterans who will be focused on bringing home hardware from the 2021 FIS World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, to the members of the Development Team, who can nearly all boast having at least one World Junior Championships medal, this team offers so many ways to win," Chris said. "Athletes in this group have systematically broken down every barrier in cross country performance that traditionally blocked American athletes, including World Junior gold, to World Championships gold, to Olympic gold.”

The 2020-21 team is highlighted by an experienced group of World Cup, World Championship, and Olympic Winter Games athletes, including Olympic gold medalist, Jessie Diggins, and 2020 FIS Junior World Championship double-gold medalist Gus Schumacher.

The 2020-21 team also includes the largest D Team squad ever nominated with 11 athletes, including members of the gold-medal-winning 2019 and 2020 FIS Junior World Ski Championships men’s relay team: Luke Jager, Ben Ogden, and Johnny Hagenbuch. The D Team also includes all four members of the silver-medal winning FIS Junior World Ski Championships women’s relay team: Kendall Kramer, Sydney Palmer-Leger, Novie McCabe and Sophia Laukli. 

“The strength of the 20- 2021 U.S. Cross Country Team speaks to the commitment and professionalism of the community that has helped these athletes achieve excellence,” Chris said. “Our coaches’ education system, the stability and quality of our development preparation projects, and the dedication and knowledge of our club and school coaching partners have been instrumental in helping these athletes succeed internationally.

“The big steps forward over the last two decades have happened via community collaboration and pulling in the same direction,” he continued. “Together, we’ve created a truly American solution that meets the needs of our culture and our geography.”

Athletes nominated to the team are scheduled to open the season in with their first training camp in Park City, Utah (pending COVID-19 considerations). 

Each athlete accepting the nomination to U.S. Ski Team receives world-class program support, along with access to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Center of Excellence, as well as athletic benefits including an elite coaching, sport science, sports medicine, and high performance staff, and education opportunities.

An official Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team announcement will be made in the fall.

2020-21 Cross Country Nominations
(Hometown; Club; Birthdate)

A TEAM
Women
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 11/21/89)
Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 12/21/88)
Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 3/22/90)
Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91)
Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97)
Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/10/98)

Men
Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 5/14/87)

B TEAM
Women
Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School/Dartmouth College; 11/17/97)

Men
Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 4/11/93)
Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 1/28/92)
Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00)
Logan Hanneman (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 6/2/93)

DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Women
Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 2/19/98)
Novie McCabe (Winthrop, Wash.; MVNT; 12/15/01)
Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, Alaska; NSCF-FXC; 6/25/02)
Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, Utah; Sun Valley Ski Ski Education Foundation; 2/4/2002)
Sophia Laukli (Yarmouth, Maine; Middlebury College Ski Team; 6/8/00)

Men
Johnny Hagenbuch (Ketchum, Idaho; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 10/1/2001)
Luke Jager (Anchorage, Alaska; APU/University of Utah; 1/17/00)
Noel Keeffe (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; SSWSC/University of Utah; 8/24/99)
Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School/University of Vermont; 2/13/00)
JC Schoonmaker (Tahoe City, Calif; Auburn Ski Club; 8/12/00)
Hunter Wonders (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 8/7/98)
 

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Logan Hanneman headshot image
Logan Hanneman
A 2018 Olympian, pilot, and a member of the APU Nordic Ski Center team, Logan posted four top-30 World Cup results during the 2019-20 season.
Sydney Palmer-Leger headshot image
Sydney Palmer-Leger
Sydney Palmer-Leger of Park City, Utah is a dynamic, multi-sport athlete.
JC Schoonmaker headshot image
JC Schoonmaker
2022 Olympian JC Schoonmaker, of Lake Tahoe, CA, is entering his fourth year on the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.
Sophia Laukli headshot image
Sophia Laukli
Sophia Laukli is a force in both skiing and running, and was on skis as early as two years old. A professional in both sports, Sophia is a University of Utah graduate, member of the 2020 silver-medal-winning Junior World Championships relay team, had her first FIS World Cup podium in the final st
Kendall Kramer headshot image
Kendall Kramer
Kendall is one of the most explosive junior athletes to ever join the U.S. Cross Country Team. Not only did she sweep the junior races at the 2019 U.S.
Novie McCabe headshot image
Novie McCabe
Novie McCabe, a three-time NCAA Champion and 2022 Winter Olympian found her passion for skiing at a very young age. Since then, she has excelled in the sport and is racing at the highest level.
Noel Keeffe headshot image
Noel Keeffe
Noel made his World Cup debut in January 2020 in Oberstdorf, Germany in the classic sprint.
Luke Jager headshot image
Luke Jager
Luke Jager has been very successful in his skiing career. Not only is he a three-time Junior World Championship medalist, he also progressed his way to representing the USA at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, where he impressively finished in the top 30.
John Steel Hagenbuch headshot image
John Steel Hagenbuch
John Steel Hagenbuch is an overall gifted athlete. Skiing for both the Stifel U.S. Ski Team and the Dartmouth Ski Team, Johnny is making a name for himself at all levels of the sport.
Benjamin Ogden headshot image
Ben Ogden
2022 Winter Olympian and 2023 U23 Green Bib Winner Ben Ogden is among the most electric skiers on the World Cup circuit.
Gus Schumacher headshot image
Gus Schumacher
Gus Schumacher, originally from Anchorage, Alaska has been on the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team since the 2018-19 season and is proving that he is one of the fastest in the world.
Sophie Caldwell Hamilton headshot image
Sophie Caldwell Hamilton
Sophie has been an NCAA podium finisher, a World Cup podium finisher, and one of the top U.S. women to race in an Olympic Winter Games.
Katharine Ogden headshot image
Katharine Ogden
Katharine won a pair of bronze medals at the 2017 FIS Junior World Championships, including the 5.5k skiathlon, and she was also a member of the 4x3.3k bronze medal-winning relay team. 
Hannah Halvorsen headshot image
Hannah Halvorsen
A FIS Junior World Championship bronze medal winner as part of the 4x3.3k relay team, Hannah scored her first World Cup points in December of 2020 and has her eyes set on further World Cup success and the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Julia Kern headshot image
Julia Kern
World Championship medalist and 2022 Olympian Julia Kern is making a name for herself as one of the fastest sprinters in cross country. 
Rosie Brennan headshot image
Rosie Brennan
Born and raised in Park City, Utah, Rosie is a four-time U.S. champion, 2018 and 2022 Olympian, and ranked in the top-10 in the world for cross country skiing.
Simi Hamilton headshot image
Simi Hamilton
A three-time NCAA All-American from Middlebury College, and a three-time Olympian, Hamilton is among the top sprinters in the world with four World Cup podiums on his resume. 
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen headshot image
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen
A World Championship bronze medalist, five-time U.S. Champion, and two-time Olympian Sadie became the first American to wear the FIS World Cup Yellow Leader's bib following two top-5 finishes to kick off the 2019-20 season. 
Jessie Diggins headshot image
Jessie Diggins
Three-time Olympic medalist (bronze, silver and gold), 2023 World Champion, 21x World Cup winner (60 podiums), and 2021 and 2024 World Cup overall winner Jessie Diggins of Afton, Minnesota is one of the most dominant and successful cross country skiers in the world.