FasterSkier

Tag: U.S. Paralympics Nordic National Team

  • U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Names 2017/2018 National Team

    U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Names 2017/2018 National Team

    Three-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters won her third consecutive overall women’s sitting IPC World Cup globe in cross-country. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)

    (Press release)

    COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thirteen athletes, including seven U.S. Paralympians in Nordic skiing, were named to the 2017-2018 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing National Team on June 1 by U.S. Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee.

    “The level to which our Nordic skiers have performed already is very inspiring,” said Paralympic Nordic Skiing head coach Eileen Carey. “Our veteran athletes have continued to improve as we approach the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, and the addition of new members on our national and development teams is promising for the future.”

    Three-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) highlights the team after claiming four world championships titles during the 2016-17 season, including cross-country crowns in sprint, middle and long distances, as well as the sprint biathlon title. She capped off the season by securing her third consecutive overall women’s sitting world cup globe in cross-country at the World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup Finals in Sapporo, Japan. Additionally, Masters finished third in the world cup overall rankings in biathlon.

    Kendall Gretsch (Chicago, Illinois), Ruslan Reiter (Manchester, Maine) and Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) all make the national and development teams for the first time.

    Four military veterans are featured on the roster, including Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas/Navy), Sean Halsted (Rathdrum, Idaho/ Air Force), Bryan Price (Belton, Missouri/Army) and Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas/Army).

    Team USA had a record-breaking 2016-17 season that finished with 33 world cup medals by five athletes, setting a record for the Nordic skiing team. Of the 33 world cup medals acquired, 12 were in biathlon. All A- and B-Team athletes reached the podium this past season, including first-time medals for Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) and guide Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Montana), as well as Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) at the PyeongChang Test Event.

    2017-18 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing National Teams

    *Denotes U.S. Paralympian in Nordic skiing

    # Denotes U.S. Military veterans

    A Team

    • Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) – visually impaired skier*
    • Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas/Navy) – sit skier*#
    • Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Montana) – guide
    • Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) – sit skier*

    B Team

    • Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) – sit skier*
    • Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas/Army) – sit skier*#

    C Team

    • Kendall Gretsch (Chicago, Illinois) – sit skier

    Development Team

    • Sean Halsted (Rathdrum, Idaho/Air Force) – sit skier*#
    • Bryan Price (Belton, Missouri/Army) – sit skier*#
    • Ruslan Reiter (Manchester, Maine) – standing skier
    • Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) – sit skier
    • Joy Rondeau (Granby, Colorado) – sit skier
    • Mia Zutter (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) – visually impaired skier
  • U.S. Paralympics Nordic Brings Numbers to Lake Placid

    U.S. Paralympics Nordic Brings Numbers to Lake Placid

    U.S. Paralympics Nordic National Team member Andy Soule, an Army veteran, shoots at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg biathlon range during time-trial intervals on sit-ski mountain boards on Sept. 21. The national team held a dryland camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., from Sept. 18-28.

    LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — As they hammered out loops at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg biathlon center, several athletes on sit-ski mountain boards put their heads down. Everything they were doing — five or so laps lasting a few minutes each on pavement and grassy trails — required upper-body strength. At the end of each interval, they reentered the stadium for shooting practice, where the adaptive skiers rolled onto their stomachs and aimed at their targets. Then they had to get back up again and start over.

    Of the 14 athletes at the U.S. Paralympics Nordic dryland camp in Lake Placid from Sept. 18-28, two were visually impaired, according to high-performance director John Farra. He prescribed bounding intervals for them.

    Several national-team members, including Jeremy Wagner (l), Sean Halstead (second from left) and Erik Frazier (r), at the start of a sit-ski time trial at the U.S. Paralympics Nordic dryland camp Sept. 21 at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. (Photo: www.facebook.com/USParalympicsNordic)

    Nine coaches also attended the 10-day camp, which Farra said was one of the most-selective to date.

    “An interesting challenge for us now is that we’ve been pretty successful at bringing new people to the sport, so our numbers are going up while our numbers at the OTC [Olympic Training Center] aren’t,” he said during the time-trial session Sept. 21.

    “I guess it’s a good problem for us, that now our high-performance camps are by invitation-only,” Farra added. “Last year was kind of like, ‘Hey anybody shows up,’ [which was] great because there weren’t that many people doing it, but I would say we’ve brought in another 15 to 20 people to the sport and I’ve only got 15 beds at the OTC.”

    Nine members between the U.S. National and Development teams were given priority, and most came to at least part of the camp. Beyond that, Farra said they invited three to five newcomers that they felt deserved the opportunity. Several came from the East, he said, but in a few weeks from Oct. 15-25, they’ll have more western skiers at another dryland camp in Midway, Utah.

    “It’s exciting; it’s definitely working,” Farra said. “We had, what, five adapive [skiers] two years ago at nationals? Last year we had 18, and I expect closer to 30 this year at [U.S. Adaptive Nordic National Championships at Soldier Hollow,] Utah. That’s the right direction that we need to go.”

    Lt. Dan Cnossen of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic National Team doing loaded chin-ups during a strength session at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center. (Photo: www.facebook.com/USParalympicsNordic)

    As for what the athletes were up to over the last two weeks, New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) Adaptive Program Director Eileen Carey wrote on the program’s blog that the athletes had been “dialing in shooting positions, roller-skiing and sit skiing on mountain boards, testing in the weight room and on the SkiErg and learning the physiology and nutrition of training.”

    On Sept. 21 during interval training, Farra said that was a good opportunity for his top athletes to combine a hard effort with shooting experience.

    “It’s a high-performance [camp]. They need to be preparing themselves for competitions,” he said. “That’s why there are time trials. That’s why they’re working hard with each other. With the [athletes] we don’t see as much, it’s really about giving them coaching advice, training and hopefully they get hooked and keep coming back.”

    ***