By Gavin Kentch
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The races in Lake Placid last week did not only crown national champions, they also served to select athletes for upcoming international competitions. (To be fair, in Sammy Smith and Zach Jayne’s case, they did both.)
Here are the athletes nominated for various teams following their performances last week. Note that these are nominations; while most skiers mentioned here will or already have accepted, a few have declined, and some still need to balance spring commitments to NCAA racing. Or, potentially, Olympics racing.
Anyway. Here are your teams:
World U23 Championships (Lillehammer, March 2–8)
Women
- Sammy Smith, Sun Valley (nominated)
- Ava Thurston, Dartmouth (nominated)
- Haley Brewster, Vermont (nominated)
- Nina Schamberger, Colorado (nominated)
- Evelyn Walton, Dartmouth (nominated)
Men
- Max Kluck, Utah (accepted)
- Anders Weiss, BSF (accepted)
- Owen Young, Vermont (accepted)
- Corbin Carpenter, Alaska Anchorage (accepted)
- Fin Bailey, Vermont (for the sprint) (accepted)
- Ben Dohlby, Alaska Fairbanks (for the distance races) (nominated)
- Zach Jayne, Utah (declined nomination)
World Junior Championships (Lillehammer, March 2–8)
Men
- Jack Leveque, Alaska Winter Stars (accepted)
- Tabor Greenberg, Vermont (accepted)
- Micah Bruner, Dartmouth (accepted)
- James Underwood, Colby (accepted)
- Vebjorn Flagstad, Alaska Winter Stars (accepted)
- Murphy Kimball, Alaska Anchorage (for the sprint) (accepted)
- Gray Barbier, Montana State (nominated)
Women
- Neve Gerard, Utah (accepted)
- Ally Wheeler, Utah (accepted)
- Linnea Ousdigian, Loppet Nordic Racing (accepted)
- Lena Poduska, Vermont (accepted)
- Britta Johnson, Tahoe Endurance (nominated)
- Maeve Ingelfinger, Dartmouth (nominated)
- Tula Higman, Bridger (declined nomination)
U18 trip (Trondheim, Norway, and Ulricehamn, Sweden; January 30–February 8)
Women
- Linnea Ousdigian, Loppet Nordic Racing (accepted)
- Tula Higman, Bridger (accepted)
- Brooke Greenberg, Park City Ski & Snowboard (accepted)
- Georgia Bishop, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (accepted)
- Miya Kam-Magruder, Alaska Winter Stars (accepted)
- Aili Scott, Tahoe Endurance (nominated)
Men
- Ian Carmack, Park City Ski & Snowboard (accepted)
- Matthew McIntosh, Green Mountain Valley School (accepted)
- Tristan Thrasher, Team Soldier Hollow (accepted)
- Gabe Black, Mat-Su Nordic (accepted)
- Odin Berryman, Missoula Ice Badgers (accepted)
- Samuel Madsen, Bridger (accepted)
- Jack Leveque, Alaska Winter Stars (declined nomination)
Mass start race, last year’s U18 trip, Gjøvik, Norway, February 2025 (photo: @im.ttman)
I should be able to update this over the next few days as most final acceptances come in. Until then, you can find more information on the World Juniors/U23 Championships here (website | FIS race schedule), and on the U18 Scando trip here (Trondheim (January 30–February 1); Ulricehamn (February 6–8)).
Congratulations to all athletes nominated.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American skiing. We started with nothing and now we’re going to the Olympics. You can read more about our first three years here, and donate to the Olympics fund here. Thank you for consideration, and, especially, for reading.
