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USA Nordic Sport Announces 2018-19 National Teams

By U.S. Ski & Snowboard
May, 30 2018
Kevin Bickner
Kevin Bickner will once again lead the men's Ski Jumping National Team. (U.S. Ski & Snowboard)

USA Nordic Sport is excited to announce nominations to the National Teams in the disciplines of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined for the upcoming 2018-19 season.

Kevin Bickner, 22 (Wauconda, Ill), will once again lead the men's Ski Jumping National Team. After posting his strongest season to date, with seven top-30 World Cup finishes, including a season's best 16th place at the Ski Flying World Cup in Planica, Slovenia. Joining Bickner on the men’s team are Michael Glasder, 29 (Cary, Ill) and Casey Larson, 19 (Barrington, Ill).

Sarah Hendrickson, 23 (Park City, Utah), former World Champion and the longest-tenured member of the women's National Team, has been named along with Nita Englund, 25 (Florence, Wis.) to the Women's Ski Jumping team. Hendrickson and Englund were both members of the 2018 US Olympic team. They will be joined by Nina Lussi, 24 (Lake Placid, N.Y.), Tara Geraghty-Moats, 25 (West Fairlee, Vt.), Logan Sankey, 19 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Samantha Macuga, 16 (Park City, Utah), and Annika Belshaw, 15 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.). This is the first year on the team for Sankey, Macuga, and Belshaw, all of whom were members of the Women's Junior National Team last season.

2018 Junior World Championships medalist and 2018 Olympic athlete Ben Loomis, 19 (Eau Claire, Wis.), will lead the Nordic Combined National Team this year. Loomis' results during the 2017-18 season, including multiple top-five finishes on the Continental Cup circuit. Veteran Taylor Fletcher, 28 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.), Jasper Good, 22 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) Stephen Schumann, 18 (Park City, Utah), Grant Andrews, 20 (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) and Jared Shumate, 18 (Park City, Utah) were also named to the team.

"USA Nordic staff and coaches are excited to get back to training with our national teams,” said USA Nordic Sport Team Director Clint Jones. “We have a great group of young, motivated athletes that will no doubt continue to make big strides forward this season.  We are also planning for the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined teams to work together whenever possible. Both teams have certain strengths that we feel will benefit our program as a whole."

For the first time ever, USA Nordic is excited to announce that we will be nominating a women's Nordic Combined Team. In addition to her nomination to the Women's Ski Jumping Team, Tara Geraghty-Moats has also been nominated to the 2018 Women's Nordic Combined National Team.

"We are excited about our continued expansion of our teams and with the exciting development of Women’s Nordic Combined including confirmation of the event in the 2021 World Championships,” said USA Nordic Sport Executive Director Bill Demong. “Tara Geraughty-Moats continues to be one of our top talents in the sport and, though she was unable to compete in any Nordic Combined competitions last year due to injury, USA Nordic recognizes the importance of growing our sports and developing athletes who have the ability to push the envelope and we are excited to lead growth and opportunity in this new discipline of Women’s Nordic Combined."