Men's Alpine Staff Adds Experience
PARK CITY, UT (May 15) – The men's U.S. Alpine Ski Team has added Andreas Evers, Bernd Brunner and former Audi FIS Alpine World Cup athlete TJ Lanning to its coaching staff for the upcoming World Cup and World Championship season. Evers, who will lead the men's speed program, brings 17 years of World Cup experience and was previously at the helm of the highly successful Austrian men's downhill team. Brunner also joins the U.S. Ski Team from Austria where he had coached for 15 seasons. He will serve as the head coach for a newly formed World Cup B training group. Lanning, who was one of the most heralded juniors of the past decade, saw multiple World Cup top 10 finishes before injuries forced him to step aside from racing. He will now bring his unique eye to the men's speed program with Evers. All three new coaches were on snow with the team during their first camp of the preparation period which wrapped May 13 at Mammoth Mountain, CA.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Andreas Evers was named head coach of the men's speed program
- Bernd Brunner will lead a newly formed men's World Cup B training group.
- Evers and Brunner bring a combined 32 years of successful World Cup coaching experience from working within the Austrian Ski Team.
- Chris Brigham, a highly respected coach who began working with U.S. men's program in 1994, has moved on.
- TJ Lanning has transitioned from successful World Cup athlete to a coach with the men's speed program and will work with Evers.
- Evers, Brunner and Lanning were on snow with the athletes during their first camp of the prep period, which closed May 13 in Mammoth Mountain, CA.
- U.S. Ski Team athletes will be named in November during First Tracks at Vail, CO.
QUOTES
Patrick Riml, Alpine Program Director
All three coaches bring an incredible amount of experience, perspective and leadership which will allow our program to continue to perform and progress at a high level as we move into the World Championship and Olympic years.
Andreas [Evers] was extremely successful as a coach with Austria and that brings a tremendous amount of value to this program. He also brings high expectations and will work with each of the athletes to find ways to help them perform at a high level.
In addition to the years he spent with the Austrian team, Bernd [Brunner] spent some time leading the Green Mountain Valley School alpine program so he's very familiar with our system and has a great plan for getting our athletes to perform on the World Cup quicker.
Sasha Rearick, Men's Alpine Head Coach
The athletes had some time to work with Andreas [Evers] and Bernd [Brunner] in Mammoth last week and we're already seeing the benefits they bring to the table. They're both very calm and bring an incredible amount of experience and perspective to this program and have a great feel for what each athlete needs to perform at their highest ability.
We're also incredibly lucky that TJ [Lanning] chose to make the transition from athlete to coach. He has a tremendous spark and is extremely competitive with a great eye for skiing. He has a familiarity and respect with the athletes that you can't teach and that inspires everyone to be improve.
What we gain in adding a World Cup B program is freeing Mike Day and Forest Carey to work with our top six performing athletes on the technical side – Bode [Miller], Ted [Ligety], Tommy [Ford], Tim [Jitloff], Will [Brandenburg] and Nolan [Kasper].
2012-2013 MEN'S U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM COACHING STAFF
Program Director: Patrick Riml
Head Coach: Sasha Rearick
World Cup Speed
Head Coach: Andreas Evers
Assistant Coach: Tommy Eckfeldt
Assistant Coach: TJ Lanning
World Cup Technical
Coach: Forest Carey
Coach: Mike Day
Giant Slalom Coach: Dane Spencer
Slalom Coach: Josh Applegate
World Cup B
Head Coach: Bernd Brunner
Assistant Coach: Ben Black
Europa Cup
Head Coach: Peter Korfiatis
Development
Head Coach: Randy Pelkey
Assistant Coach: Ian Garner