Miller, Rahlves, Clark lead U.S. alpine team for 2003-04

Miller, Rahlves, Clark lead U.S. alpine team for 2003-04{mosimage}USSA — Record-setting Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), who became the first U.S. man to win three medals at a World Championships, and Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA), the first U.S. skier to win the heralded Hahnenkamm downhill since 1959, are among 45 skiers named Wednesday to the U.S. alpine team for the 2004 season.

U.S. Alpine Director Jesse Hunt said they would be joined by three other World Championships medalists – Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT), Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME) and Jonna Mendes (Heavenly, CA) – plus Kristina Koznick (Burnsville, MN), who won the sixth World Cup race of her career last season and Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA), who won two more medals at the World Junior Championships and her first three U.S. championships. Koznick returns to the U.S. team after training independently for three years.

“We made major progress last season in maintaining the momentum from our Olympic season,” Hunt said, “and the alpine athletes are in a position to go for more success and turn up the heat as contenders on the road to the 2006 Olympics. Bode and Daron had incredible seasons; Erik and Kirsten and Jonna showed at Worlds the U.S. is not just a one- or two-man show … and Koz has proven to be one of the sport’s outstanding slalom skiers.”

The 2004 Ski Team includes 24 men and 21 women with nine skiers on the development squad.

Miller, who had two silver medals from the 2002 Olympics, collected gold in combined and giant slalom plus silver in super G last season as he became the only skier – male or female – to race in every World Cup. He finished second overall and second in GS points – the best American results since Phil Mahre won the overall World Cup crown and the GS title in 1983. He also picked up two more World Cup victories.

Rahlves won the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbuehel, Austria, the first American to do that since Buddy Werner 44 years earlier, and added another World Cup downhill win in Bormio, Italy. He also became the first U.S. man to finish second in the World Cup DH standings.

Clark and Mendes were the surprise silver and bronze medalists, respectively, in super G at the World Championships while Schlopy staged a near-storybook recovery on the second run to earn the GS bronze medal. Koznick won the final slalom of the season in Hafjell, Norway.

2004 U.S. ALPINE SKI TEAM ROSTER

Men
A Team – Jake Fiala (27; Frisco, CO); Chad Fleischer (31; Vail, CO); Chip Knight (28; Stowe, VT); Bode Miller (25; Franconia, NH); Daron Rahlves (29; Sugar Bowl, CA); Tom Rothrock (24; Cashmere, WA); Erik Schlopy (30; Park City, UT); and Marco Sullivan (23; Squaw Valley, CA)

B Team – Wade Bishop (23; Winter Park, CO); Bryon Friedman (22; Park City, UT); Scott Macartney (25; Redmond, WA); Jesse Marshall (22; Pittsfield, VT); Dane Spencer (25; Boise, ID); and Thomas Vonn (27; Newburgh, NY)

C Team – Nick Baker (18; Gilford, NH); James Cochran (21; Keene, NH); Adam Cole (20; Park City, UT); Kevin Francis (20; Bend, OR); Greg Hardy (19; Wardsboro, VT); Jeff Harrison (19; Steilacoom, WA); TJ Lanning (18; Park City, UT); Steve Nyman (21; Sundance, UT); Jeremy Transue (22; Hunter, NY); and Jake Zamansky (21; Carbondale, CO);

Women
A Team – Kirsten Clark (26; Raymond, ME); Kristina Koznick (27; Burnsville, MN); Caroline Lalive (23; Steamboat Springs, CO); Julia Mancuso (19; Olympic Valley, CA); Jonna Mendes (24; Heavenly, CA); and Sarah Schleper (24; Vail, CO)

B Team – Lindsey Kildow (19; Vail, CO); Libby Ludlow (21; Bellevue, WA); Katie Monahan (30; Aspen, CO); Kaylin Richardson (18; Edina, MN); Lauren Ross (21; Stowe, VT); and Resi Stiegler (17; Jackson Hole, WY)

C Team – Kristen Bybee (21; Jackson Hole, WY); Stacey Cook (18; Truckee, CA); Katharine Hitchcock (18; Carmichael, CA); Keely Kelleher (18; Gallatin Gateway, MT); Jessica Kelley (20; Starksboro, VT); Bryna McCarty (20; Concord, VT); Alison Powers (23; Winter Park, CO); Ashley Spina (18; Guildhall, VT); and Lauren Van Ness (19; Colorado Springs, CO).

2004 U.S. ALPINE DEVELOPMENT TEAM ROSTER

Men – Ted Ligety (18; Park City, UT); Andrew Weibrecht (17; Lake Placid, NY); and Evan Weiss (19; Seattle)

Women – Caitlin Ciccone (18; Littleton, NH); Shelley Glover (17 on May 14; Madison, WI); Megan Hughes (19; Killington, VT); Lesley Lemasurier (18; Nellysford, VA); Chelsea Marshall (16; Pittsfield, VT); and Rachel Roosevelt (19; Storrs, CT)