Five women, one man nominated for XC A-Team

Five women and one man have been nominated for the US Ski Team’s A squad with two women and three men nominated for the B team.

The A-Team will continue to be anchored by Kikkan Randall, winning her second straight sprint title and finishing third overall on the World Cup tour to become arguably the greatest cross country skier the US has ever produced. But Randall had considerable help this season. She and Jessica Diggins claimed the gold medal in the World Championship team sprint with Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks and Ida Sargent all producing outstanding results during the season with Andy Newell, the lone male on the A team list, adding a fifth place ranking in the sprint standings.

The B-Team nominations include Erik Bjornsen and Sadie Bjornsen of the Alaska Pacific University team, Sophie Caldwell, Simi Hamilton and Noah Hoffman.

The “preliminary list of nominations” include active athletes qualified based on publish selection criteria. The team will be officially named in the fall. Among criteria for the coming World Cup season are an overall ranking among the top 50 in the 2013 World Cup season, a top 30 ranking in World Cup sprint or distance ranking and/or the 2013 USSA SuperTour title.