Three Vermont cross-country skiers will compete in the upcoming Olympics, after an official announcement today from the United States Ski and Snowboarding Association.

Andy Newell (Shaftsbury) will make his second Olympic appearance, while Liz Stephen (Montpelier) and Caitlin Compton, a former Warren resident and Harwood Union graduate, will compete in the Games for the first time. Both Newell and Stephen race on the elite FIS World Cup, a series which occurs annually.

Newell, 26, is currently one of the world’s fastest sprinters. The Stratton Mountain School graduate has been on the podium twice on the World Cup stage, and this season he’s been in the mix nearly every race. Look for an epic performance out of him come Vancouver. BTW he grew up racing and skiing at Prospect Mountain in Bennington – go there and you’ll see his photo plastered all over the lodge.

Stephen, 23,  is an up-and-coming distance skier. Last season, she was fourth in the U23 World Championships just before capturing 15th and 17th at FIS World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. She also closed out the season with dual national titles in the classic sprint and the 30K classic.

What’s perhaps most impressive about Stephen is that she only started cross country skiing about eight years ago. She was an alpine racer and a good cross country runner when she enrolled at Burke Mountain Academy. But as she lost her passion for alpine racing, she began focusing on what could best prepare her for the running season. Two years after she took up cross country skiing, she won the 10k classic at Junior Olympics.

Compton, 29, started the year off the radar, so-to-speak. She is not a named member of the U.S. Ski Team, but has competed in biathlon for two years.   Still, the 29-year-old Harwood Union graduate just won a Super Tour 10k classic race in Winthrop, WA, which sealed the deal on her Olympic selection. She also performed well during the national championships in Anchorage where she finished fifth in the freestyle sprint on Jan. 2 and then placed second in the 10k freestyle race on Jan. 4. Two days later she claimed third place in the 20k classic race.

More on these three in coming posts.

USSA will be rolling out the rest of its Olympic Teams in coming days, so check back for more news.

More on Andy: In addition to being ridiculously fast on the skinny skis, Newell pulls some pretty amazing stunts on them, too. Check out this video. And he’s got a great Web site, too.

Watch a video that Newell and Stephen made during training camp this summer in New Zealand.

2010 U.S. OLYMPIC CROSS COUNTRY SKI TEAM
(name, hometown, age as of opening ceremonies, birthdate, (past Olympics))

Morgan Arritola, Ketchum, ID, 23, 5/13/86
Caitlin Compton, Minneapolis, 29, 11/7/80
Kris Freeman, Andover, NH, 29, 10/14/80 (2002, 2006)
Torin Koos, Leavenworth, 29, 7/19/80 (2002, 2006)
Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT, 25, 11/30/84 (2006)
Kikkan Randall, Anchorage, 27, 12/31/82 (2002, 2006)
James Southam, Anchorage, 31, 6/5/78 (2006)
Liz Stephen, Montpelier, VT, 22, 1/12/87

Tags: compton, cross country, newell, olympic teams, stephen

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