Trophy Room: A two-time World Junior Team
member, he notched three top- 10 Europa Cup
downhill results last season. Transue came into
the team burdened with the “super talent” label. In trying to live up to the label, he’s earned
another as “fragile,” after a series of injuries has
had him spending more time in the gym than
on snow. “Last season was the first in three he
wasn’t coming back from a major knee injury,” says Rearick. “He moved
to Park City and spends a fair amount of time at the Center of Excellence.
This is a big year for him. He needs to establish himself on the World Cup.
He’s been on the team for seven years — admittedly he’s been injured for a
number of those. He’s given a much greater effort since August. He’s been
held accountable and he’s pushing what he’s capable of … but he faces a big
challenge.”
Extracurricular: Tennis, baseball and fishing, but the focus is ski racing.
and is spending two hours a day doing skis and that takes away he ability
to recover. He’s not been skiing well. He hasn’t found it yet, but last year at
this time he was worse than he is now. I think he’ll find it again.”
Extracurricular: Motocross, bow hunting, fishing, tattoos.
WOMEN’S B TEAM
USSA ( 3); GEPA 3 (ZAMANSKY HEAD, ACTION)
Jake Zamansky
Age: 28
Home: Aspen, Colo.
Equipment/Sponsors: Fischer, Ogio
Olympic Appearances: None
Trophy Room/Outlook: A former Ski Racing
Junior of the Year, he made two World Junior
Teams. It was last season before he got his first
World Cup points, all coming at three of the
toughest GS hills on the circuit: Alta Badia, Adelboden and Sestriere. And
earning a start in last season’s World Championship GS confirmed to Zamansky that he can play with the big dogs. That he got there despite a broken collarbone in the pre-season convinced some others he could as well.
Fighting through a bad back and banged-up shin throughout last season
in addition to the collar ought to win him some sort of iron-man award.
This is one tough hombre. “It’s good to have Jake back on the team,” says
Rearick. “He’s been healthy. The back and shin are doing much better. He
continues to prepare his own skis. He’s very involved with his equipment
Stacey Cook
Age: 25
Hometown: Mammoth, Calif.
Equipment/Sponsors: Rossignol, Uvex,
Mammoth Mountain, Sun Valley Ski Tools,
Athleta
Trophy Room/Outlook: When Stacey
Cook relaxes, she usually finds herself in the
mix of the top 15 racers in the world. Such was
the case at the 2009 World Championships, where, after being given an
unprecedented spot on the team, she put down a ninth place in the downhill race and also a 16th in super G. The NorAm overall champ has a handful of World Cup top 10s to her name — including a near-podium fourth
place — and is looking to find her stride this season.
Trophy Room/Outlook: Hailey Duke
raised some eyebrows last season when she
put down an eighth-place finish in the slalom
in Semmering. The slalom extraordinaire has
more than proven her worth on the Europa Cup circuit with three victories,
and has scored points in every World Cup race that she’s completed. Finishing is key, however, and Duke is ready to make that her habit.
Extracurricular: A competitive martial artist, the Sun Valley skier is also
a bookworm and will participate in nearly any sport that comes her way.
