MEN’S DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Michael Ankeny
Age: 19
Hometown: Deephaven, Minn
Trophy Room/Outlook: A skier from the age of 9,
Michael Ankeny became a national race winner at 10
and has quickly risen to the top of the junior ranks.
With dozens of top- 10 finishes, Ankeny earned a spot
on the U.S. Ski Team prior to the ‘09 season. Among
those results were three podiums and a win at the J2
Junior Olympics, as well as a fifth in slalom at the 08
Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships — a result that made slalom
champion Jimmy Cochran say: “There’s a lot to be learned from watching
guys like Michael Ankeny, basically all those up-and-coming junior racers. I mean, they’re fast.” Ankeny took that speed to his first Junior World
Championships during the ‘09 season and is looking for a return ticket in
2010.
in ‘09, resulted in a downhill sixth, but he has every intention of besting
that during his last year as a junior. To get there, Maple moved to Park City
for the months of July and August to set up shop at Center of Excellence.
Keith Moffat
Age: 19
Hometown: Berkeley, Calif.,
Trophy Room/Outlook: A first and third in the two downhills of last
season’s Development Series races at Big Sky helped propel Moffat to a
development team berth. He’s ranked 20th in the nation in downhill by
his USSA points, a pretty remarkable achievement based on five races.
Nick Daniels
Age: 18
Hometown: Tahoe City, Calif.
Trophy Room/Outlook: On skis at the age of 3 and
a member of the Squaw Valley Ski Team from kindergarten on, Nick Daniels is an all-around skier with
skills that are carrying him up the ranks. He’s had a
slew of top- 10 results in tech and speed events, but put
a big stamp on speed during the ‘09 season when he
rocketed to a ninth place finish in downhill at the Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships in Alaska. Daniels rolls into 2010
looking for a shot at the FIS Junior World Championships and as many
NorAm starts as he can pack into a season.
Ben Morse
Age: 17
Hometown: Carrabassett Valley, Maine
Trophy Room/Outlook: Morse was a slalom bronze medalist at the
Topolino races in Italy as a J3, then finished third overall at the J2 Junior
Nationals earning him a start at the ‘08 U.S. Champs held on his home
mountain of Sugarloaf. He finished 17th in slalom and sped things up a bit
the next season winning slalom and downhill J2 Nationals and scoring his
slot on the D Team. When not ringing out customers at the local grocery
store, Morse hit up Team camps at Mt. Hood and Chile with the goal of
“retaining my membership on the D Team, which will entail making fundamental adjustments, lowering my points, and sweating at lot.”
Colby Granstrom
Age: 19
Hometown: Lake Stevens, Wash.
Trophy Room/Outlook: Colby Granstrom made a
statement at the 2003 Whistler Cup races, when he
won both the slalom and giant slalom. Now in his
third year on the U.S. Development Team, this Mission Ridge product nailed a 10th-place finish in slalom among all racers, not just juniors, at the ‘09 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships and earned a
pair of top- 20 finishes in his first FIS junior world champs.
Hunter Schleper
Age: 18
Hometown: Vail, Colo.
Trophy Room/Outlook: Hunter Schleper practically lived at his dad’s
ski shop in Vail as a tyke. Lucky for him, his older sister Sarah, was into
racing and showed Hunter the ropes. It wasn’t long until he was among the
best juniors in the country, scoring victories in super G and giant slalom at
the ‘08 J2 Nationals. He also won everything but the downhill at the ‘08
Canadian Junior Champs and exited the season with a No. 1 ranking for
GS and slalom among juniors. Surgery on both his knee and shoulder in
the spring of ‘09 kept him off snow during the summer prep period, but
Schleper says he hit the gym twice as hard to make up for the lost time.
WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT TEAM
USSA ( 5)
Wiley Maple
Age: 19
Hometown: Aspen, Colo.,
Trophy Room/Outlook: Originally focused on
hockey, Maple made the decision to quit hockey and
focus on skiing as a youngster. Good choice. Maple
won the 2008 National Junior Championships downhill title in addition to taking second in the slalom and
third in super G. His second trip to the Junior Worlds,
Vanessa Berther
Age: 17
Hometown: Bellevue, Wash.
Trophy Room/Outlook: On skis at the age of 3 with her father coaching her, Vanessa Berther won the overall combined title at the Western
Region Junior Olympics two seasons ago and by the time she was a J1
last season, she was winning all sorts of titles, including the overall at
the J1 Canadian Championships and the GS title at the National Junior
Championships. She holds her own in all events, even when competing
with the big girls (she was 12th in last season’s
slalom race at the Nature Valley U.S. Championships). You might also catch her on the golf
course or artfully transforming photos on her
computer.
