Ski Racing - December 17, 2009

Felicia Byers
Age: 18
Hometown: Sandy, Utah
Trophy Room/Outlook: Making a comeback after
injuries that sidelined her for all of last season, Feli-
cia Byers cleaned house at the 2008 National Junior
Championships, taking the downhill and GS titles and
finishing second in slalom and SG. A seventh place in
a NorAm super G race in 2007-08 proves she has what
it takes to get the job done.

Greta Byrne

Age: 16

Hometown: Medford, NJ

Trophy Room/Outlook: Though she wasn’t old enough to drive at the time, Greta Byrne caught the interest of the D Team when she nabbed the slalom title at last season’s National Junior Championships. Traveling from the East to train with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail, she also landed an eighth place in a NorAm slalom in Canada last February and has several top 10 finishes in FIS downhill and super G races. She likes waffles with peanut butter and admires Lara Gut.

Rose Caston
Age: 17
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Trophy Room/Outlook: Though now out with a
torn ACL, she finished last season among the top five
in World Age Rankings and thus got the call to join the
U.S. Devo Team. With a second place in super G at U.S.
Junior Champs, she started skiing speed on the NorAm
circuit last season with a steady progression, finishing
off with an eighth place in SG at Mammoth Mountain.

Julia Ford

Age: 19

Hometown: Plymouth, N.H.

Trophy Room/Outlook: Wrapping up last season as Ski Racing’s Junior of the Year, Julia Ford scored the NorAm super-combined title (also her first NorAm victory) and with it, a spot to start in combined World Cup races this season. She also narrowly missed a spot on the podium (fourth place) in the discipline at World Juniors and was top 10 in slalom, GS and downhill at the 2009 U.S. Championships. She scored points in slalom in a Europa Cup race last season and can find her way to speed in all disciplines.

Anna Marno

Age: 17

Hometown: Steamboat Springs, Colo.

Trophy Room/Outlook: Newly crowned U.S.

Junior downhill champion was no stranger to winning races last season. She won two FIS slalom races and one GS in Telluride in 2009, then capped off the season with another FIS victory in a Breckenridge super G in April and kicked off the season with a 12th place in the NorAm super combined in Lake Louise.

Lauren Samuels Age: 17 Hometown: Golden Valley, Minn. Trophy Room/Outlook: Lauren Samuels raised eyebrows among top racers when she took 15th in the U.S. Downhill Championship race last spring and was also crowned national junior super G champion, taking silvers in the junior slalom and downhill championship races. Last season was her first on the NorAm circuit and she landed an 11th and 12th in super G and pulled off top 20s in downhill and super combined.

CANADAMEN

Patrick Biggs

Age: 27

Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario

Equipment/Sponsors: Fischer

Olympic Appearances: 2006

Trophy Room: Biggs was third in NorAm slalom standings three consecutive seasons, ‘06 through ‘08.

Outlook: He’s healthy and that’s a big one. According to coach Paul Kristofic, Biggs skied all of the summer training sessions without issues. He’s got a good slalom finish rate, which is his exclusive focus. “We’re looking for him to be top 30,” says Kristofic. “He’s been there before.” Extracurricular: Jamming on the guitar, or building something. Northern Exposure

Home turf advantage in Vancouver? A special preview of the Canadian Alpine Team

Francois Bourque

Age: 25

Hometown: New Richmond, Quebec

Equipment/Sponsors: Salomon

Olympic Appearances: 2006

Trophy Room: Four World Cup podiums and a fourth in the 2006 Olympic GS.

Outlook: Bourque lost all of last year after sustaining a knee injury in his first race of the season at Lake Louise. “He started back up with us in New Zealand at the end of July,” says Kristofic. “There were no flare-ups which was great. The first camp was a progressive build up and at the last camp in Chile he was back up to speed with the confidence to push the leg as hard as he needs, or wants to.”