The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team announced its Olympic freestyle skiing selections on Monday night, and half of the mogul roster is made up of SSCV Freestyle athletes. Tess Johnson, Morgan Schild, Casey Andringa and Emerson Smith all got the nod from the national association. They represent four of the eight mogul athletes who punched their tickets to South Korea.
The team was selected based on results from seven Olympic qualification events during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
“This is one of the strongest freestyle teams we’ve seen in recent Olympic years,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard freestyle program director Todd Schirman. “Every single one of these athletes have podium potential and have demonstrated that leading up to this season and throughout our qualification process. We are extremely proud of this team and look forward to seeing what they can do in PyeongChang.”
SSCV’s Morgan Schild spent 22 months recovering from an ACL injury. She returned to competition in January 2016 and has been one of the strongest U.S. women’s mogul skiers ever since.
Meanwhile, SSCV’s Casey Andringa burst onto the World Cup scene just one month ago, placing in the top 10 in his first two starts. A dark horse, Andringa has never been named to the U.S. Ski Team. Now he’s an Olympian.
“Our Olympic moguls team has a great blend of experience and youth,” said Head Moguls Coach Matt Gnoza. “For many athletes, this will be their first time competing at the Games. I couldn’t be more pleased with what we have in the way of a team. This is a very solid group of athletes that are strong, prepared and focused and has a ton of potential to execute in PyeongChang.”
The moguls team will open its Olympic competition with qualifying and medal events Feb. 9, 11 and 12. Aerials will compete Feb. 15-18.
NBCUniversal will present more than 2,400 hours of coverage across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, USA Network, NBCOlympics.com, and the NBC Sports app – the most ever for a Winter Olympics.
2018 U.S. Olympic Freestyle Skiing Team
Men’s Moguls
Casey Andringa – Boulder, Colo. (10/6/1995)
Troy Murphy – Bethel, Maine (06/13/1992)
Bradley Wilson – Butte, Mont. (06/05/1992)*
Emerson Smith – Dover, Vt. (12/13/1997)
Women’s Moguls
Tess Johnson – Vail, Colo. (06/12/2000)
Jaelin Kauf – Alta, Wyo. (09/26/1996)
Keaton McCargo – Telluride, Colo. (07/10/1995)
Morgan Schild – Rochester, N.Y. (08/25/1997)
Men’s Aerials
Mac Bohonnon – Madison, Conn. (08/20/1994)*
Jon Lillis – Rochester, N.Y. (08/20/1994)
Eric Loughran – Pelham, N.H. (12/04/1995)
Women’s Aerials
Ashley Caldwell – Ashburn, Va. (09/14/1993)*
Kiley McKinnon – Madison, Conn. (09/01/1995)
Madison Olsen – Park City, Utah (04/07/1995)
*Competed in past Olympics
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