Park City, UT, March 21, 2023 – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has formally announced the six athletes that have been selected to represent the United States at the 2023 Ski Cross World Junior Championships, which will take place in San Pellegrino, Italy, March 25-28. 

The 2023 team is composed of some of the strongest young athletes in the country who will compete at the international capital of snow sports on the Costabella slope at San Pellegrino Pass.

On the women's squad, Morgan Shute has had a strong season so far, with a win at Gore Mountain Ski Area NorAm Cup and six NorAm top-10 results since December. Along with Shute is her teammate from Carabassett Valley Academy Maggie Swain and Ski & Snowboard Club Vail’s Lindsey Labaugh. Swaine has four top-10’s  in NorAms with a fifth place in Nakiska, Canada. Labaugh also snagged four top-10’s, highlighted by her third place at Gore. 

"The World Juniors are an important international benchmarking event and are a stepping stone to higher-level international competition in the future like the World Cup," said Chip Knight, Athletic Development Director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard. "It’s an honor to be named to represent our country!"

On the men's side, Tanner Murphy, Jack Mitchell and Walker Robinson will represent the red, white and blue. Aleyska Ski Club’s Murphy has had a strong year, taking home second place at the National Championships at Copper Mountain Resort and three first place trophies at the NorAm Cups. Mitchell, who was on the podium in third at the NorAm Cup at Gore and in the top-10 three times, is ready for the next step. Robinson also joins the team, hailing from Team Summit Colorado, with six NorAm World Cups starts this season, landed in the top-10  in three of them.

The 2023 Junior Worlds will include individual ski cross and a team event for both men and women. Live timing will be provided by the International Ski Federation (FIS).

2023 Ski Cross World Junio Championships Athletes
Name – hometown, club, birthdate

Women

Morgan Shute – Allendale, NJ, Carrabassett Valley Academy, 9/13/2006
Maggie Swain – Kingfield, ME, Carrabassett Valley Academy, 7/10/2006
Lindsey Labaugh – Avon, CO, Ski & Snowboard Club Vail, 4/10/2005

Men

Tanner Murphy – Tahoma, CA, Alyeska Ski Club, 3/3/2005
Jack Mitchell – Wenatchee, WA, Mission Ridge Ski Team, 3/3/2003
Walker Robinson – Frisco, CO, Team Summit Colorado, 6/27/2006

Coaches

Morgan Haymans
Rodney Robinson
Mike Phelan
Adam Bourns

Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team wrapped up the 2022-23 season in style, winning her 88th World Cup at the World Cup Finals giant slalom in Soldeu, Andorra. It was her 138th career podium and her 21st giant slalom win, breaking two women’s records. She also received her second career giant slalom crystal globe, marking her the most successful skier in the discipline, along with her fifth overall crystal globe, the biggest prize in ski racing.

Shiffrin skied to win, taking the first run handily by .62 seconds and put down a smart second run to secure the win by .06. It was her seventh giant slalom win of the season and her 21st career World Cup win—breaking Vreni Schneider’s record of 20 GS wins, which Shiffrin tied last week. The overall record is held by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who won 46 GS races throughout his time on the World Cup circuit.  

"I was so nervous at the start," laughed Shiffrin. "I think there isn’t a reason. You want to do well and it doesn’t matter about the records—you just want to do well."

The win extended Shiffrin’s overall record for World Cup wins to 88 and officially gave her the giant slalom globe, which she had clinched in her record-tying 86th win last week. She also received the overall FIS crystal globe for the fifth time after the race with a personal best 2,206 World Cup points throughout the season, which beat her record from 2018-19, when she won a historic 17 races. Tina Maze of Slovenia holds the record for more points in a single season with 2,414 from 2012-13. Shiffrin now has 15 crystal globes from 13 seasons—five overall and 10 discipline titles—including three from this season: overall, GS and slalom. This is Shiffrin’s second overall globe in a row, and she is one of only four skiers to win the overall at least five times.

The result also increased Shiffrin’s resume to 138 World Cup podium finishes, breaking the record held by Lindsey Vonn.

Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund was second in her first career podium and Valerie Grenier of Canada was third. Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team skier Paula Moltzan finished 15th. Nina O’Brien did not finish her first run. Watch the replay of the race on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET today, March 19. 

No Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team men competed in the men’s slalom on Sunday. Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland took the win with Lucas Braathen of Norway in second and Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway in third. Braathen’s second place secured him the slalom globe—a hard-fought title throughout the season. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won the overall globe.

RESULTS
Women's giant slalom
Men's slalom

HOW TO WATCH

Sunday, March 19
3:00 p.m. ET - Women's Giant Slalom, CNBC*

*delayed broadcast

The aerial skiers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team closed out their competition season under bluebird skies at World Cup Finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Sunday. 

Three women represented the U.S. in finals: Kaila Kuhn, WInter Vinecki and Dani Loeb with Kuhn and Vinecki both advancing to the super final round. Kuhn performed full full in the first final round so as to have her higher degree of difficulty trick for Supers - double-full full - which earned her a score of 89.18. She held in third position until Australia’s Laura Peel wowed the crowd with her lay tuck full to win the event. Kuhn was the top U.S. finisher of the day in fourth. She ends the season ranked fourth overall - a career best.

“It got a little bit challenging today, the jump was a little soft so a bit of a journey for everybody to get used to,” Kuhn said. “I’m happy with my consistency this season. I ended up fourth overall this year, best so far. It was my first double-full full on this site, so I am happy to have put it to my feet.”

Vinecki performed double-full full to qualify into Supers, which left her with full full for her final jump. She earned 79.69 for fifth place. Dani Loeb finished 12th and Megan Nick 14th. Australia went one-two on the podium with Peel and Danielle Scott, respectively, and Canada’s Marion Thenault took third. 

Chris Lillis and Derek Krueger both made finals appearances. Lillis stomped a full double-full full to qualify in second for the super final round. He called double-full full double-full - a quint - but had difficulty in his takeoff and didn’t have the room to complete five twists. He took it down to a quad to safely land to his feet. Aerial skiers must perform the trick they call prior to takeoff or it’s considered a DNF so Lillis unfortunately earned no score for his jump and finished the day in sixth. 

Krueger finished tenth and Quinn Dehlinger 16th. 

Switzerland went first and second with Permin Werner and Noe Roth, respectively, and Canada’s Emile Nadeau finished third. 

The U.S. Aerials Freestyle Ski Team earned the Nations Cup, an impressive feat for a season with only six events to draw points from. 

“It feels really good to be part of the team that's been so consistent this season,” said Kuhn. “To win the Nations Cup again, along with moguls this weekend, shows how hard we’re training and that all of it is paying off. I can’t think of a better way to end the season.”

“It is great to win the Nations Cup,” said Head Aerials Coach Vladimir Lebedev. “I’m glad the whole team is healthy and that we finished the season strong.”

RESULTS
Women’s Aerials
Men’s Aerials
Women’s Discipline Standings
Men’s Discipline Standings

If an avalanche breaks off above the slopestyle course during practice, most would call it quits, but for the U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle men competing in Tignes, France, nothing would stop them. On March 15, Tignes experienced a large avalanche boom down from the peaks, just above the slopestyle course, where the men were training for their upcoming competition. Videos were captured of the competitors running away from the looming mist and snow. Fortunately, no one was injured and the slopestyle course stayed intact. This would only fuel the fire for the men to show that nothing would get in their way.

Just three days later, Hunter Henderson, Troy Podmilsak, Konnor Ralph and Cody LaPlante were set to drop into finals on a balmy day. The weather could not have been more perfect and the slopestyle course was in mint condition, with three jumps and three variations of rails. 

Each competitor had two opportunities to put down their best run for the judges. LaPlante laced his first run of the day and scored an 85.00 flat to end up in eighth place as the top American finisher. Rookie team member Ralph followed LaPlante in ninth place with a score of 83.25. Podmilsak completed his first run to score a 78.75 which put him in 12th place for the day. Unfortunately, Henderson had trouble during his two finals runs and was not able to land either, placing him in 16th. 

As it may have not been the results the men were looking for, they were able to acquire another competition day under their belt. The U.S. Freeski Team slopestyle team will look to finish off their season strong in Silvaplana, Switzerland, March 23-25th. 

Results 
Men's slopestyle

Replay 
Tignes Slopestyle World Cup

Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team athlete Mikaela Shiffrin skied onto the World Cup podium for the 137th time, taking third in the World Cup Finals slalom in Soldeu, Andorra to tie the record for most alpine skiing World Cup podiums for a woman. She also received her seventh career slalom World Cup crystal globe, marking her the most dominant slalom skier of the 2022-23 season.

“My first several slalom globes, it’s almost like I won them almost without understanding,” Shiffrin reflected after the race. “I had less pressure when I was skiing—feeling young, just trying to earn my spot to be racing on the World Cup still. Now there’s always a little more weight.  Every single race I feel the weight of having to be one of the best in the world no matter what the day is. It’s quite a privilege but somedays it’s quite heavy. But today it didn’t feel heavy, it just felt like a really good opportunity. It was the best way to finish the season in a race.”

Shiffrin’s podium ties her with Lindsey Vonn’s women’s podium record and brings Shiffrin's total podium percentage above 55%, meaning that she podiums in more than half of her World Cup starts. The only men with more World Cup podiums are retired skiers Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 138 and Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden with 155. Shiffrin already has the most alpine skiing World Cup wins in history with 87, having beat Stenmark’s record last week.

Plus, the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team women won the FIS Nations Cup for slalom. The combination of slalom points earned by the slalom team helped achieve this great effort. This is the first time in history that the U.S. has gotten this title. This honor is highlighted by Shiffrin's stellar slalom performance this season as well as Paula Moltzan's top seven slalom ranking season. 

The day was tricky, with warm weather and soft snow. Shiffrin was fourth after first run, and was able to bump up a place to the podium with a fast second run. Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team skier Paula Moltzan was sitting in sixth after first run, but had to hike second run and dropped to 16th place. Petra Vlhova of Slovakia took the win with Leona Popovic of Croatia in second place.

On the men’s side, Tommy Ford was the leading Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team man, finishing in 18th place. River Radamus did not finish his first run.

"Today was more linked together from top to bottom than I've had for the second half the season. I've had runs here and there but it was good and it felt good to do that again," said Ford. 

Marco Odermatt of Switzerland won his 13th Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup of the season by an astonishing 2.11 seconds to tie the men’s single-season win record. He also broke Austrian Hermann Maier’s men’s record of 2,000 points from the 1999-00 season, accumulating 2,042 points so far for the season. Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway was second and Marco Schwarz of Austria was third. Odermatt also took home the GS crystal globe.

The men race slalom on Sunday, while the women race giant slalom to wrap up the season. Shiffrin will have a chance to break the World Cup podium tie in tomorrow’s GS, where she has already secured the GS crystal globe. Stream both races live on skiandsnowboard.live or Peacock, or watch the delayed women’s GS broadcast at CNBC at 3 p.m. ET. Watch the recap of today’s women’s slalom on CNBC at 3 p.m. ET.

HOW TO WATCH
all times EST

Saturday, March 18
3:00 p.m. - Women's Slalom, CNBC*

Sunday, March 19
4:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
5:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 1, skiandsnowboard.live
7:00 a.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live, peacocktv.com
8:30 a.m. - Men's Slalom, Run 2, skiandsnowboard.live
3:00 p.m. - Women's Giant Slalom, CNBC*

*delayed broadcast

On another day of racing in Falun, Sweden, five Americans advanced to the quarterfinal heats in the skate sprint. Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern and Sammy Smith advanced for the women and Ben Ogden for the men. 

It was another partly cloudy day at the racing complex, with thousands of fans packed in around the sprint course - showcasing the fan base of Swedish skiing. In the qualification round, seven women and five U.S. men were on the start list, among the other 52 other women and 68 men. Diggins, Brennan, Kern, Smith, Novie McCabe, Lauren Jortberg and Hailey Swirbul started for the women, while Zak Ketterson, Luke Jager, JC Schoonmaker, Kevin Bolger and Ogden started for the men. 

A highlight of the day included Sammy Smith, the youngest competitor in the field by nearly three years, qualifying for the heats in her second-ever skate sprint start. Smith is an all-around athlete and when she is not skiing, Smith is an avid soccer player, runner and freestyle skier. 

Overall, Diggins finished 13th, Kern 14th, Smith 27th, Brennan 29th and Ogden 12th.

In the last several weeks, the race schedule has been stacked with the 50k Holmenkollen and a long World Championships program. Fatigue is a real threat to all athletes on the circuit but with only two more locations left to race, athletes are finding what is left in the tank and giving it their all. 

"With all of this racing, my body has just been unpredictable. Today, my body just had nothing and it was tough to find much sprinter power in my legs," said Brennan. "It's time to rest up and a few more races to give some fight for!"

At the end of the day, the team focused on the fast skis and the amount of Americans in the heats - showcasing the depth that this team is building on the international stage. Now, rest is a priority before tomorrow's second-annual 4.5k mixed team relay, which the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team won just one year ago.

Quest for the Overall

Diggins' quest to the FIS overall crystal globe is closer than ever. Before this race, Diggins was 123 points out from the FIS overall crystal globe and is second in the standings for the overall distance globe. After today's sprint, she has narrowed the gap even more, with the next couple of races key in clinching the season. 

"It is an honor to be in the fight at all and sitting second in the overall and distance, but it is not something that I try and focus on or think about a lot because so many things need to line up and go right over the course of the whole season," said Diggins. "It is of course something that is really cool and exciting and fun and especially knowing all the fans that are following it! Me personally, I am trying to focus on every day and racing the best that I can. Each day, I go out there and have some concrete process goals that I am working towards and that is my main focus right now."

Brennan is currently sitting in fourth place in the overall World Cup globe standings while Kern is sitting in fifth and Ogden in 10th for the sprint World Cup overall sprint standings.

RESULTS
Women
Men

The mogul skiers of the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team battled it out Saturday one last time at the Dual Moguls World Cup Finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan to secure the discipline’s Nations Cup. Jaelin Kauf snagged another podium with a second place finish and Olivia Giaccio earned her third-career World Cup podium with a third pace finish. 

Kauf dueled against teammate Hannah Soar in the Quarter Final and Giaccio in the Semi Final to make it to the Big Final against France’s Perrine Laffont. 

“Today was good, really fun,” said Kauf. “Unfortunately, I did have to take out a few teammates.” 

The battle for the top position pitted Kauf and Laffont together for one last time this season. Kauf had the advantage down the middle section but Laffont managed to cross the finish line first to take the win. “I was just trying to get to that top air first, make Perrine chase me a little. I focused on skiing my run and keeping it as clean as possible. She kind of snuck ahead on that bottom air and got me. I left it all out there, that’s all I can do.”

With this result Kauf ends the Dual Moguls season ranked third overall. “I am really stoked with that.”

Giaccio battled teammate Alli Macuga in the Small Final to take third. Giaccio has been knocking on the door of podium positions all season, so to end the tour on this note felt especially sweet. 

“It feels really good, feels like a little bit of a relief in a sense to know that I can kind of break that barrier again,” Giaccio said. “It’s been tough throughout the season feeling so close yet so far. I’m thankful that I managed to make it happen. Big thanks to my coaches, to my family and my mentors for helping me push through run by run.”

Macuga’s fourth place finish marks a career best for the newly minted Rookie of the Year. It was a strong showing for the women overall, with five going two through six: Kauf (second), Giaccio (third), Macuga (fourth), Lulu Shaffer (fifth - a career best) and Soar (sixth). Tess Johnson finished tenth and Kasey Hogg finished twelfth.

On the men’s side Dylan Walczyk was the top American finisher in sixth place. The Americans met some heavy hitters in the quarter final round. Landon Wendler dueled against Sweden’s Walter Wallberg to finish the day seventh. Nick Page met Canada’s Mikael Kingsbury and finished the day in eighth. Cole McDonald finished 11th, Charlie Mickel 19th and Asher Michel 25th. Kingsbury won, Wallberg finished second and Australia’s Matt Graham took third. 

Moguls finishes their competitive season at Waterville Valley Resort for U.S. Freestyle Nationals March 22-26. 

Head Coach Bryon Wilson was proud to finish the tour strong and looks forward to the work ahead. “It was a really great weekend here in Kazakhstan,” he said. “Leaving here with four medals, and leaving with both Nations Cups in moguls and dual moguls is incredible. 

“I am impressed with the development crew and excited where we’re headed as a team. It fires me up going into prep season! We’re going to take a couple days to finish off the season at Nationals, get a little breather, and then back to work this spring and summer.”

RESULTS
Women’s Dual Moguls
Men’s Dual Moguls
Women’s Discipline Standings
Men’s Discipline Standings 

The theme today was to give it all you had and that was what the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team did in the 10k classic in Falun, Sweden. 

With the snow falling harder as the hours passed by, making the wax conditions tougher by the minute, the U.S. posted solid results in the third to last World Cup of the season, with four in the top-15. 

The women started the day and found four in the top-30. Jessie Diggins led the team and finished in fourth place, Rosie Brennan was close behind in sixth, Novie McCabe in 14th and Hailey Swirbul in 30th. This is Diggins' best-ever individual classic distance race. 

Diggins had a strong race, staying consistent within the top-10 in the individual start. In the early splits, Diggins was running between third and sixth place, chasing the times of her competitors, mainly Kerttu Kiskanen of Finland, the ultimate winner of the day, Katharina Hennig of Germany and Anne Kjersti Kalvaa of Norway. Diggins put on a strong performance and with today's results, is less than 150 points away from Tiril Udnes Weng for the overall FIS World Cup crystal globe and sits in second place for the overall distance trophy - making the last races of the season key in clinching the season. 

"First of all, so stoked for my teammates out there today. That was so cool to see. On the women's side, to have three in the top-15 was awesome," said Diggins. "For me, I was really happy with my race. This was my best-ever individual career result classic distance race and i'm looking forward to the next!"

Brennan had another top-10 result, showing her consistency on the circuit. Brennan, who has raced nearly every race this season, showcased how strong she is by her sixth place result. Through the splits, she was always in the mix, having the fastest time in the early splits and only falling a few spots towards the end. Brennan crossed the line in sixth, only 44.5 seconds back from Niskanen, adding more World Cup points to her resume and closing the gap even more for the FIS overall World Cup crystal globe, where she sits in fourth. 

"Today's race was great!" said Brennan. "I really like the courses here and felt really good throughout the race and now trying to focus on each day and get the most out of the few races we have left. Really looking forward to some sprint action tomorrow!" 

Rounding out the women was McCabe. McCabe is back in Europe just days after she won both NCAA National Championships races in Lake Placid, NY. McCabe, who is having a strong season, crossed the line in 14th, one of her best races on the World Cup circuit. 

Hailey Swirbul was 30th, adding more crucial World Cup points to her list and 17-year-old Sammy Smith was 41st in her second World Cup start (first distance start!) of her career.

For the men, the day was highlighted by Ben Ogden. Ogden went out in classic Ben fashion - fast. Marking himself as the guy the beat, Ogden held some of the fastest times at the 1.5k, 2.5k, 3.3k and 4.3k time checks for the majority of the race, even beating out Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo on crucial parts of the course. At the end of the day, Ogden ended the day in 13th place - not his best career result - but one of the fastest and most consistent races we have seen from Ogden. 

"Ben is only 22 years old and is showing consistency in his results," said Kikkan Randall in the live commentary during the race. "He put himself out there and held it for over 6k and pretty soon, he will become more consistent longer into the races, it's fun to watch."

Next to Ogden was teammate Scott Patterson, who crossed the line in 17th, only one minute and eight seconds back. Patterson led a strong race, charging on the steep uphills, skiing around the fast turn clean and tactically skiing the downhills. Patterson, a strong distance skier, has been consistent all year, which showed in another top-20 result on the biggest stage. 

Rounding out the men's team was Zak Ketterson and Luke Jager. Jager, returning to the World Cup circuit after heading back to the USA for the NCAA National Championships, finished the day in 35th and Ketterson, back on the circuit after spending time at home, was 41st. The men's podium showcased the strength of Norway, with Klaebo in first, Martin Loewstroem Nyenget in second and Harald Oestberg Amundsen in third. 

Now, the team will reset for tomorrow's skate sprint in Falun.

RESULTS
Women's
Men's 

OVERALL WORLD CUP RESULTS
Women's
Men's