LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Dec. 4, 2015) - Tara Geraghty-Moats (W. Fairlee, VT) led the USA, finishing 17th in the opening FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Lillehammer. Japan's Sara Takanashi took the win. Nita Englund (Florence, WI) was 27th.

"Great for Tara  - more than we expected," said International Coach Vasja Bajc.

• Japan's Sara Takanashi opened the campaign to regain the World Cup title she lost last season with a win on the HS100 meter hill in Lillehammer.
• Tara Geraghty-Moats (W. Fairlee, VT) was 17th for the USA, matching her second best World Cup performance.
• The World Cup tour now heads to Nizhny Tagil in central Russia.

LILLEHAMMER, Norway (Dec. 4, 2015) - After a weekend of wind in Ruka, Finland, the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup tour will try again for its opener, this time on the Olympic venues of Lillehammer. The USA will have four athletes competing in a team event Saturday followed by an individual competition Sunday.

Heading the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team will be brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO). They will be joined by Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI) and Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, CO), who will be making his World Cup debut.

The events will be live streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, with full replays available later.

• Nita Englund (Florence, WI) and Sarah Hendrickson (Park City, UT) were named to the U.S. Ski Jumping Team based on national team selection criteria.
• Hendrickson, the 2013 World Champion, will sit out the World Cup season following knee surgery. She underwent her final surgery in late November with doctors pleased with her recovery.
• Englund took a big step forward this past summer, finishing third in the FIS Summer Grand Prix.
• The U.S. Ski Team supports top international level athletes in collaboration with Women’s Ski Jumping USA.
• Women kickoff their World Cup season Friday, Dec. 4 on the HS100 Olympic jump in Lillehammer, Norway.
• The team prepared with an on-snow camp on the jumps in Ramsau, Austria with over 40 jumps, before a final day in Planica, Slovenia before heading to Lillehammer.

RUKA, Finland (Nov. 29, 2015) - High winds continued Sunday forcing officials to cancel the remaining event of the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup opener in Ruka, just as it had Saturday for ski jumping. The tour now heads across Scandinavia to the Olympic venue of Lillehammer to try it again next weekend. There was no immediate word on rescheduling.

"For the first time, we had to cancel both of our opening events here in Ruka," said FIS Nordic Combined Tour Director Lasse Ottesen. "The wind conditions this weekend have been too strong and in the line of safety for our athletes, we have had no chance to complete any jumps since Friday. So the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway, next weekend will be our opening event of the 2015-16 season and we are very much looking forward to finally get underway."

The USA had four athletes in Ruka including brothers Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO), Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI) and Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, CO), who was to make his World Cup debut.

The U.S. athletes spent the day at the jumps Sunday waiting for a wind break that never came. They then went out and scrimmaged the Norwegians in a cross country matchup, with Bryan Fletcher third and Taylor Fletcher fifth in the informal competition.

RUKA, Finland (Nov. 28, 2015) - Winds continued to hamper jumping in Ruka, with both nordic combined and ski jumping schedules being rewritten daily. High winds forced cancelation of Saturday's opening FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. The qualification and provisional competition round on Friday was also canceled. Officials are looking at Sunday now with a planned 6:00 a.m. EST jump and 9:00 a.m. EST cross country race. Ski jumping lost qualification and a competitioni Friday but were still trying to go Saturday evening Ruka time.

"We haven't jumped since Tuesday," said U.S. Nordic Combined Coach Dave Jarrett.

RUKA, Finland (Nov. 27, 2015) – Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) skied his best World Cup since 2013, finishing fourth in a classic sprint in tough conditions on Friday.

“It’s going to be fun to watch Newell this year,” said coach Matt Whitcomb after the race. “He’s in form in a way I don’t think we’ve seen before. He demonstrated his savvy today advancing from one heat to the next when he got boxed on the inside track. Instead of merging left into good tracks and more traffic, he snuck right and skied out of the tracks and directly at the coaches that were crowding the trail…Today Newell’s quick thinking and ability to adapt on the fly made a difference.”

Norway swept the podium in the men’s competition: Sondre Turvoll Fossli dominated the final heat to win his first World Cup race, ahead of Eirik Brandsdal and Petter Northug.

"Throughout the heats I played to the simple strategy of 'hammer the hill into the stadium,’” said Newell after his solid finish. “In the quarterfinal I didn't have a great downhill into the last climb so I got stuck in traffic a little bit. It's never good to be stuck behind people in the big climb. That was also a really stacked heat, so I knew if I pushed hard to the line there would be a good chance to be a lucky loser. It worked out." 

In the woman’s competition, Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway won the overall race followed by Stina Nilsson of Sweden and Ragnhild Haga of Norway. Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT) and Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA) progressed through each round but did not move onto the finals. Saturday is the second race of the Ruka Triple, a 10k/5k Freestyle.

After the solid showing from the team, Whitcomb also described the team dynamic as fantastic. “The vibe on the team is as good as we’ve ever had it. Although nobody here knows what Thanksgiving is, a couple athletes arranged for a 23-person table at the restaurant last night,” said Whitcomb. “So we ate pork cheeks (we think), and were thankful for being able to travel the world representing our country.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) skied his best World Cup since 2013, with a fourth place finish.
• Norway swept the podium in the men’s competition; Sondre Turvoll Fossli dominated the final heat to win his first World Cup race, ahead of Eirik Brandsdal and Petter Northug.
• In the woman’s competition, Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway won the overall race followed by Stina Nilsson of Sweden and Ragnhild Haga or Norway.
• Andy Newell qualified for the men’s final heat as the lucky loser.
• Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA) and Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT) qualified for the semifinals. Sargent was also the lucky loser.
• The U.S. qualified five into the rounds.

QUOTES

Andy Newell
Throughout the heats I played to the simple strategy of 'hammer the hill into the stadium.’ In the quarterfinal, I didn't have a great downhill into the last climb so I got stuck in traffic a little bit. It's never good to be stuck behind people in the big climb. That was also a really stacked heat, so I knew if I pushed hard to the line there would be a good chance for to be a lucky loser. It worked out." 

My tactic in the final was to stay right on the big climb in case I had to jump out of the track like Northug. I came into the lanes in fourth and because of the head wind stayed tucked in behind Petter, hoping we might blaze past some people. I think we were all a little tired from hammering the hill so hard.

Ida Sargent
Today was a really fun day and I'm excited to get the season started. I was sick last week and had to take a bunch of time and missed our first races so I wasn't sure what to expect today. We had awesome skis today and I felt really strong on the climbs. It's frustrating to be so close to the final, but I'm excited for the rest of the season and really happy with my race today.

Matt Whitcomb
We’re very happy with a successful start to the season, and were so much gunning for it that our team cheer last night was ‘Fast Start!’

The waxing was very difficult today, so our service boss Oleg Ragilo put six technicians on glide testing and three on kick. In qualification, every athlete went to the start feeling confident about his or her skis, but the quickly changing conditions peppered the field with a combination of both slippery and icing skis. Overall, we fared well-above average in the qualification relative to other nations. In the heats, the techs hit the long ball. Our skis were the best.

Both Sadie and Ida were sick last week – Ida with a cold, and Sadie with a stomach virus.  Their performance today reminds us all that sick one week doesn’t mean slow the next if you return to training wisely. These two athletes executed very patient return-to-training programs, and I never saw them do a session that looked to be too soon. The silver lining to illness is recovery and eagerness, and these two looked fresh and hungry.

It’s going to be fun to watch Newell this year. He’s in form in a way I don’t think we’ve seen before. He demonstrated his savvy today advancing from one heat to the next when he got boxed on the inside track. Instead of merging left into good tracks and more traffic, he snuck right and skied out of the tracks and directly at the coaches that were crowding the trail.  We’ve seen Pellegrino do that before and with success, and today Newell’s quick thinking and ability to adapt on the fly made a difference.

To qualify five athletes on a sprint day is our standard for a successful qualification. We can do better and will, but on the World Cup this is still a high bar. It was only Finland, Norway, Sweden and the USA that qualified four or more women. Of note, this was Jessie’s first classic sprint qualification on the World Cup and she is psyched.

We have 12 athletes feeling good right now, so I expect we’ll be able to put together more great results this weekend.

The vibe on the team is as good as we’ve ever had it. Although nobody here knows what Thanksgiving is, a couple athletes arranged for a 23-person table at the restaurant last night. So we ate pork cheeks (we think), and were thankful for being able to travel the world representing our country.

PARK CITY, UT (Nov. 24, 2015) – Olympians Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) were named to the 2016 U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team. They will open the 2015-16 season this weekend with the kickoff to the International Ski Federation’s Nordic Combined World Cup tour in Ruka, Finland.

The brothers are coming off good seasons, but both are also looking to improve on jumping. The 2015 season was a breakthrough for Taylor, who landed his first podium (second in Sapporo). Bryan was fifth at World Championships and scored six individual top tens. But both know that jumping is holding them back – especially Taylor, who is consistently one of the fastest in the world in the cross country phase of nordic combined.

“My biggest goal (this summer) was to make some headway with the jumping,” said Taylor Fletcher. “This spring we took a different approach with jumping and it has seemed to work. Of course with every sport you have good and bad days. To come away from the day's competition and feel that I had a good result on both aspects of our sport will be important.”

“Summer has been a building period for me,” added brother Bryan. “Knowing that the cross country side is pretty much where it needs to be, the focus was very much on jumping this year. I needed to start over with new feelings and new ideas to hopefully build a solid base again and reach a higher level in competition performance.” 

“Bryan has been working hard on jumping,” said Head Coach Dave Jarrett. “He is in good shape and will be fighting for high places. Taylor’s jumping has improved significantly and now he needs to perform well in each and every qualification and comp on the hill to the best of his ability and potential. We all know he is one the fastest cross country guys on the circuit so the closer he starts to front the easier it will be for good results.”

The nordic combined World Cup team poses at the jumps at the Utah Olympic Park jumps. (USSA-Tom Kelly)

In addition to the Fletcher brothers, who have qualified for national team selection criteria, four other athletes will be competing on the World Cup tour. They include Ben Berend (Steamboat Springs, CO/Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club), Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, CO/SSWSC), Adam Loomis (Eau Claire, WI/Flying Eagles Ski Club) and Michael Ward (Aspen, CO/Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club).

The U.S. Ski Team will enter four skiers into the opening World Cups including Bryan and Taylor Fletcher, Loomis and Good. They will compete Thanksgiving weekend in Ruka, then head to Lillehammer, Norway. It will be the first World Cup for Good, who was on the 2015 Junior Worlds Team and had a strong season on the Continental Cup. Loomis will be returning to the World Cup, where he had three points-scoring finishes a year ago and made the World Championship team.

The World Cup then takes a timely one-week break as the FIS Continental Cup tour opens with three events at the Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow Dec. 11-13. Early season snow and cold has blanketed the region with great conditions anticipated for the start of the Continental Cup season.

The U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team is supported by the U.S. Ski Team in partnership with USA Nordic.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Olympic veterans Bryan and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) were named to the 2016 U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team.
• The team will open its 2015-16 campaign beginning this weekend with a World Cup in Ruka, Finland.
• In addition to the World Cup tour, a key focal point will be a series of three Continental Cup events Dec. 11-13 at the Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow where a top contingent of U.S. skiers will be on hand to secure World Cup quota positions.
• The U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team is supported by the U.S. Ski Team in partnership with USA Nordic.

QUOTES
Bryan Fletcher
Summer has been a building period for me. Knowing that the cross country side is pretty much where it needs to be, the focus was very much on jumping this year. I needed to start over with new feelings and new ideas to hopefully build a solid base again and reach a higher level in competition performance. So the hope is to maintain the cross ountry performance but improve the jumping to put myself in better contention with more opportunities at the podium. I don't expect to see results overnight but my hope is to see some gains that I can build on through the season.  

Last season was a great year but I was still not happy with the season. I want to improve consistency this year and land in the Top 10 more often. Obviously my sights are set on the podium and standing on the podium again this year is what I have been working towards. To accomplish this goal I will need strong jumping and cross country performances consistently so I have a number of opportunities at the podium.

Taylor Fletcher
My biggest goal was to make some headway with the jumping. This spring we took a different approach with jumping and it has seemed to work. Of course with every sport you have you good and bad days. But, in general, I feel like I was able to limit those for the most part. We had a few large international competitions in Europe that I felt was a great stepping stone for the upcoming winter. 

To come away from the day's competition and feel that I had a good result on both aspects of our sport will be important. I will be focusing and working hard to make sure after the jumping I am in a position to use my strength in cross country to land myself on the podium more often.  

The summer preparations went pretty well. The cross country side of my sport has been my strong suit for as long as I have been skiing, but I was able to make some great strides in my racing and fitness as a whole. I feel that my technique is very solid and I can control my races a little better pacing wise now. 

Dave Jarrett, Head Coach, U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team
Bryan has been working hard on jumping and I feel good about getting the season started. He is in good shape and will be fighting for high places. Taylor’s jumping has improved significantly and now he needs to perform well in each and every qualification and comp on the hill to the best of his ability and potential. We all know he is one the fastest cross country guys on the circuit so the closer he starts to front the easier it will be for good results.

Beyond Bryan and Taylor we have four strong guys coming up including Adam Loomis, Ben Berend, Jasper Good and Michael Ward.  We are expecting World Cup points on a consistent basis from these guys. While Jasper and Ben are still young, we expect them to perform well on Continental Cup but mainly on World Cup. It is also time for Michael to be a consistent World Cup point scorer like Adam showed last season. 

2016 U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team
Name, Hometown, Club (Skis (jumping/cross country), Boots (jumping/cross country), Bindings, Eyewear, Helmet, Poles, Gloves) Date of Birth
* Olympian
** World Championship Team
*** Current or past participant in the Westminster College program

A Team
Bryan Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Sport 2000/Madshus, Rass/Madshus, Rotefella, Rudy Project, Madshus, YOKO) 6/27/86 * ** ***
Taylor Fletcher, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Fluege.de/Atomic, Rass/Atomic, Rudy Project, One Way) 5/11/90 * ** ***

Other World Cup Athletes
Ben Berend, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Sport 2000/Madshus, RASS/Madshus, Rudy Project, Julbo, One Way, Yoko)
Jasper Good, Steamboat Springs, CO, Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (Fluege-de/Madshus, Oakley, POC, One Way, Yoko) 5/10/1996
Adam Loomis, Eau Claire, WI, Flying Eagles Ski Club (Sport 2000/Atomic, RASS/Atomic, Atomic, Julbo/Rudy Project, Julbo, One Way, Yoko) 3/19/1992 ** ***
Michael Ward, Aspen, CO, Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club (Elan/Madshus, RASS/Madshus, Slatnar/Rotafella, Rudy Project, POC, One Way, Yoko) ***

Coaching Staff
Dave Jarrett, Head Coach
Greg Poirier, Assistant Coach
Martin Bayer, Continental Cup/Development Coach

World Cup Service Team
Matjaz Dobrovoljc
Andrej Jezerek
Tomaz Matura

As Bryan Fletcher battled for the lead at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships last March in Sweden, his mind kept racing back to that day as a 6-year-old cancer victim in Steamboat Springs when he finally convinced mom to let him ski jump. Bryan finished fifth in Falun – another milestone to go with his 2012 King’s Cup win, a 2013 World Championships team bronze and competing at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

As proud as he is of those accomplishments as a nordic combined athlete, it pales when he thinks of it in perspective to his being a childhood cancer survivor.

“Personally I think my whole career to me has been a question of ‘how far will I be able to take this,’” said Fletcher, now 29. He remains cognizant every day that 15,000 more kids will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Somehow, through years of treatment, he was able to beat it and become a best in the world Olympic athlete.

“It is tremendously humbling, because I know when I was going through cancer all I wanted to be was a normal kid,” said Fletcher. “To see where I am today makes me realize that I got so much more than to be just a normal kid. I was lucky to grow up in Steamboat where the community is so supportive, where one of the best winter sports clubs in the world is based. I was lucky to have the family that worked so hard to allow me the opportunity to enter skiing.”

Now, Bryan Fletcher wants to give back. This summer, Fletcher and another childhood cancer survivor Gavin Shamis, a junior luge champion, have formed ccThrive, a nonprofit designed to build awareness that childhood cancer survivors can, indeed, thrive.

“ccThrive is about keeping the passions and ambitions alive in all children with cancer and helping these kids realize their full potential once off treatment,” said Fletcher. “It doesn’t matter what their dreams are. We are here to help kids who want to do their best.”

Bryan Fletcher ski jumps at the U.S. Nordic Combined Championships in August. (USSA-Tom Kelly) 

In 2011, 8-year-old Gavin Shamis was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia – same as Fletcher. That began over two years of daily chemo. Gavin swam to remain active. Then he found luge. Last year he was named to the USA Luge Junior National Team. He has his sights set on Beijing 2022.

In the summer of 2014, Bryan met Gavin and the idea for ccThrive was born.

“A few months after making the luge team, I met Bryan, who also had leukemia when he was a kid,” said Gavin. “We decided we wanted every kid who survived cancer to have the opportunity to thrive.” Gavin and Bryan were then joined by two more amazing childhood cancer survivors: Lacey Henderson, an adaptive track and field athlete, and Melinda Marchiano, an accomplished dancer.

ccThrive launched this summer offering three elements – the inspirational stories of ccThrive to build advocacy, mentoring to help kids achieve goals and a grant program to help those with financial needs to achieve their dreams.

As a skier, Bryan Fletcher knows full well the importance of raising money for a cause – his own athletic career. Now, he’s added the passion of fundraising to help kids.

A lot about life emanates from fate. “If I was not in the right place at the right time who knows where I would have ended up after my cancer diagnosis,” said Fletcher.

His mother, Penny, also loves to tell the ski jump story. Sure, the doctor said young Bryan shouldn’t be undertaking the risk of ski jumping. But every day on the way to chemo they drove by the jumps. And as much as his health and well-being were important, so was his happiness.

Ski jumping put a smile on his face.

In a few weeks, Bryan will join little brother Taylor in packing his bags for the winter – off to Ruka, Finland to start the World Cup tour. Still, every time he slides out onto the bar at the top of a ski jump and looks out over the frozen tundra, he will think to himself, ‘what a lucky young man I’ve been.’

Ski jumping still puts a smile on his face. And, thanks to ccThrive, it will put a smile on the faces of thousands of other childhood cancer survivors.

ccThrive was established this summer through the Tides Foundation in San Francisco to help childhood cancer survivors. Each day dozens of children are diagnosed with cancer and their worlds are shattered. The reality of childhood cancer is that some children will not survive, but the vast majority that will survive have the potential to lead amazing lives. There is no reason for them to lose the fire to try. To learn more, go to ccThrive.org.