Gus Schumacher
With the Winter Olympics less than three months away, a host of Alaskan Nordic skiers are in contention to represent the United States in Beijing.
And if things go well, Alaskans could fill at least half of the 14 spots the United States is expected to receive.
“I could see that happening. That’s realistic,” said Erik Flora, the head coach of the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center for whom most of the top Alaskans compete.
The qualification period begins today on the World Cup with a three-race series in Ruka, Finland.
No one has secured a spot yet. But barring injury, illness or a precipitous decline from their results last year, Rosie Brennan and Hailey Swirbul of APU appear to be locks to qualify for the stacked women’s squad. For the men, 21-year-old phenom Gus Schumacher (Alaska Winter Stars/Service High School) is primed to make his first Olympics, which occur just once every four years and are the pinnacle of most winter sports.
David Norris
Hunter Wonders
The recent retirements of sibling Olympians Sadie and Erik Bjornsen (both skied for APU) may help open additional opportunities for 2018 Olympians Scott Patterson, Logan Hanneman, Caitlin Patterson and Rosie Frankowski as well as a large group that is hoping to qualify for their first Olympics (among them David Norris, JC Schoonmaker, Hunter Wonders and Hannah Halvorsen).
The most direct path to the Olympics is by meeting qualification criteria on the World Cup. The surest way is to place among the top 8 in an individual event (for sprinters that must come in a freestyle sprint because that’s the discipline contested at the Olympics). A top 50 placement in the sprint or distance rankings when the Olympic qualification period ends January 17 could also be enough to make the team. Discretion can also be used by U.S. coaches to make their selections. While last season’s depth on the World Cup was comprised by the partial absence of some top skiers due to the pandemic, the 2021-22 season is expected to include a full roster of top racers.
If any of the eight women’s and six men’s U.S. spots go unfilled from the World Cup, an alternative route could be to perform exceptionally well on the U.S. SuperTour series, which begins Dec. 5 in Duluth, Minn., and includes the national championships near Salt Lake City, Utah, in early January.
Alaskans are fortunate in that they began training on snow at Hatcher Pass in early October, a potential advantage over other athletes who were relegated to dry-land training.
Here’s a breakdown of the top Alaskans (defined as a skier who graduated high school in Alaska or one who primarily trains in Alaska):
World Cup Group – Women
Rosie Brennan
Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), 32 — A longtime member of APU, Brennan earned her first wins on the World Cup last year and briefly was the top-ranked skier in the world before eventually placing fourth overall. Her performance at the 2018 Olympics in South Korea were compromised by having mononucleosis, so she’s looking for a big improvement in Beijing.
“I think she’s stronger than she was last year and is skiing technically better, too,” Flora said by phone this week.
Hailey Swirbul (El Jebel, Colo.), 23 – The lanky skier earned her first World Cup podium last season by placing third in the 10K freestyle in Davos, Switzerland; she was promoted to the A Team of the US Ski Team this season. Swirbul excels racing at altitude, which could benefit her in China. She raced on the 2021 World Championships relay team that placed fourth.
Caitlin Patterson
Caitlin Patterson (South), 31 — She raced twice at the 2018 Olympics after qualifying by sweeping four races at the US National Championships at Kincaid Park. A distance skier, Patterson trains with the Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club in Vermont.
Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.), 23 — Halvorsen earned her first World Cup sprint points last season about a year after being hit by a car while walking in downtown Anchorage. After endless hours of rehab and physical therapy, she seems to have regained her form. “I think she’s going to be surprisingly fast,” Flora said. “When that happens (this season) is the question.”
Jessica Yeaton
Jessica Yeaton (South), 30 — Fresh off her 30th birthday last week, Yeaton looks to make a second Olympics representing Australia, where her mother is from. She has been balancing training with physical therapy school in Albuquerque, N.M. and just spent a month training with APU in Anchorage.
World Cup Group – Men
JC Schoonmaker (Tahoe City, Calif.), 21 — Juggling training with his studies at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Schoonmaker has vaulted onto the US Ski Team’s A Team by placing as high as 5th in sprint qualification on the World Cup. He placed 26th at the 2021 World Championships in Germany. “Sprinters are not going to give you an inch,” Schoonmaker said. “You really have to be aggressive in those sprint heats.”
Gus Schumacher
Gus Schumacher (Service), 21 — The first World Junior individual champion from the U.S., Schumacher exceeded all expectations in his inaugural World Cup season in 2020-21, placing as high as eighth and finishing with World Cup (top 30) points in 13 races. Also a capable sprinter, he is considered to be the next long-term leader of men’s distance skiing in the U.S. While being supremely driven, he is learning the art of patience. “The best skiing in the world takes time,” Schumacher said during a US Ski Team media conference this week. Schumacher is still coached in part by Jan Buron of the Alaska Winter Stars.
Logan Hanneman (Lathrop), 28 — Logan made the 2018 Olympics as a sprinter along with brother Reese (since retired). He’s typically strong in the qualification round and gained valuable experience in the sprint heats at three World Cups last season. Hanneman also has an engineering degree from UAF and is a private pilot.
Scott Patterson
Scott Patterson (South), 29 — Patterson posted some of the best results in his career on the biggest stages, with 11th in the 50-kilometer classic at the 2018 Olympics and 10th in the 50K classic at the 2021 World Championships. The Anchorage engineer, who trains more than 1,100 hours per year, suffered a broken wrist in a fluke mountain biking crash that required surgery in October, so that has delayed the beginning of his World Cup season to Dec. 3-5 in Lillehammer, Norway. “(The) wrist still isn’t ideal but it’s slowly getting better,” he said on Friday. In 2018, he returned from the World Cup in Europe and qualified for the Olympics at Anchorage’s national championships, a scenario he’d prefer to avoid this time around.
David Norris (Lathrop), 30 — After a delayed start last season due to contracting COVID-19, Norris came on strong with two top-20 distance finishes at the World Championships. He is seeking to make his first Olympics, a task all the tougher because he is an “unfunded” athlete who is not on the US Ski Team. Norris instead relies on support from sponsors and helps pay his own way as a part-time accountant. “I’m focusing on the opportunities I have ahead of me to ski well and earn a spot on the (Olympic) team,” he texted this week from Ruka.
Hunter Wonders (South), 23 – Wonders was part of the all-homegrown Alaska relay team at the 2021 World Championships (joining Norris, Patterson and Schumacher) and a repeat of that squad for the Olympics is a distinct possibility. He gained valuable experience with seven World Cup starts last season and is scheduled to race in Ruka and Lillehammer to start this campaign.
Luke Jager
Luke Jager (West), 21 – Currently a student-athlete at the University of Utah, Jager was a member of two gold-medal winning relay teams at the Junior World Championships and placed 31st in his World Cup sprint debut last season.
Zanden McMullen (South), 20 — Currently a student-athlete at Montana State University, the former Alaska prep skimeister is primed to make his World Cup debut in distance racing after the pandemic derailed the opportunity he’d earned last year.
SuperTour Group – Women
Rosie Frankowski
Rosie Frankowski (Minneapolis) of APU made the most of her 2018 Olympic opportunity by placing 21st at the 30K freestyle in Pyeongchang. She’s hoping for another chance but that depends on how the U.S. women perform on the World Cup. Frankowski was an alternate for the early season World Cups but decided to stay stateside because going to Europe was an expensive proposition that likely would not have yielded any World Cup starts. “I’m hoping to do well enough in the Super Tours and specifically US Nationals, which is the most important because it is double points, to be high up in the qualifying criteria. It is certainly going to be a challenge to try to qualify from the US,” Frankowski said.
Becca Rorabaugh (West Valley) is a World Cup sprinting veteran who will be looking to excel in short classic-technique races. Past skimeister Kendall Kramer (West Valley) now races for UAF so will be competing primarily against college racers except at US Nationals.
SuperTour Group – Men
Tyler Kornfield
Tyler Kornfield (Service) is primarily a sprinter but qualified for the Olympics in 2018 by stunningly winning the 30K race at his hometown Kincaid Park. He’ll be racing the SuperTour this season with fellow APU sprinter Forrest Mahlen and distance skiers Thomas O’Harra and Michael Earnhart, among others. Earnhart (Chugiak) won the prep skimeister competition in 2021 and is targeting the 2022 Junior World Championships.