Jessica Yeaton
More than 20 athletes and staff affiliated with Alaska will attend the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics with the addition of Jessica Yeaton and Casey Wright.
On Sunday, Yeaton and Wright were announced as members of the Nordic ski team representing Australia for a second time.
“It’s so cool to be going to the Olympics together again and I’m excited to see what we can do,” Yeaton said in an Australian Olympic Committee release.
Yeaton, 30, was born in Perth, Australia, and changed her nationality for skiing purposes from the U.S. to Australia in 2014. She graduated from South Anchorage High School and has since spent considerable time in Anchorage training with the Alaska Pacific University elite ski team. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in physiotherapy, most recently in Albuquerque, N.M.
Yeaton is no stranger to athletic success, having won both the Mount Marathon Race and American Birkebeiner 50K ski race.
Casey Wright
Wright, from Victoria, Australia, was a student-athlete at the University of Alaska Anchorage for three years, culminating with an All-American performance at the 2019 NCAA Championships.
Others with Alaska ties include:
CURLING
Vicky Persinger, Fairbanks (mixed doubles)
Colin Hufman, formerly of Fairbanks, now in Minneapolis (men’s team alternate; will travel to Beijing).
FIGURE SKATING
Keegan Messing, Girdwood (representing Canada)
ICE HOCKEY
Brian Cooper, Anchorage
Mat Robinson, formerly UAA (representing Canada)
FREESTYLE SKIING/SLOPESTYLE
Alex Hall, born in Fairbanks (now in Utah)
NORDIC SKIING
Gus Schumacher, Anchorage (Service HS)
Luke Jager, Anchorage (West Anchorage HS)
Scott Patterson, Anchorage (South Anchorage HS)
Caitlin Patterson, formerly Anchorage; now Vermont (South Anchorage HS)
JC Schoonmaker, currently University of Alaska Anchorage (California native)
Rosie Brennan, currently APU Nordic Ski Center (Utah native)
Hailey Swirbul, currently APU Nordic Ski Center, formerly UAA (Colorado native)
Hannah Halvorsen, currently APU Nordic Ski Center (California native)
Jessica Yeaton, formerly Anchorage (South Anchorage HS) (representing Australia)
Casey Wright, formerly University of Alaska Anchorage (representing Australia)
Mariel Pulles, currently University of Alaska Fairbanks (representing Estonia)
Andrew Musgrove, Anchorage from age 5-10 (representing Great Britain)
David Norris, Fairbanks, alternate (will only travel to Beijing if a spot becomes available)
Logan Hanneman, Fairbanks, alternate (will only travel to Beijing if a spot becomes available)
Rosie Frankowski, APU Nordic Ski Center (Minnesota native), alternate (will only travel to Beijing if a spot becomes available)
Chris Grover, formerly Anchorage, U.S. coach
Jason Cork, formerly North Pole, U.S. coach
Zuzana Rogers, Anchorage, physical therapist for U.S. team
Nat Herz, Anchorage, journalist for the Anchorage Daily News and fasterskier.com
