Former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athletes make 2024 Alpine Junior World Ski Championships team
Hunter Salani, Liv Moritz and Kaitline Keane will travel to Haute-Savoie, France as part of the 16-member U.S. team
Robert F. Bukaty/AP photo
Three former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail Alpine skiers on Wednesday were officially named to the 16-member U.S. team traveling to Haute-Savoie, France from Jan. 28-Feb. 3 for the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships.
Hunter Salani, Liv Moritz and Kaitline Keane will travel to France to compete in mixed team events, downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom races against the world’s best U20 athletes. Selections were based on results of competitions held between Oct. 28, 2023 and Jan. 8, 2024.
“This year’s Junior World Championship team is a remarkable group of athletes who have already achieved tremendous results at the NorAm level in their young careers,” said U.S. Ski Team Development Director Chip Knight in a press release.
“With a number of experienced athletes from prior years as well as some new up- and-coming athletes, we are confident that this group will post strong individual and team results for the U.S.”
Salani finished 23rd and 38th in the super-G and downhill, respectively, at the 2023 Junior World event last January in St. Anton, Austria. Moritz was part of the team parallel group that finished fifth in Austria; she also posted a DNF in the slalom.
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It’s the first Junior Worlds nod for Kaitlin Keane, who posted two top-six finishes at the Copper Mountain NorAm Cup races in December and is currently ranked fifth in the NorAm Cup discipline standings.
Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club alumni Cooper Puckett, Jay Poulter and Tatum Grosdidier were also named to the team, as was Team Summit athlete Stanley Buzek.
(Name, Hometown; Club; Birthdate)
Women:
Elisabeth Bocock (Salt Lake City, UT; Rowmark/Stifel U.S. SkiTeam; 9/3/2005)
Mary Bocock (Salt Lake City, UT; Rowmark/Stifel U.S. SkiTeam; 7/10/2003)
Tatum Grosdidier (Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 7/24/2004)
Annika Hunt (East Burke, VT; Burke Mountain Academy; 11/30/2006)
Mia Hunt (Park City, UT; Denver University; 1/11/2003)
Kaitlin Keane (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 11/26/2004)
Allison Mollin (Truckee, CA; Team Palisades Tahoe/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 7/7/2004)
Liv Moritz (Vail, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/University of Denver/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 11/28/2004)
Dasha Romanov (Thornton, CO; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 3/5/2003)*
Men:
Justin Bigatel (Park City, UT; Burke Mountain Academy/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 4/29/2003)
Stanley Buzek (Silverthorne, CO; Team Summit/Stifel U.S. SkiTeam; 8/18/2005)
Camden Palmquist (Eagan, MN; Buck Hill Ski Team/Team Summit/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 4/15/2003)
Jay Poulter (Stratton, VT; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Stratton Mountain School/University of Utah/Stifel U.S. SkiTeam; 7/1/2003)
Cooper Puckett (Steamboat, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 3/31/2003)
Hunter Salani (Edwards, CO; Ski & Snowboard Club Vail/Stifel U.S. Ski Team; 2/25/2005)
Ryder Sarchett (Ketchum, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation/University of Colorado Boulder; 7/28/2003)
Mattias Wilson (Jackson, WY; Jackson Hole Ski Club; 10/6/2006)
* qualified but cannot compete due to injury.
The U.S. Ski Team has notched several notable Junior Worlds finishes in recent memory. In 2022, Isaiah Nelson took super-G gold and SSCV alumna Ava Sunshine grabbed silver in the women’s event. Lauren Macuga snagged a bronze in the downhill that year as well. In 2023, the stars and stripes had three top-10 finishes, including Sunshine’s eighth-place finish in the slalom.
SSCV in particular has a history of success at Junior Worlds, too. In addition to Sunshine’s top-10 finishes, River Radamus won giant slalom and super-G gold medals in Val di Fassa, Italy, in 2019. In 2018, Radamus had three top-10 finishes, including a silver in the super-G. Finally, the current World Cup star from Edwards was second in the Alpine combined event in his first Junior Worlds in 2017 in Are, Sweden.
January 28 – Downhill training
January 29 – Downhill training
January 30 – Men’s and women’s downhill
January 31 – Men’s and women’s super-G
January 31 – Men’s and women’s team combined
February 1 – Team parallel
February 2 – Women’s giant slalom
February 2 – Men’s slalom
February 3 – Men’s giant slalom
February 3 – Women’s slalom
More event information can be found here.
