2025-26 Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team announced
Sat, Oct 18, 2025 - By Leann Bentley, Stifel U.S. Ski Team
Park City, UT – U.S. Ski & Snowboard officially announces the 21 athletes who have formally accepted their nominations to the 2025-26 Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. The team was nominated based on pre-determined selection criteria.
The Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team A Team is led by three-time Olympic medalist and seven-time World Championship medalist Jessie Diggins, two-time World Championship medalist Julia Kern and Olympians Rosie Brennan, Gus Schumacher, Ben Ogden, JC Schoonmaker and Sophia Laukli — all of whom return to the A Team for the upcoming season.
On the B Team, the women’s roster includes Kate Oldham, who makes her debut after a strong 2024-25 season that featured her first World Cup starts and several top-30 results. Dual-sport athlete Samantha “Sammy” Smith — a Division I Stanford soccer player and World Cup skier — returns, alongside 2022 Olympian, three-time NCAA champion and World Cup competitor Novie McCabe. On the men’s side, Zanden McMullen, who earned his career-first top-10 finish last season in Ruka, Finland, returns, joined by two-time 7.5k NCAA national champion John Steel Hagenbuch of Dartmouth College and Jack Young, who notched a career-best top-15 World Cup result in Davos, Switzerland, during the 2024-25 season.
The D Team features a strong roster of up-and-coming talent and experienced athletes. New to the team are Lucas Wilmot, a University of Utah athlete and Tabor Greenberg, the 2024 Youth Olympic Games skate sprint bronze medalist. Kendall Kramer returns after a strong 2024-25 season both on and off the snow, highlighted by a career-best World Cup result and an NCAA National Championship title in the 20k for the University of Alaska Fairbanks. University of Vermont athletes Haley Brewster and Fin Bailey return, along with Dartmouth’s Jack Lange, University of Alaska Anchorage’s Murphy Kimball and University of Utah alum and three-time NCAA national champion Sydney Palmer-Leger.
“The Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is very excited to be entering a season with not only the Winter Olympic Games in February but the Stifel Lake Placid Finals in Lake Placid, New York in March,” said Chris Grover, Program Director of the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. “It’s been a very productive preparation season for the team, with excellent conditions for training and increased on-snow training opportunities with the return of the Eagle Glacier facility in Alaska. This team has so many athletes who are poised for personal bests and career-defining results. As a staff, we’ve been working on several new projects to ensure that these incredible athletes have every tool they need to succeed.”
The 2025-26 COOP FIS Cross Country World Cup will kick off in Ruka, Finland at the end of November, before continuing through Scandinavia and into the shortened Tour de Ski in Toblach and Val di Fiemme, Italy. Following the Tour de Ski, athletes will compete in two World Cup weekends leading up to the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games , held in Val di Fiemme from Feb. 6-22. To close out an exciting season, the world will return stateside for the Stifel Lake Placid Finals, a COOP FIS World Cup, March 20-22, in Lake Placid, New York, featuring three races: a 10k classic, skate sprint and 20k skate.
2025-26 Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team
(Hometown; Club; College; Birthdate)
A TEAM
Women
- Rosie Brennan (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; Dartmouth College; 12/2/1988)
- Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN; Stratton Mountain School; 8/26/1991)
- Julia Kern (Waltham, MA; Stratton Mountain School; Dartmouth College; 9/12/1997)
- Sophia Laukli (Yarmouth, ME; Aker-Dæhlie; University of Utah; 6/08/2000)
Men
- Ben Ogden (Burlington, VT; Stratton Mountain School; University of Vermont; 2/13/2000)
- James "JC" Schoonmaker (Lake Tahoe, CA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 8/12/2000)
- Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/25/2000)
B TEAM
Women
- Novie McCabe (Winthrop, WA; Alaska Pacific University; University of Utah; 12/15/2001)
- Kate Oldham (Carbondale, CO; Bridger Ski Foundation; Montana State University; 4/27/2002)*
- Samantha “Sammy” Smith (Boise, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Stanford University; 9/22/2005)
Men
- John Steel Hagenbuch (Ketchum, ID; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Dartmouth College; 10/1/2001)
- Zanden McMullen (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University; 5/31/2001)
- Jack Young (Jay, VT; Green Racing Project; Colby College; 12/17/2002)
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Women
- Haley Brewster (Avon, CO; University of Vermont; 6/6/2003)
- Kendall Kramer (Fairbanks, AK; Alaska Pacific University; University of Alaska Fairbanks; 6/26/2002)
- Sydney Palmer-Leger (Park City, UT; Mansfield Pro Team; University of Utah; 2/4/2002)
Men
- Fin Bailey (Peru, VT; Stratton Mountain School; University of Vermont; 7/27/2005)
- Tabor Greenberg (Moretown, VT; University of Vermont; 5/4/2006)*
- Murphy Kimball (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Winter Stars; University of Alaska Anchorage; 7/16/2006)
- Jack Lange (Lyme, NH; Stratton Mountain School; Dartmouth College; 4/27/2004)
- Lucas Wilmot (Jackson, WY; Jackson Hole Ski Club; University of Utah; 4/30/2006)*
*Newly named to the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team
Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Coaches & Staff
- Anouk Patty: Chief of Sport
- Cross Country Program Director: Chris Grover
- Head Coach: Matt Whitcomb
- Cross Country Sport Development Director: Bryan Fish
- World Cup Coach: Jason Cork
- World Cup Coach: Kristen Bourne
- Development Team Coach: Greta Anderson
- Cross Country Press Officer: Leann Bentley
- Cross Country Sport Coordinator: Adam St. Pierre
- Cross Country Technical Advisor: Allan Serrano
- Uniforming: Art Myshrall
Service Staff
- Head of Service: Oleg Ragilo
- World Cup Service: Per-Erik Bjørnstad
- World Cup Service: Eli Brown
- World Cup Service: Tim Baucom
- World Cup Service: Paul Choudoir
- World Cup Service: Bjørn Heimdal
- World Cup Service: Chris Hecker
- World Cup Service: Bernie Nelson