Paralympic Nordic Ski Team Chosen; USA Cup Feb. 9-12

US Paralympics announced February 3 the nine men and women who will make up the US Paralympic Nordic Ski Team that will compete in Torino, Italy. The team will feature six men and three women, with four skiers making their first Paralympic Team.

Another high-profile event, slated for February 9-12, is the Sled Hockey World Cup in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Three of the eight competing sled hockey teams will also be going for the gold in Torino.

Regarding the US Nordic team, head coach Jon Kreamelmeyer, Frisco, Colorado, believes the squad is the strongest he has seen in the 14 years he's been affiliated with the team. "Six of these nine of these athletes have been on a podium at a World Cup event or previous Paralympics," Kreamelmeyer said. "The reality is that they know what it takes to do it and we'll do what it takes to get them there."

The team will be led by defending World Cup champion Steve Cook, Salt Lake City, Utah. Cook is the defending World Cup champion in the men's standing division, and is coming offa bronze-medal finish in the 15k freestyle technique race at the most recent World Cup competition in Lillehammer, Norway. At the 2002 Paralympic Games, Cook won four silver medals in front of a hometown crowd.

On the women's side, sit-skier Candace Cable, Truckee, California, will be going to her fifth Paralympic Winter Games, her fourth as a Nordic skier, and her tenth Paralympics overall.

Bob Balk, Long Beach, California, will be going to his fourth Paralympic Winter Games, which is his sixth Paralympics overall, when he heads to Torino. Balk, a sit-skier, won two silver medals at the 2002 Paralympic Games.

Standing skier Mike Crenshaw, Boulder, Colorado, will also be making his fourth appearance as Paralympic Nordic skier. Crenshaw's best finish at the Paralympic Games came in Nagano in 1998, when he took the bronze medal in the 20k classic technique race.

Standing skier Kelly Underkofler, St. Paul, Minnesota, is the youngest of the returning Paralympians. The 21-year-old had two top-ten finishes at the 2002 Paralympic Games, and won a bronze medal in the long-distance biathlon event at the most recent World Championships. In Torino, Underkofler plans to ski in both the cross-country and biathlon events.

The lone newcomer on the women's side is sit-skier Monica Bascio, Evergreen, Colorado. Bascio is a world champion handcyclist who made her first appearance in an international Nordic competition in 2004. Bascio had a fifth-place finish in the 10k at the 2005 World Championships. She, like Underkofler, is likely to compete in both biathlon and cross-country.

On the men's side, standing skier Dan Perkins, Syracuse, New York, will pull double duty at his first Paralympic Games as well. He had four top-ten finishes at the 2004 World Cup Finals. Sit-skier Greg Mallory, Portland, Oregon, another newcomer, had two seventh-place finishes at the event. Sit-skier Chris Klebl, Heber City, Utah, rounds out the team. Klebl, a newcomer who crossed over from handcycling like Bascio, raced in his first international event in February of 2005, and posted a top-ten finish in only his second World Cup race.

Cross-country events will feature short, medium, and long-distance races, with distances varying according to gender and disability type.

Female sit-skiers will race from 2.5, 5 and 10 km. Male sit-skiers will compete in 5k, 10k and 15k events. Women's standing races will feature 5k, 10k and 15k events. Men's standing events will be the 5k, 10k and 20k. The 2006 Paralympic Games will also feature short and long-distance biathlon events for male and female standing and sit-skiers. In addition to individual races, the Paralympic Games will also feature a men's and women's relay race. In both races, the teams are to feature a sit-skier, a skier using the classic technique (a diagonal stride) and one freestyle skier. USA Cup Slated February 9-12

Three of the eight sled hockey teams that will be playing for gold at the 2006 Paralympic Games in Torino will face offagainst each other at the USA Cup, Feb. 9-12 at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The event will feature the 2006 US Paralympic Sled Hockey Team, Canada, and Germany.

The US Team, the defending Paralympic gold medalist, will be the Number 2 seed in Torino. Canada will be the fourth seed, and Germany is seeded seventh.

All games are free and open to the public. The schedule of games for the USA Cup is as follows:

Feb. 9 --USA vs. Canada, 9 AM; Feb. 9 --USA vs. Germany, 6 AM; Feb. 10 -- USA vs. Germany, 4:30 PM; Feb. 11 -- USA vs. Canada, 7 PM; Feb. 12 -- Championship Game, 10 AM; Canada and Germany will face off February 10 at 8:30 AM and February 11 at 10 AM.

The World Arena in Colorado Springs is located at 3185 Venetucci Boulevard.

For more information, contact Marvin Olberding, Communications Coordinator for US Paralympics, 719.866.2045; e-mail: mailto:Marvin.Olberding@usoc.org ; www.usparalympics.org

Paralympic Nordic Ski Team Chosen; USA Cup Feb. 9-12

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Paralympic Nordic Ski Team Chosen; USA Cup Feb. 9-12

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