May 16, 2013 (Park City, Utah) – USA Ski Jumping (USASJ) announced today the 2013-14 USA Ski Jumping National Team from it’s Park City, UT headquarters. In making the announcement USASJ Athletic Director Alan Johnson called the athletes a strong and balanced group.

“From our top team with skiers like Peter, Anders and Nick (Alexander) to a growing and talented Development Team, we believe these athletes have what it takes to achieve international excellence and we are really pleased to see their dedication to the sport. We are pretty excited about the future.”

Named to the National “A” Team are returning athletes Peter Frenette (Saranac Lake, NY), Anders Johnson (Park City, UT) and moving up from last year’s Development Team is Nick Alexander (Lebanon, NH). Frenette, who grew up jumping in Lake Placid scored World Cup points last season placing a fine 20th in Sapporo, JPN., while he also placed 12th overall in the FIS Summer Grand Prix. Alexander placed third in a COC in Germany delighting US jump fans. Five USASJ jumpers scored COC points last season in a fine display of growing American depth.

Selected to the National “B” Team are Chris Lamb and Nick Fairall, both of Andover, NH. Named to the National Development Team are Brian Wallace (St. Paul, MN), Nick Mattoon (Eau Claire, WI), Alex Haupt (Park City, UT), Christian Friberg (St. Paul, MN), Will Rhoads (Park City, UT), Kevin Bickner (Wauconda, IL), and Miles Lussi (Lake Placid, NY).

The new season approaching – including the upcoming 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the first camp for the team will be the annual physical testing and training camp, complete with team meetings and media training will begin June 8-12th at the Alpine Clinic in Franconia, NH.

The USASJ’s Rex Bell echoed Johnson’s comments about the newly named teams noting, “Our USASJ community is working hard – pulling out all the stops – to make this program be all it can be. The athletes show true commitment to excellence and are making solid progress, and we see quantitative progress. This is a tribute not only to the athletes and coaches, but also to the jumping community and our sponsors and venues, clubs, coaches, officials and friends of the sport that are deeply committed to our mission. We are very encouraged about our direction.”

Former USA ski jumping Olympian Clint Jones begins his fourth year at the helm as the USA Head Jumping Coaching, while Blake Hughes has recently been tapped for an development position on the coaching staff based in Park City in a partnership with Utah Olympic Park, along with a yet-to-be named coach to be based in Europe.