Sixteen Winter Olympians hail from NW

Share

By Jennifer Meacham and the Associated Press

Summary

The final U.S. Winter Olympic rosters has been unveiled, and 16 Pacific Northwesterners made the cut.

Story Published: Feb 10, 2010 at 12:43 PM PST

Sixteen Winter Olympians hail from NW

Olympic speedskater Apolo Ohno, also a former contestant on "Dancing With the Stars."

PORTLAND, Ore. - On Tuesday the U.S. Olympic Committee rounded out this year's Team USA.

Sixteen Team USA competitors hail from the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle's much-lauded Apolo Anton Ohno. The team competes during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, which runs from Friday, Feb. 12 to Feb. 28. 

In the Alpine Skiing division, Pacific Northwesterners to watch are:

  • Will Brandenburg of Spokane, Wash.
  • Erik Fisher of Middleton, Idaho
  • Tommy Ford of Bend, Ore.
  • Hailey Duke of Boise, Idaho

In the Biathlon division there are nine competitors, including:

  • Sara Studebaker of Boise, Idaho.

In the Bobsled division you'll find:

  • Bree Schaaf from Bremerton, Wash., on the six-member women's team.

In Cross-Country Skiing there are two Northwest skiers:

  • Torin Koos of Leavenworth, Wash., on the men's team (he reportedly now lives in Bend, Ore.) and
  • Morgan Arritola of Ketchum, Idaho, on the women's team.

For Curling, Nicole Joraanstad from Seattle is one of five competitors on the woman's team.

In the two-person Freestyle Skiing Men Aerials team, Jeret Peterson of Boise, Idaho, is one of them.

For Moguls, there's Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum, Wash.
 
The women's Ice Hockey team holds:

  • Karen Thatcher, a forward from Blaine, Wash.

On the Luge men's team:

  • Christian Niccum of Woodinville, Wash.

The Snowboardcross division hosts:

  • Graham Watanabe of Sun Valley, Idaho.

The Short Track Speedskating team holds two Northwest skaters: