Park City, UT (Thursday, May 8, 2003) - Olympians Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), who won gold at the first Under-23 World Championships last season and had the best World Championships result by an American in more than two decades, and Carl Swenson (Boulder, CO), who had a top-5 of his own at Worlds, are among six skiers named today to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for the coming season.

U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner said the group included five men and Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT). In addition, a seven-athlete development team, comprised of three men and four women, was named.

Freeman is a diabetic who injects up to a half-dozen insulin shots a day. He won two titles at the Chevy Truck U.S. Cross Country Championships in January, won the 30-km, classic technique, mass start race at the U-23 championships in Italy and was fourth in the pursuit. A week later, he finished fourth in the 15-km CL race at Worlds, missing the bronze medal by 2.1 seconds, the best U.S. showing since Bill Koch took bronze at the 1982 championships; he also led the opening leg of the 4x10-km relay.

Swenson, a two-time Olympian, snapped a ski pole when another racer collided with him during the 50-km freestyle race on the final day of Worlds but still finished fifth. The Dartmouth College graduate also was 11th in the pursuit a 10-km CL race leading into the 10-km freestyle race, and won three gold medals at the U.S. championships.

"Kris and Carl had great results last season and we look for them to keep that momentum going. Adding Justin [Freeman] gives us another strong classic [technique] skier, the only person in the U.S. who's been able to really challenge - and beat - Kris in classic, so that's good as we look toward the Olympic relay in 2006 because we've wanted to boost our classic skiing." Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT) skied the second (classic) leg for the U.S. in both the Olympic and World Championships, but Bodensteiner said he would bring strength in the battle to fill the third relay leg, 10 kilometers of freestyle skiing.

According to Bodensteiner, Head Coach Trond Nystad and his staff also planned to increase their sprint training during the preseason, looking to help accelerate, among others, Koos - a 2002 Olympian and University of Utah All-America racer - as he gains international experience with more World Cup racing. "Torin's quite a talent and we want to increase his opportunities."

"Justin's moving to Park City and we'll have everyone training here throughout the summer and fall," Bodensteiner said. "I'm excited because of the commitment to training together and improving; this should be excellent for our development kids as well as the World Cup group. It's good the way we've got the younger skiers coming along - and some outside skiers, too - creating some pressure on the top group to keep skiing fast."

2004 U.S. CROSS COUNTRY SKI TEAM:
Men - Justin Freeman (26; Andover, NH), Kris Freeman (22; Andover, NH), Andrew Johnson (25; Greensboro, VT), Torin Koos (22; Leavenworth, WA), and Carl Swenson (33; Boulder, CO).

Women - Wendy Wagner (29; Park City, UT).

* All except for Justin Freeman were 2002 Olympians and all six raced at the 2003 World Championships.

2004 CROSS COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT SKI TEAM
Men - Chris Cook (22; Rhinelander, WI), Andy Newell (19; Shaftsbury, VT) and Leif Zimmerman (19; Bozeman, MT).

Women - Melissa Oram (23; Taberg, NY), Kikkan Randall (20; Anchorage, AK), Aubrey Smith (23; Seward, AK), and Lindsey Weier (18; Mahtomedi, MN).