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2010 U.S. OLYMPIC ALPINE SKI TEAM

Name, hometown, age as of opening ceremonies, birthdate, (past Olympics)

Men

Will Brandenburg, Spokane, WA, 23, 1/1/87

Jimmy Cochran, Keene, NH, 28, 5/29/81 (2006)

Erik Fisher, Middleton, ID, 24, 3/21/1985

Tommy Ford, Bend, OR, 20, 3/20/89

Tim Jitloff, Reno, NV, 25, 1/11/1985

Nolan Kasper, Warren, VT, 20, 3/27/89

Ted Ligety, Park City, UT, 25, 8/31/84 (2006)

Bode Miller, Franconia, NH, 32, 10/12/77 (1998, 2002, 2006)

Steven Nyman, Sundance, UT, 28, 2/12/82 (2006)

Marco Sullivan, Squaw Valley, CA, 29, 4/27/80 (2002, 2006)

Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, NY, 24, 2/10/86

Jake Zamansky, Aspen, CO, 28, 6/26/81

Women

Stacey Cook, Mammoth Mountain, CA, 25, 7/3/84 (2006)

Hailey Duke, Boise, ID, 24, 9/17/85

Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 25, 3/9/84 (2002, 2006)

Chelsea Marshall, Pittsfield, VT, 27, 11/15/82

Megan McJames, Park City, UT, 22, 9/24/87

Alice McKennis, Glenwood Springs, CO, 20, 8/19/89

Kaylin Richardson, Edina, MN, 25, 9/28/1984

Sarah Schleper, Vail, CO, 30, 2/19/79 (1998, 2002, 2006)

Leanne Smith, Conway, NH, 22, 5/28/87

Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 25, 10/18/84 (2002, 2006)

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Lake Placid native Andrew Weibrecht was named to the 2010 U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team Tuesday.

Son of Ed and Lisa Weibrecht, owners of the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid and part owners of the Whiteface Club and Resort, Weibrecht grew up skiing in the New York Ski Educational Program at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center.

This morning, upon hearing the announcement, there was a buzz among NYSEF coaches that Weibrecht had made the team.

"It's huge," NYSEF coach Jim Johnston said. "Seeing that less than half a percent of skiing athletes racers make it to the U.S. Ski Team and even less to the Olympic Team, it's huge to have him in there."

Johnston, along with Dennis Murray and David Smith, coached Webreicht at NYSEF from a young age. He started in the program at age five and started racing several years later. Andrew was known for skiing with his brothers Jonathan and Ethan.

"Andy, when he was a young kid, was just really fearless and dedicated to skiing fast, but the main thing was having his older siblings to chase around," Johnston said.

In recent years, Weibrecht has begun making a name for himself outside of the Whiteface circle.

In 2007, he took 10th place in a World Cup downhill event in Beaver Creek, Colo., placing just ahead of Austrian skiing legend Herman Maier.

"It really is the only downhill run I've had in the last couple of years where there wasn't a big, glaring mistake that killed my speed,'' Weibrecht told the Associated Press in December. "It's the one that stands out.''

It stood out until this year's race. In the downhill World Cup event at Beaver Creek this past December, Weibrecht took fifth place for the top U.S. finish, two spots ahead of teammate Bode Miller.

At 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 180 pounds, Weibrecht's strongest events are the super G and downhill.

On Friday, Weibrecht took 11th place in the Super G World Cup race in Kitzbuehel, Austria. The race was important because it was the last before the Olympic team announcement.

"It was solid, nothing fancy," Weibrecht said on the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Web site. "A decent run. I just stuck to my game plan and skied well."

Weibrecht is the first Olympic to come from the NYSEF alpine program since Thomas Vonn, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Vonn is the husband of U.S. alpine ace Lindsey Vonn and a former student Northwood School in Lake Placid.

U.S. Alpine Team

Weibrecht was one of 22 athletes named to compete on the Alpine Ski Team at Whistler Creekside, north of Vancouver. The team is a mix of nine Olympic veterans and 13 first-timers.

Double World Champion Lindsey Vonn, of Vail, Colo., and two-time Olympic silver medalist Bode Miller, of Franconia, N.H., join 2006 Olympic gold medalists Ted Ligety, of Park City, Utah, and Julia Mancuso, of Olympic Valley, Calif, as the headliners.

Vonn's 2008 and 2009 seasons accounted for five World Cup titles, and she set numerous ski racing high marks. Vonn has won every World Cup downhill this season and currently leads the overall, downhill, super G and super combined points standings.

Joining Vonn and Mancuso in the Olympic spotlight is World Cup winner Sarah Schleper, of Vail, Colo, who becomes a four-time Olympian after missing the two seasons directly after the 2006 Games due to injury and the birth of her nearly 2-year-old son, Lasse.

Sparked by solid early season finishes in speed events and a January super combined victory in classic Wengen, Switzerland, Miller - also a four-time Olympian and a double silver medalist from 2002 - is poised to charge on North American snow.

Ligety's big race success began in 2006 when he became the Olympic combined gold medalist. He has since continued the trend with multiple World Cup wins, a World Cup giant slalom title in 2008 and a World Championships giant slalom bronze in 2009.

"As a team we're proud of this group of guys," Men's head coach Sasha Rearick said in a press release. "It's an impressive mix of veterans like Ted and Bode, who've shown they can perform when it counts. But then we've got young guys like Andrew Weibrecht and Tommy Ford, who have consistently made progress all winter."

Following a series of three World Cup speed races next weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland, women's speed will train at their European Base at Zell am See-Kaprun, Austria until Feb. 5 before arriving in Vancouver on Feb. 9, while the tech athletes will prepare in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

On the men's side, two giant slaloms and a slalom are set for Kranjska Gora, Slovenia before both men's speed and technical groups move into a pre-Olympic camp in Park City, Utah. U.S. men will also arrive on Feb. 9 in time for the first downhill training run set for Feb. 10.

There are a total of five medal events for eachgender with downhill, super G, super combined, giant slalom and slalom all on the Olympic calendar.

The Team is subject to final review by the U.S. Olympic Committee.