Jessie Diggins celebrates after winning the gold medal in the team sprint freestyle cross-country skiing final Feb. 21 at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (AP photo — Matthias Schrader)

Jessie Diggins celebrates after winning the gold medal in the team sprint freestyle cross-country skiing final Feb. 21 at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
(AP photo — Matthias Schrader)

PARK CITY, Utah — Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins leads the 16-member 2018-19 U.S. Cross Country Team that will put a strong focus on the 2019 World Cross Country Championships. The team kicks off the 2018-19 FIS World Cup Cross Country season Nov. 24-25 in Ruka, Finland.

“The 2018-19 World Cup season has the potential to be one of the best in history for the USA,” U.S. Cross Country head coach Chris Grover said. “The athletes who earned 16 of a record 17 World Cup podiums last season are returning and are motivated to pick up where they left off.”

The team had a historic 2017-18 season with Diggins and Kikkan Randall winning the first Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in the team sprint. Diggins also finished the season ranked second in the overall World Cup standings, and third in the distance World Cup standings. Sophie Caldwell, of Peru, Vermont, finished third in the World Cup sprint standings.

Sadie Bjornsen also had a breakthrough season with four individual podiums, finishing sixth in the overall World Cup standings. The 16-member team will look to carry that momentum into the 2018-19 World Championship season.

“I’m looking forward to kicking the season off with the team in a few short days,” Caldwell said earlier this month. “Our team will go into each weekend with big goals, but our biggest focus this year will be World Champs in Seefeld, Austria, where we have had some success before.”

In addition to the grueling season-long World Cup schedule, many of the athletes will start the seven-stage Tour de Ski that runs between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6. Some athletes will race through the Val Mustair stage, while a select few will likely compete in the full tour in preparation for the upcoming World Championships.

“Our focus for the season is the Seefeld World Championships, which begins quite late in February, so we are not focused on being in top race form in November or December but will undoubtedly have some success then as well,” Grover said. “Look for the USA athletes to be coming into top form in the Tour de Ski and beyond.”

A veteran group of athletes will headline the U.S team at the FIS World Championships in Seefeld, Austria Feb. 19-March 3 with favored events for the U.S. team that include freestyle sprint, men’s 30k and women’s 15k skiathlon and a classic team sprint.

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2018-19 U.S. Cross Country Team

(Hometown; club; birthdate)

A TEAM

Men

Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 5/14/87)

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Women

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 11/21/89)

Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 3/22/90)

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91)

Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.; Craftsbury Green Racing Project; 1/25/88)

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B TEAM

Men

Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/14/91)

Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 4/11/93)

Patrick Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 2/18/94) )

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 1/28/92)

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D TEAM

Men

Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School; 2/13/00)

Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00)

Ian Torchia (Rochester, Minn.; Northern Michigan University; 3/8/96)

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Women

Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 2/19/98)

Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97)

Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School; 11/17/97)

Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/10/98)