Fall 2009 Traveling Team Announced

The roster of the 2009 traveling team was announced today by coach Pete Motta. These ten athletes have been selected to compete in the fall portion of the upcoming Junior World Cup season:

• Robby Huerbin (19), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania


• Isaac Underwood (18), Skandia, Michigan


• Lea Vanderlinden (18), Heber, Utah


• Taylor Morris (18), South Jordan, Utah


• Aaron Barge (17), Saranac Lake, New York


• Andrew Sherk (17), Fort Washington, Pennsylvania


• Jake Hyrns (16), Muskegon, Michigan


• Anthony Espinoza (16), Park City, Utah


• Summer Britcher (15), York, Pennsylvania


• Billy Mills (14), Frederick, Maryland

Two other Junior National Team athletes, Kate Hansen (17), La Cañada, California and Emily Sweeney (16), Suffield, Connecticut qualified yesterday in Whistler, British Columbia to race in the Fall 2009 Senior World Cup circuit.

This will be the first taste of international competition for Isaac, Anthony and Billy. "I'm really looking forward to racing on tracks other than Lake Placid," said Isaac, "and to being in a foreign country for the first time." Taylor, meanwhile, stated his attitude to his fourth international season by quoting Henry Ford: "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal."

The group will continue to train in Lake Placid until Thanksgiving, before departing for Moscow on November 28. The season's first Junior World Cup will take place in Paramonovo, Russia on December 10.