Swix Athletes

Swix is proud to support the following athletes in their quest to achieve their dreams.

Athletes

Andy Newell

As a junior, Vermonter Andy Newell was ranked among the top sprinters in the world. When he moved into the senior ranks, Newell began building experience and confidence, and he's gone on to post the best American results internationally - including the first U.S. podium in more than two decades. Perhaps the biggest irony is that as a kid, as Newell says with a smile, "I was a terrible runner." But running on skis clearly agrees with him. UPDATE In the second sprint of the 2008 season, Newell picked off another top-5 result, finishing fourth. In 2007, he didn't duplicate his World Cup podium from after the 2006 Olympics, but Newell was fourth behind Torin Koos in Koos' podium and had two other top-10s, five other top-15s. By season's end, Newell was sixth in the sprint ranks, the only non-Scandinavian in the top nine. "Andy's got everyone's attention," Coach Pete Vordenberg said, "and now that he's had a couple of years learning how to get through the finals heats, he's going to be even more of a challenger for the podium...and for wins." FIRST TRACKS Newell was skiing by 3, racing by 5 "and [I] haven't stopped since." After moving through Stratton Mountain School and its well-respected cross country program, he produced top-10 results at Junior Worlds as a teenager. He was top-10 in the sprint at Junior Worlds for three straight years, '01-03. He won his first Continental Cup race, a sprint, at Silver Star, B.C., in November 2001 and moved on to clinch a place at his first Olympics. FIRST WORLD CUP: Feb. 18, 2004 in Stockholm, SWE (43rd in CL sprint) OLYMPICS/WORLDS: 2007 Worlds - 5th in CL sprint. 2006 Olympics - 13th in CL team sprint (with Chris Cook), 16th in FR sprint. 2005 worlds - 16th in CL sprint. 2003 Worlds - 31st in FR sprint.

Kikkan Randall

Kikkan Randall is one of the few athletes who can say she made her Olympic debut in her hometown - born in Salt Lake City and a member of the 2002 Olympic Team in Salt Lake (although, admittedly, the races were at Soldier Hollow). A promising runner growing up in Alaska, she added "serious” cross country skiing as a counter-seasonal training vehicle...and then became a champion skier, too. She's got the best ever U.S. women's results in World Cup and Olympic racing. UPDATE Randall made (more) U.S. cross country history Dec. 16, 2007 when she became the first American woman to win a World Cup, capturing a freestyle sprint in Rybinsk, Russia, coincidentally the same venue where she became the first U.S. woman to reach a World Cup podium Jan. 21, 2007 when she was third in another FR sprint. Randall trimmed her travel last season (to New Zealand, to the opening Cup races) and it paid off handsomely with that podium. She also began stretching her racing, moving beyond only sprinting. "It's all about patience," she said, noting she knew it would take years to become a contender at distance, too. She has a new training mate in the APU Nordic program, too, when sprinter Laura Valaas moved to Alaska to join Randall and Taz Mannix. FIRST TRACKS Her family lived in Salt Lake while her mother attended law school at the University of Utah, but returned to Alaska after Randall's birth. The niece of two Olympians (Uncle Chris Haines, Mom's brother, was a '76 cross country skier and Aunt Betsy Haines was the first racer on-course in the 1980 5K), she was a first-rate high school runner and turned to skiing as a way to continue training in winter. She became one of the top U.S. junior racers; "It's in my blood,” she said with her trademark high-voltage smile. She blends classes at Alaska Pacific University (aiming for business degree) with her cross country training and serves as a key liaison between the U.S. Ski Team and one of the nation's premier club programs, the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center. OLYMPICS/WORLDS 2007 Worlds - 11th in team sprint (with Laura Valaas), 22nd in sprint, 41st in pursuit. 2006 Olympics - 9th in sprint, 10th (with Wendy Wagner) in team sprint. 2005 Worlds - 14th (with Sarah Konrad) in FR team sprint, 29th in CL sprint, 65th in 10K FR. 2003 Worlds - 39th in FR sprint, 50th in 10K CL, 54th in 10K (5+5) pursuit. 2002 Olympics - 44th in FR sprint, 63rd in pursuit. 2001 Worlds - 34th in FR sprint. FIRST WORLD CUP Jan. 14, 2001 at Soldier Hollow, UT (24th in FR sprint, pre-Olympic test race)

Kris Freeman

New Hampshire's Kris Freeman, a Type 1 diabetic, posted the best U.S. cross country distance results since the Bill Koch era of the early Eighties. His accolades include winning the inaugural Under-23 championships race in Italy, being the first American to qualify for the exclusive "Red Group" - the top 30 athletes on the World Cup circuit and, among others, placing fourth at the 2003 World Championships (the best U.S. result in 21 years). UPDATE After a summer of back-to-basics preseason training, mostly in New Hampshire, Freeman skied to his best season in three years last winter. And with a couple of breaks at Worlds, it might have been even better. Freeman was working on a similar boost-the-basics preseason plan as he started to rev his engine for the '09 Worlds and, happily back in North America, the 2010 Olympics. "Kris has had problems with his health, and we reassessed his training,” Coach Pete Vordenberg explained, "and he seems to be back on track. If he stays healthy, he could contend in almost any race.” Domestically, he added four more U.S. championships and, with eight wins (including those U.S. titles), boosted the record for SuperTour victories to 23. FIRST TRACKS Dad would pull young Freeman around on a sled; at 2, he was skiing and early in his teens he tried nordic combined for a couple of seasons before focusing on cross country. He also was an outstanding high school runner. He took leave from the University of Vermont after one season, joining the U.S. cross country residence program in Park City in 2000. ("I'll definitely get a degree, but I couldn't give it the attention it needs now.")

Laura Valaas

Laura Valaas grew up skiing with her family in Wenatchee, WA. She wasa three-time NCAA All American for Whitman College before graduating in 2006. After graduation she decided to ski full-time and found it to be a fulfilling pursuit as well as enjoying some success with a top-30 at the 2007 World Championships and a Silver Medal at the 2007 U-23 World Championships. Laura currently races with the US Ski Team and resides in Anchorage, AK where she trains with the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center. In her off time she enjoys volunteering at Sand Lake Elementary,

Tazlina Mannix

Age: 22 Hometown: Talkeetna, Alaska Team: US Ski Team/ Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center Coach: Erik Flora Career Highlights: 9th- 15km pursuit, 2007 Under-23 World Championships U.S. Champion- 15km pursuit, 2007 U.S. Distance Nationals U.S. Champion- 30km freestyle, 2007 U.S. Distance Nationals U.S. Grand National Champion- 2006-2007 Season 8th- 15km freestyle, 2008 Under-23 World Championships 3rd- 15km pursuit, 2008 U.S. Distance Nationals 2008 Canmore, Alberta World Cup Team I grew up in the rural Alaskan town of Talkeetna and skied to the bus stop from my family’s cabin off the road system. My parents coached me through my junior years of racing until I moved to Anchorage for my senior year of high school at 17 and joined the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center. I was a podium finisher at four Junior National Championships and raced at the 2005 and 2006 World Junior Championships. I had a breakthrough season in 2007 when I was US Grand National Champion and placed in the top ten at Under-23 World Championships. In the 2008-2009 season I raced on the World Cup for the first time, skiing in the distance events in Canmore, Alberta. My specialties are pursuits and long distance freestyle races, although I enjoy all distance events. I’m looking forward to more World Cup racing in the 2008-2009 season in preparation for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Return to Top