Going for gold

Ryan Cochran-Siegle

• Hometown: Starksboro
• Date of birth: March 27, 1992
• Bio: Cochran-Siegle studied physics at Westminster College, and perhaps that knowledge helped the 25-year-old master the ski slopes. He’s a member Vermont’s First Family of skiing. In 1961, Mickey and Ginny Cochran built Cochran’s Ski Area in Richmond, and all four of their children — Barbara Ann, Bob, Lindy and Marilyn and Lindy — represented the U.S. in the Winter Olympics. Barbara Ann won the gold medal in slalom at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Cochran-Siegle grew up skiing at the family ski area, is a three-time winner of the Don A. Metivier Golden Ski Award for promising young ski racers, and collected multiple gold medals on the world junior championship circuit before a severe knee injury in 2013 forced him to spend some time rehabbing. He works at his family’s sugarmaking business when not skiing.

Nolan Kasper

• Hometown: Warrren
• Date of birth: March 27, 1989
• Bio: Kasper is a three-time Olympian, netting 13th place in Sochi in 2014 in slalom and 24th in slalom in Vancouver in 2010. He graduated from Burke Mountain Academy in 2007 and from Dartmouth College last year with a degree in economics. He started skiing at age 3, and also enjoys mountain biking, hockey and soccer.

Biathlon

Susan Dunklee

• Hometown: Barton
• Date of birth: Feb. 13, 1986
• Bio: Dunklee graduated in 2004 from St. Johnsbury Academy, earned a degree in ecology from Dartmouth College and is now a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Dunklee didn’t switch from cross-country skiing to biathlon until after college, but she has excelled at the sport. She was the first woman in any sport to qualify for the 2018 Olympics, her second. At Sochi in 2014, she placed seventh in relay, eighth in mixed relay, 11th in mass start, 14th in sprint and 18th in pursuit. Headed to Pyeongchang, “I have a better idea of what to expect this time, which helps,” Dunklee said. She also earned a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, and has several other top finishes at World Cup events since 2012. Dunklee learned to ski at age 2, often skiing with her neighbor Ida Sargent and her father Stan Dunklee, himself a cross-country skier who competed in the 1976 and 1980 Olympics. Her hobbies include hiking, unicycling, jigsaw puzzles and gardening.

Emily Dreissigacker

• Hometown: Morristown
• Date of birth: Nov. 29, 1988
• Bio: A longtime cross-country skier and a world-class rower, Dreissigacker took up biathlon in 2015 and was named to the national team in 2017. The 2007 graduate of Peoples Academy earned a degree in economics from Dartmouth College in 2011. Another member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, she earned her spot on the 2018 Olympic team with strong showings at competitions in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia, and Arber, Germany, earlier this winter. She hit all 20 targets at the 15K race in Arber and placed fifth overall, the top finish for any U.S. biathlete at the event. The Olympics are a family tradition; her parents, Judy Geer and Dick Dreissigacker, were both Olympic rowers and her sister Hannah competed in Sochi as a biathlete. Emily’s dream vacation spot is Italy, and her hobbies include baking and cake decorating.

Clare Egan

• Hometown: Cape Elizabeth, Maine
• Date of birth: Nov. 19, 1987
• Bio: A first-time Olympian and another member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, Egan was named to the 2018 Olympic team two months ago. Career highlights include finishing 14th and 16th, respectively, in relay and mixed relay at the 2017 world championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, 13th in the 2016 championships in Oslo, Norway, and 12th in the 2015 championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. A 2010 graduate of Wellesley College, she was a Maine high school champion and a two-time member of the New England Junior National Team. Her hobbies include playing guitar, gardening and learning new languages.

Ice hockey

Amanda Pelkey

• Hometown: Montpelier
• Date of birth: May 29, 1992
• Bio: Pelkey is a forward for the U.S. women’s team and attended the North American Hockey Academy in Stowe before playing at the University of Vermont. She graduated in 2015 after setting UVM records for goals (49), assists (56) and points (105). In 2015, she was the first woman signed by the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League, which won the Isobel Cup in 2016, the league’s inaugural season. Pelkey was named a league all-star in the 2016-2017 season. Pelkey was a member of the U.S. National Team that won gold medals at the world championships in 2016 and 2017. Pelkey also enjoys water skiing, cycling and hiking.

Cross-country skiing

Kaitlynn Miller

• Hometown: Elmore
• Date of birth: Aug. 9, 1991
• Bio: Miller, an Olympic first-timer, is the daughter of Elmore residents Deb and Edwin Miller. She graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014 with degrees in biology and environmental studies, skied with Stowe Nordic Club, and she’s now a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Career highlights include the two bids she earned to the NCAA cross-country championships during her time at Bowdoin, as well as a 2016 national title in classic sprint. Miller’s hobbies include painting, knitting, gardening and canoeing.

Caitlin Patterson

• Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska
• Date of birth: Jan. 30, 1990
• Bio: Patterson, a first-time Olympian, is a 2012 graduate of the University of Vermont, where she earned a degree in civil engineering and was a six-time NCAA skiing All-American. She is currently a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project. Her career highlights include several top-20 finishes at the 2011 and 2013 Under-23 World Championships, including 14th in the 10K freestyle and 19th in the skiathlon in 2013 and 20th in the 15K pursuit in 2011. In more recent action, Patterson teamed with Liz Stephen to take fourth place in the team sprint at a 2017 World Cup event in South Korea and finished fourth on her own in the 15K skiathlon at the same event. Her brother, Scott, is also on the U.S. Olympic cross-country team headed to South Korea; he’s based at the Alaska Pacific Nordic Center. When she’s not skiing, Patterson enjoys photography, hiking or running up mountains, and playing the mandolin and violin.

Ida Sargent

• Hometown: Barton
• Date of birth: Jan. 1, 1987
• Bio: Sargent is a two-time Olympian; she also competed in Sochi in 2014. She began skiing almost as soon as she could walk and graduated from Burke Mountain Academy in 2006 and from Dartmouth College in 2011. She’s a member of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project based at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, and grew up skiing with and against her neighbor, Susan Dunklee, another 2018 Olympian. Sargent finished 19th in sprint freestyle in Sochi and 32nd in the 10K classic, which she will be focusing on at Pyeongchang. “My biggest focus is the classic sprint but I’m also hoping to race in a team event or in the 30K classic,” Sargent said, and she and her teammates are hoping to bring home the first-ever U.S. medal in women’s cross-country skiing. When she isn’t skiing, Sargent like to run, practice yoga, mountain bike, canoe and garden.

Liz Stephen

• Hometown: East Montpelier
• Date of birth: Jan. 12, 1987
• Bio: Stephen is a three-time Olympian. She attended Burke Mountain Academy, where she made the switch from downhill to cross-country skiing before graduating in 2005. From there, she attended Westminster College and the University of Utah. Top finishes in her first two trips to the Olympics include eighth in the 4x5K relay, 12th in skiathlon and 24th in the 30K mass start, all in Sochi in 2014, and 49th in the 10K freestyle in Vancouver in 2010. She also has a handful of top-10 finishes in World Cup events over the last five years and finished 10th overall in the final 2015 World Cup standings. Her hobbies include writing, running, board games and listening to podcasts.