The U.S. Freestyle team was announced today. A-teamers are your front runners to represent the USA in the 2010 Olympics. Cle Elum's Patrick Deneen is the defending world champ in the moguls.

Men
Patrick Deneen, moguls (12/25/87; Cle Elum, WA; Silver Mountain Freestyle)
Sho Kashima, moguls (11/1/86; South Lake Tahoe, CA; Heavenly Freestyle)
Michael Morse, moguls (4/21/81; Duxbury, MA; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Killington)
Jeret "Speedy" Peterson, aerials (12/12/81; Boise, ID; Bogus Basin)*
Casey Puckett, ski cross (9/22/72, Aspen, CO)*
Daron Rahlves, ski cross (6/12/73, Sugar Bowl, CA)*
Nate Roberts, moguls (3/24/82; Park City, UT; Park City Freestyle Team)
Ryan St. Onge, aerials (2/7/83; Winter Park, CO)*

Women
Shannon Bahrke, moguls (11/7/80; Tahoe City, CA; Squaw Valley Freestyle)*
Emily Cook, aerials (7/1/79; Belmont, MA; Freestyle Lives Year-round)*
Hannah Kearney, moguls (2/26/86; Norwich, VT; Waterville Valley Black & Blue Trail Smashers)*
Shelly Robertson, moguls (4/8/79; Reno, NV; Squaw Valley Freestyle)
Emiko Torito, moguls (7/2/82; Denver; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club)

B Team
Men
Dave Babic, moguls (6/3/79; Washington, VT; Sugarbush)
Scott Bahrke, aerials (7/19/85; Tahoe City, CA)
Dylan Ferguson, aerials (8/10/88; Amesbury, MA; Waterville Valley Black & Blue Trail Smashers)
Bryon Wilson, moguls (4/7/88; Butte, MT; Wasatch Freestyle)

Women
Jana Lindsey, aerials (8/18/84; Black Hawk, SD)*
Eliza Outtrim, moguls (7/18/85; Steamboat Springs, CO; Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club/Mount Snow Ski Club)
Michelle Roark, moguls (11/16/74; Denver; Winter Park Eskimos)*
Lacy Schnoor, aerials (6/12/85; Draper, UT)

C Team
Men
Jeremy Cota, moguls (10/24/1988; Carrabassett Valley, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy Athletics)
Shane Cordeau moguls (12/16/1986; Sun Valley, ID; Sun Valley Ski Team)
Matt DePeters, aerials (8/20/87; Hamburg NY; Buffalo Ski Club)
David DiGravio, moguls (11/26/86; Farmington, ME; Carrabassett Valley Academy)
Jimmy Discoe, moguls (5/15/89; Ridgway, CO; Telluride Freestyle)
Joe Discoe, moguls (2/23/1987; Telluride, CO; Telluride Freestyle)
Landon Gardner, moguls (1/1/85; Missoula, MT; Missoula Freestyle)
Holt Haga, moguls (8/29/83; Boise, ID; Park City Freestyle Team/Bogus Basin)

Women
Ani Haas, moguls (12/14/87; Missoula, MT; Park City Freestyle)
Mikaela Matthews, moguls (12/24/1991; Frisco, CO; Team Summit)
Heather McPhie, moguls (5/28/84; Park City, UT; Bridger Freestyle/Breckenridge)
Jaime Myers, aerials (3/27/82; Boise, ID)
Laurel Shanley, moguls (2/19/83; Squaw Valley, CA; Squaw Valley Freestyle)
Kayla Snyderman, moguls (7/4/88; Winchester, MA; Waterville Valley Black & Blue Trail Smashers)
Allison Treleaven, aerials (10/20/83; Fort Wayne, IN; Freestyle Lives Year-round)

The USSA is circulating a Q&A with Patrick Deneen today. Deneen is a mogul skier from Cle Elum who'll be on of Washington's best chance for a medal at the 2010 Olympics.

One year after being named the FIS World Cup Rookie of the Year, Patrick Deneen (Cle Elum, WA) took the freestyle moguls world by storm when he won gold at the 2009 World Freestyle Championships in moguls. Now with a landmark season wrapped up, Deneen reflects on what his win meant to him and how he's shifted his focus to the 2010 year.

You're back at home in Washington now. How are things there and what have you been up to?
I'm just hanging out at home, which is nice because I just got back from spending the last month in Colorado where I was training and coaching some kids. So, it's good to be back in Washington and be home with the dogs and the horses.

Will you be spending your whole summer in Washington or are you ramping up your training schedule elsewhere?
I am planning on spending a lot of my summer in Washington. It's great because I am so close to Mt. Hood and with this time of year also being the time I do physical training, for me, this is the best type of training environment - in Washington and with my family on the ranch.

You might be a World Champion now, but when you head back to the ranch does a long list of chores wait for you?
I'm gone so often that my mom pretty much has it covered. But, when I am here I do normal chores like mowing the lawn and feeding horses. Luckily this time of year the grass is getting long, so I don't have to do a whole lot of feeding.

When you won your gold at Worlds, things were a whirlwind for you. Now that the dust has had a chance to settle, how do you reflect on what you accomplished?
The World Championship medal really means a lot to me. When you're skiing at the biggest event, and for me having everything come together at the right moment, it's a real special time.

What have you done with your gold medal?
Right now I keep it in a cupboard in my living room. If I'm sitting down watching television I'll have a quick look at it. My mom plans on framing it with my bib.

With such a great season behind you, how do you plan out your training this summer as you look ahead for future success?
I really focus on my skiing, the task at hand and small goals that I can do. If I just keep moving down that path my skiing will work and the results will come.

Do you have any additional thoughts as you look ahead to the 2010 season?
I'm really excited for next season. All of us just really love to compete. It's such a short ski season and we don't get that many competitions to ski in, so I'm looking forward to getting in there and starting to compete again. I know it's only June, but it seems like it's coming up so fast.

From the U.S. Ski Team

Life's not exactly a beach for the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team moguls athletes who are stationed in San Diego this week for one of the most intense training camps of their season.

"We came down here to get our skiers out of their element in the mountains," U.S. Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles said. "We've been doing beach workouts every day. We try to keep everyone moving. We have stuff going on from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., so it's fairly grueling, really intense and it's a good way to get our prep season kicked off."

Among the athletes at the camp are World Championship bronze medalist Hannah Kearney (Norwich, VT) and 2002 Olympic silver medalist Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA).

"We're basically getting whipped into shape. We're learning some technique in the gym, we're doing core workouts, we're running on the track and then we're doing workouts at the beach that involve running in and out of the water with and without surfboards," Kearney said. "I'm not exactly what you'd call a beach person, but it's a really good way to mix up the training and get a good tan at the same time."

For Bahrke, a California native, training in her home state is a great way to get back into the swing of things.

"This is our first camp and we're really trying to get back into it. We've been doing a lot of different things," Bahrke said. "I'm a Cali girl, so I love being down here. It's beautiful, the sun is shining and it's a really good vibe down here."

The camp involves some of the most intense training the athletes will endure throughout their season. The intensity serves as a foundation for the athletes remaining in consistently good shape as they gear up for 2010.

"Every day I fall asleep within two seconds of my head hitting my pillow. Everything we've been doing is really hard. There have been no easy workouts," Bahrke said.

"In a lot of ways this is a little unorthodox compared to what we usually do, but I think that's one of the main reasons we do it," Rawles added. "It's good to get the athletes into different situations that they might not have been in before because in our sport we're always dealing with different situations so this helps them prepare for that."

Athletes who live away from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's Center of Excellence training facility and the supervision of the Team's trainer will be able to take the workout plans and fundamental skills they developed in San Diego and use them from their homes across the U.S.

"Living in Vermont I don't get to work with Alex [Moore, Team trainer] very often except for over the Internet. It's really good getting some face time. He makes us work harder than we would alone. It's a really good way to start the off season," Kearney said.

The moguls athletes will remain in San Diego through the weekend before returning to their personal training schedules.

Just got off the phone with Patrick Deneen, the mogul skier from Cle Elum. Deneen just got in yesterday from Japan where he won the moguls World Championship.

He directed me to a website where you can watch his winning run.

Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum just won moguls gold at the world championships.

Here's the release from the U.S. Ski Team:

The U.S. Ski Team's Pat Deneen (Cle Elum, WA) took the competition by storm Saturday, winning the gold medal in moguls at the 2009 FIS Freestyle Ski World Championships in Japan.

"This is incredible. It really hasn't set in yet, but just to know that I have that now is a great feeling. I don't even know how to put it into words. I just can't believe it's mine," Deneen said. "It's been a really long and tough season so far, so to have this win feels really good. To come out with a World Championship win is the most incredible thing."

Deneen was closely followed in the men's competition by teammate Sho Kashima (South Lake Tahoe, CA) who finished sixth. In the women's moguls, Shannon Bahrke (Tahoe City, CA) headed up the list for the U.S., finishing sixth.

On top of having the fastest time down the course, Deneen stuck a Back X, a trick he only learned four days ago, off the top jump. He then landed a D Spin off the bottom jump after struggling with the maneuver for the past few weeks.

Deneen said his ability to perform his air packages so well came from added effort away from the competition trail.

"I went home, worked on it and came back here and everything worked," Deneen said. "I had a really tough training day yesterday and same with this morning, but everything just went together for my finals run. It's pretty amazing.

=> Read more!

CYPRESS MOUNTAIN, B.C. – Two hours before the finals of Saturday’s moguls World Cup race, Bryon Wilson was threatening to hurt Patrick Deneen.

Not because Deneen is the man he thinks he needs to catch to make the 2010 Olympic team, but because earlier that morning Deneen filled Wilson’s ski boots with orange peels.

If Deneen survives whatever revenge Wilson has in mind, there’s seemingly not much else that can derail his promising career.

The 21-year-old Cle Elum resident is a rising star on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team and has his sights locked on the 2010 Olympics.

He was rookie of the year on the world tour last season, and while he hasn’t skied quite as well this season, according to his coach, he finished fourth in Saturday’s World Cup on the course that will be used in next year’s Olympics.

“He certainly has a tremendous upside,” freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen said. “He is a great talent.”

Patrick’s dad, Pat, was the first to see his son’s talent.

When Pat was the general manager at Hyak, now Summit East on Snoqualmie Pass, his son started skiing at 11 months of age.

“He had more opportunities to ski than most kids,” said the elder Deneen, who also worked at Silver Mountain in Idaho.

When Deneen started racing, he won almost every junior race he entered. While he was always fast, he said he was best at the technical events like slalom.

But it wasn’t long before Deneen fell in love with skiing bumps.

And as with ski racing, Deneen proved to be a natural in freestyle, too.

“The guy is always on the snow,” Wilson said. “He works really hard.”

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From the U.S. Freestlye Team:

Michael Morse (Duxbury, MA) and Emiko Torito (Steamboat, CO) each laid down spectacular runs to win gold in the moguls competition of the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships at Deer Valley Resort in Park City Saturday.

The Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships will air Sunday, April 6 on Versus at 3 p.m. ET.

"We had a great day. Everybody put together some really good stuff," said Moguls Head Coach Scott Rawles. "We have a competitive group and they came out and skied hard. It was awesome."

=> Read more!