Team Birkie Announces New Teams for 2024/2025
Submitted by CXC
(MINNEAPOLIS, MN) – Team Birkie’s U.S. Ski Team athletes Kevin Bolger and Zak Ketterson welcomed six new members to their top-tier, re-branded teams for the 2024-2025 season.
Former Minnesota State High School skiing phenom and four-time American Birkebeiner winner Alayna Sonnesyn returns home to the community where she emerged as a young endurance athlete, and headlines the newly rebranded World Team (formerly Pro Team). 2023 University of Alaska graduates Mariel Pulles and Christopher Kalev, both with World Cup experience, will round out the 2024-25 World Team.
The Continental Team (formerly Elite Team) welcomes former Minnesota state high school champions Luci Anderson and Henry Snider, who return to their Golden Valley and St. Paul roots, respectively. Anderson graduates in May from the University of New Hampshire where she was an NCAA All-American. Snider graduates from Michigan Tech where he was an NCAA qualifier. Team Birkie also welcomes Colby college graduate and Methow Valley native Gretta Scholz to round out the Continental Team positions for Team Birkie. Scholz was the 2020 U20 Junior National Champion in the freestyle sprint and qualified for NCAA three times for the Mules of Colby.
WORLD TEAM
Athletes competing on the World Cup/World Championship levels.
- Alayna Sonnesyn Plymouth, MN / SMS T2, UVM, Wayzata HS
- Mariel Pulles Otepää, EST / UAF, Karupesa Ski Team
- Kevin Bolger Minocqua, WI / USST, Falun-Borlänge SK, SVSEF, U of Utah, Nordicwerks, Lakeland Nordic Ski Team
- Zak Ketterson Bloomington, MN / USST, NMU, LNR, Jefferson HS
- Christopher Kalev Tallinn, EST / UAF, Sport Club CSC
CONTINENTAL TEAM
Athletes competing on US SuperTour/Continental Cup level.
- Luci Anderson Golden Valley, MN – UNH, LNR, Armstrong HS
- Gretta Scholtz Winthrop, WA – Colby, Methow Valley, Liberty Bell HS
- Henry Snider St. Paul, MN – MTU, EU, Mounds Park Academy HS
Team Birkie Head Coach Chad Salmela:
“This is an exciting step forward for Team Birkie, from a competitive perspective. The size and quality of this group perfectly blends the vision we have of mentoring developing athletes with a robust, high-quality, world-class training group.”
Team Birkie is a Midwest-based professional cross country ski team formed through a collaboration between the American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation, The Loppet Foundation, and Central Cross Country Skiing (CXC).
With athletes competing at the FIS World Cup, U.S. SuperTour, and regional marathon levels, the team is dedicated to advancing skiing in the Central Region. With its home base in Minneapolis, MN, Team Birkie promotes partnership and community engagement, striving to set higher standards in the sport and inspire the next generation of Nordic skiers.
Learn more at: teambirkie.com
