Courtesy: USAT

USA Triathlon and National Teams Program Director Libby Burrell have announced the 15 "resident members" of the 2003 National Select Team Program, as well as the new coach who will lead the program.

Resident members of the National Select Team will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) in Colorado Springs and live either there or in housing nearby from January until December.

The National Select Team Program will also serve other USA Triathlon National Team athletes who may visit the USOTC for short-term visits, Burrell said.

"We want members of the USA Triathlon National Team to know they are also welcome to work with us at the USOTC," Burrell said.

John Crawley has been selected to oversee the program. He will be directly responsible for the long-term planning and administration of each athlete's training and competition plan, the daily supervision of all triathlon training sessions, the coaching responsibilities at selected national and international competitions, and the active promotion of the opportunities available within the National Select Team Program for the entire USA Triathlon National Team.

Crawley comes to USA Triathlon from the U.S. Olympic Committee, where he served as a sport biomechanist with the Coaching and Sports Sciences Division since 1999. In his role with the USOC, he was charged with providing sport biomechanics and other integrated high-performance sport science services to the 45 National Governing Bodies of Olympic sport in the United States. Crawley was also part of the High Performance Team at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah

Crawley completed his undergraduate studies in Aviation and Aeronautical Engineering at The Ohio State University and was also a varsity soccer player. His graduate studies took him to Arizona State University, where he received his training in Exercise Science with a biomechanics specialization. John is certified by USA Triathlon as a Level II Coach as well as by the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

The opportunities available for all National Select Team Program athletes will include, but are not limited to:
* Individualized, short- and long-term training and competition planning
* Direct or supplementary coaching services for daily training periods
* Housing and meals
* Support from the USA Triathlon Performance Enhancement Team, which will include integrated sport science and medicine services, including physiology, biomechanics, psychology, nutrition, and athletic training
* Full use of OTC training facilities

The 2003 resident members of the National Select Team Program are:

Courtney Bennigson (23; Boston, Mass.): A member of the 2002 resident team, Bennigson finished second at 2002 international points races in Amakusa, Japan, and Rincon, Puerto Rico in her first year as an elite. She finished first at the Junior Elite National Championships and qualified for the under-23 race at the Triathlon World Championships, but did not compete due to illness. She is a graduate of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.

Brian Fleischmann (24; Jacksonville, Fla.): As a member of the 2002 resident team, Fleischmann achieved the ranking of 65th in the world and fourth in the United States thanks to top-20 finishes at ITU races in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, and Boston, Mass. Fleischmann also placed sixth at the U.S. Pro National Championships and qualified for the World Triathlon Championships, where he placed 57th. Fleischmann is a graduate of Florida State University.

Mark Fretta (25; Portland, Ore.): This 2002 resident team member placed 21st at the World Triathlon Championships after an impressive season that included a second-place finish at the Amakusa International Triathlon and a fifth at the Puerto Rico International Triathlon. He is ranked 70th in the world, sixth in the United States. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Susie Gallucci (26; Hudson, Ohio): Gallucci joined the resident team in 2002 as Susie Stark before she was married in the spring of 2002. She is a captain in the U.S. Marine Corp. and will live off campus this year. In 2002, she placed third at the ITU points race in Ixtapa, Mexico and sixth at the points race in Guatemala. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina.

Dominic Gillen (25; New Preston, Conn.): Gillen was very new to triathlon when he joined the resident team in 2002. He has had several impressive finishes in the past year including eighth overall (first U.S. finisher) at the Echternach International Triathlon in Luxembourg and 10th at the U.S. Pro National Championships in New York. Gillen will live off campus. He is a graduate of the University of Connecticut.

Kelly Handel (25; Zionsville, Ind.): Another returning member of the 2002 resident team, Handel won the 2002 Pan Am Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and took third at the ITU points race in Boston, Mass. Handel also qualified for the 2002 ITU World Triathlon Championships, where she placed 43rd. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

Hunter Kemper (26; Longwood, Fla.): Kemper has trained in Colorado Springs since 2000, when he was a member of the U.S. Olympic team. After the 2002 season, Kemper is still the No. 1 male triathlete in the United States and is ranked No. 16 in the world, the highest year-end ranking of his career. Highlights of 2002 included his second-place finish at the ITU World Cup race in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, and a victory at the Victoria International Triathlon in British Columbia. He will live off campus. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University.

Matt Kowalski (23; Northville, Mich.): Kowalski is new to the national select team, having taken up the sport of triathlon in 1999, following an athletic career in high school swimming and water polo at the University of Michigan. Kowalski won the overall title at the 2002 U.S. under-23 triathlon national championships. He also finished 18th at the ITU points race in Boston, Mass.

Jenny Marine (27; Naperville, Ill.): Marine was a member of the 2002 resident team and had an impressive season that was cut short by illness. She won the St. Kitts international triathlon and was the first U.S. women's finisher (fourth overall) at the Victoria points race. She qualified for the ITU Triathlon World Championship, but could not compete due to illness. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).

Andy Potts (25; Princeton, N.J.): Another new member of the national select team, Potts was a member of the University of Michigan swim team from 1995-99 and was captain in 1998-99. He was a two-time all American and placed fourth at the 1996 Olympic swimming trials. He also ran a 10k in 32 minutes, 18 seconds in the "Run from the Sun" race in Medford, Ore.

Amanda Stevens (25; Enid, Okla.): Stevens is taking a year off from medical school at the University of Oklahoma to join the select team. Stevens won her age group at the 2002 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Cancun, Mexico, and finished second overall among the women. She graduated magna cum laude from Texas Christian University with a double major in biology and chemistry.

Joe Umphenour (33; Bellevue, Wash.): Umphenour was a member of the 2002 resident team and finished the season ranked 28th in the world and second in the United States. Among his season highlights were a second-place finish at the Guatemala International Triathlon and a fourth-place finish at the U.S. pro national championship. He placed 18th at the world triathlon championships. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.

Marcel Vifian (33; Santa Rosa, Calif.): Vifian came to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in 2002 as a "training specialist." He joins the select team this year coming off a five-victory season that included wins in two ITU points races. Vifian was the 2000 U.S. pro national champion and also competed at the 2000 Olympic trials.

Seth Wealing (23; Remington, Ind.): Wealing took the U.S. pro ranks by storm in 2002 when he won the U.S. Pro National Championships in New York. He also finished fourth at the ITU points race in Victoria, B.C., and 19th at the ITU World Cup race in Edmonton, Canada. Wealing is working on his Masters degree in architecture at Ball State University. It will be his first year on the select team.

Kelsey Withrow (20; Woodinville, Wash.): The youngest member of the select team, Withrow is training at the Olympic Training Center while attending the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on scholarship. Withrow finished in the top 10 overall at the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. However a broken hip kept her out of many events over the summer.