BIOGRAPHY:
Liz Stephen may have grown up an alpine racer, but the Vermonter is quickly rising as one of the best up-and-comers in women's cross country racing. In her young career, Stephen has already made the grade to be on both a World Championship and Olympic Teams. Stephen learned to love cross country skiing when someone suggested she tried it as a counter-seasonal training device for running, but now she's winning races and turning heads. Just days before she turned 19, Stephen tied for her first U.S. Championship, a tally she has recently increased to seven with a 2011 win in the 20k freestyle.  Add to that a top-20 finish at World Championships and the 2011 season looked like a great precursor to the young racer's bright future.

LIZ SAYS:
The 2010 season was an eye-opener in many ways. I competed in my first Olympic Games and the experience was incredibly valuable and really fun. I hope it will not be my last Games.  With my future goals in mind I focused my energy on making the World Championship team in 2011 and improving on my last World Championship results from 2009. Though I did not achieve that particular goal, I was able to be more consistent in my results this season than in any other season previously.  I am really looking forward to the 2012 year and taking more steps to improve my performance.

FIRST TRACKS:
She started skiing early, and was a promising alpine racer. But she crossed over to nordic as a sophomore (Winter '02) - just as Matt Whitcomb was rebooting the Burke Mountain Academy nordic program. High energy and a quick study, Stephen started running on skis and did well until she learned to ski on skis, and did even better. In 2004, she was the J1 10K classic champion at JOs. "I just go out and ski and what happens happens,” she explained. "I wanted skiing to complement my running but it's developed that my running is complementing my skiing.”

OFF THE SNOW:
I am taking a class at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. I really like to read, adventure with friends - especially in the desert or the mountains - and jump in cold lakes or rivers whenever I find one! I bought a new mountain bike last year and have been having a blast and working on being more aggressive on it!