Tauranga's Katie Calder leads the New Zealand Cross Country Ski Association's five-strong national team announced this week for the northern hemisphere winter racing season.
NZCCSA convener of selectors Alastair Smaill said the team would be the strongest New Zealand had fielded.
Also in the team is Ben Koons, of Sidney, Maine (formerly Dunedin), Andrew Pohl, of Dunedin, Andrea Fancy, of Vernon, British Columbia (Wellington), and Nat Anglem, of Christchurch.
They all have fewer than 150 International Ski Federation (FIS) points and have all improved their FIS rankings over the past season.
They all raced at the Winter Games NZ last month and Calder went on to become the overall winner of the 2009 Australia New Zealand Cup, receiving a subsidised entry into World Cup races this season.
Calder has 10 sub-100 FIS point races under her belt and has achieved the A qualification standard for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Koons, who recently returned to the sport after a lengthy injury break, has lowered his FIS point average to within half a point of meeting the A qualification standard.
