These 2018 winter Olympians will make New Jersey proud
As we cheer on Team USA at the winter Olympic games in South Korea, it's always fun to seek out all the athletes with New Jersey roots. Among the 2018 Olympic athletes, eight were born in the Garden State
Just one of the current Olympians remains a Jersey resident — snowboarder Aaron 'AJ' Muss, of Rumson. Muss suffered a very scary health setback a few years ago, so it's inspiring to see him competing in Pyeongchang.
There’s also fellow snowboarder Meghan Tierney, who also spent her earliest years in Rumson. In her ski team bio, Tierney calls herself "a New Jersey girl" who picked up snowboarding when she was 10 years old.
Jamie Greubel Poser, on the women’s bobsled team, was born in Mercer County and is a graduate of the distinguished Hun School of Princeton. She's also an Eagles fan who predicted the Super Bowl win, so maybe it's her lucky winter!
Hockey pro Bobby Sanguinetti was born in Trenton and raised in Lumberton. He's skating for the USA, amid his latest competitive season in Switzerland.
Nolan Kasper is an alpine skier who was born in Morristown. He did his first skiing in Sussex County. He was just a toddler when his dad started teaching him at what was then Hidden Valley ski club (the spot is now an educational ski center).
Men’s bobsled competitor Hakeem Abdul-Saboor was born in East Orange before moving to Virginia as a kid. This is his first Olympics after switching over to the sport from bodybuilding.
Cross-country skier Kaitlynn Miller was born in Hillsborough before pursuing her passion as a kid in Vermont.
And Carlijn Schoutens is a long track speed-skater whose birth in Trenton is the reason she's on Team USA. Schoutens' family is from the Netherlands but she has duel citizenship from spending the first seven months of her life in New Jersey. She returned stateside for a successful attempt at making the winter games.
Go USA — and go Jersey!
Post written by Erin Vogt, with contributions by Victoria Herlocker
Proud Jersey Girl Erin Vogt’s first reporting gig involved her Fisher Price tape recorder. As a wife and momma of two kiddies, she firmly believes that life’s too short to drink bad coffee. A fan of the beach, Dave Grohl and karma, in no particular order.
Follow her on Twitter and on Facebook as ProudJersey.