Ray Grass
Alpine skiing
In addition to covering the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Games, Ray, the Deseret News' skiing writer since 1972, has covered countless World Cups and other national and international events along the Wasatch Front and throughout the West. Ray has interviewed a host of Olympic skiing greats, from Alberto Tomba to Picabo Street.
Donna Kemp Spangler
Biathlon
Since joining the Deseret News in January 1999, Donna has covered biathlon, writing features on Olympic hopefuls and covering national competitions, including the 2001 U.S. Biathlon Championships in West Yellowstone and the 2001 World Cup events at Soldier Hollow. She also covers environmental issues for the Deseret News.
Joe Bauman
Bobsled and skeleton
Joe covered practice runs in October 2000 and January 2001; the women's World Bobsled Championships and Skeleton World Championships in Calgary, Canada, in February 2001; the World Cup Skeleton final races in February 2001 at Utah Olympic Park at Bear Hollow; the Bobsled World Cup finals, February 2001, Olympic Park; qualifying races for the U.S. World Cup teams, held in October 2001 at Olympic Park; and Olympic team trials for bobsled and skeleton at Olympic Park.
Jesse Hyde
Cross country
A reporter for the Deseret News' Utah County Bureau in Provo, Jesse is the newest addition to the Deseret News' string of sport specialists, having picked up the cross country beat in spring 2001.
Julie Dockstader Heaps
Curling
Julie has been covering curling since summer 2000, writing about local events and covering the World Junior Curling Championships last March and the U.S. Olympic Trials in December. She has made numerous contacts within the sport and has even thrown a few stones herself. Heaps is in her 12th year with the Deseret News, writing for Church News.
Jenifer K. Nii
Figure skating
Jenifer has been a figure skating fan since she found out — rather painfully — that she herself had no talent at the sport. She covered the 1999 U.S. Championships in Salt Lake City for the Deseret News, along with the 2000 Skate America competition, 2000 U.S. Championships in Boston and 2000 World Championships in Vancouver, B.C. Jenifer also covered the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.
Amy Donaldson
Freestyle
Amy has been covering freestyle since January 2000. She's covered a World Cup competition in Deer Valley and the World Championships in Canada last year. She also attended the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta to cover security issues as part of the Deseret News police team and will back up Derek Jensen on security issues for these Games.
Zack Van Eyck
Women's ice hockey
Zack has attended the 2000 and 2001 Women's World Hockey Championships, the 2001 USA Hockey Women's National Festival and the team's just-completed tour. A sportswriter and assistant sports editor for 10 years before joining the news staff of the Deseret News in 1994, Zack grew up in Alaska and covered high school and collegiate hockey for the Anchorage Times.
Tim Buckley
Men's ice hockey
Now the Deseret News' beat writer covering the NBA's Utah Jazz, Tim covered the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning for five seasons from 1995-99. He also was the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times' lead writer at the 1999 NHL All-Star Game, played in Tampa, and is a former correspondent for The Hockey News. He just returned from covering the NHL All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Jody Genessy
Men's ice hockey
Jody has been a part of the Deseret News sports staff for almost eight years as a desk editor and writer covering everything from high school sports to local colleges to the NBA Finals. Jody has penned puck stories nearly every year since the Utah Grizzlies' inaugural season in the Beehive State in 1995-96. Most recently, Jody covered the U.S. men's hockey orientation camp last fall in Colorado Springs, where he interviewed Team USA players, coaches and executives about the upcoming Winter Games.
Brady Snyder
Luge
Besides covering practice events and spending time getting to know America's top sliders, Brady covered the 2001 World Championships in Calgary. He also covered the World Cup event held at Utah Olympic Park last winter and the 2001 North American luge championships also at Utah Olympic Park. In addition to covering luge for the Deseret News, he has written about the sport for Reuters, a London-based wire service.
Jason Swensen
Nordic combined and ski jumping
Jason covered the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games in Lake Placid, N.Y., for the Deseret News. He has also covered several World Cup, international and national competitions in nordic combined, ski jumping and disabled alpine ski events in Steamboat Springs, Colo., and at various Utah venues.
Maria Titze
Short-track speedskating, figure skating
Before covering speedskating world championships and Olympic qualifiers for the Deseret News, Maria did free-lance work for the National Public Radio sports program "Only a Game." She partnered with Jenifer K. Nii covering the 2002 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Los Angeles.
Dennis Romboy
Snowboarding
Dennis has covered snowboarding the past two years, including several World Cup events, the FIS World Championships in Italy and the U.S. Championships in Maine. He also covered U.S. Olympic parallel giant slalom and halfpipe qualifying events in Whistler, B.C. and Breckenridge, Colo. Dennis recently chucked his skis for a snowboard.
Jay Evensen
Long-track speedskating
During the past year, Jay has covered the National All-Round Championships in Butte, Mont., and the World Single Distance Championships in Kearns, the first large event at the new Olympic Oval, in which five world records were set.
Steve Speckman
Long-track speedskating
Normally a suburban city government reporter, Steve will put on his long-track speedskating hat for trips to the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns during the Olympics. "It's a little like auto racing — speed, an oval track and wipeouts, only without the cars and loud noise," he says.
