FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Minnesota Men Win Biathon National Championship Relay
West Yellowstone, Montana -- After two days of racing in the shadow of the US National Team and the Army
World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), the Minnesota Biathlon CODP men took up
the challenge and came out swinging in the last event of the National
Championships. Dan Campbell, of Hastings, Andy Erickson, Minnetonka, and
Ryan Cameron, Minneapolis took a narrow victory of 15 seconds over the 3 x
7.5km relay course. Second place went to the Western regional team, and
third to the Eastern regional team.
Dan Campbell took the lead from #1 ranked Jeremy Teela of Anchorage, AK after
the standing shooting stage. Campbell cleaned his 5 targets with 2 extra
rounds, while Teela had one miss and went into the penalty loop. This left
the door open for Campbell who brought the Minnesota team into the first
exchange in 1st place. Andy Erickson was shadowed during his entire leg by
Sergei Vinogradov of Auburn, CA. Both had perfect shooting in prone and each
used 3 extra rounds to clean standing. Erickson came into the exchange with
a thin lead over Vinogradov.
The real excitement came in the last leg. Ryan Cameron of Minneapolis was
pursued by National Team athlete David Gieck, Jackson, WY. Cameron lost 10
seconds to Gieck in the prone shooting stage, struggling to clean with 3
extra rounds. Cameron sprinted to make up the time on the 2.5km loop and
was able to reel in Gieck by the time both athletes made it back to the
range. The pressure of the battle began to show, and both Gieck and
Cameron struggled to keep their composure. Both left the range with two
penalties. Cameron was able to get of the range with a narrow lead, and
was able to hold off the hard charging David Gieck.
The relief was clear on the face of Minnesota Biathlon coach Piotr
Bednarski- "This was a big victory for Dan, Andy, and Ryan. It relieved some
of the disappointment of the individual races at the Nationals, and gives
these guys the confidence to go into next years Olymipic Trials knowing they
can compete with top ranked athletes in the county."
US National Biathlon Championships
3 x 7.5km Relay Event penalties time back
1. Minnesota Biathlon
Dan Campbell, Hastings, MN 0 - 0 00:00
Andy Erickson, Minnetonka, MN 0 - 0
Ryan Cameron, Minneapolis, MN 0 - 2
2. Western Region- Army WCAP/US National Team
Jeremy Teela, Anchorage, AK 0 - 1 00:15 back
Sergei Vinogradov, Auburn, CA 0 - 0
David Gieck, Jackson, WY 0 - 2
3. Eastern Region- Army WCAP
Scott Doughty, Burlington, VT 0 - 2 00:25 back
Lawton Redman, Burlington, VT 0 - 1
Dan Westover, Colchester, VT 0 - 0
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