FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gary Colliander
Minnesota Biathlon
Community Olympic Development Program
[email protected]

December 29, 2001

 

Biathlon U.S. Olympic Trials - Day 1

Kara Salmela of Duluth took one step forward in her quest to make her 2nd Olympic Team. Salmela finished in 3rd with 6 penalties behind National Team member Rachel Steer of Anchorage, AK and Lanny Barnes of Durango, CO. The Olympic Trials always seem to pull out the best in racing and today was no exception with Lanny Barnes winning today's event. Barnes is a member of the U.S. Junior National Team and has been knocking on the door of the best Senior athletes. With only 2 penalties, she was able to beat out Steer by just :23 seconds. Jill Troutner of Maple Grove finished in 7th with St. Cloud native Jill Krause right behind in 8th. Junior National Team member and Duluth native Carolyn Treacy finished in 10th.

Hastings' native Dan Campbell knew he had to ski conservative in the early sages of today's Individual race, even if it meant getting passed on the trail. The Individual event doesn't have the head to head battles to the finish seen in such events like the Pursuit or Mass Start, but instead showcases the pinpoint accuracy in the range. Athletes are dealt a harsh time penalty of one minute, which is added to the skiers final ski time. "I went out pretty to make sure I had a good focus in the range, " said Campbell. That statedgy paid off as Campbell finished 2nd to National Team member Lawton Redman of Florence, VT. Campbell's teammate Ben Kremer of Elk River had the days best shooting hitting 18 of 20 targets to finish in 8th. "This was a really good race for me, it really hurt today, but my shooting kept me going throughout the race," Kremer said. Jacob Beste of Minneapolis, now living in Heber City, UT rounded out the top 10 with solid shooting and skiing. 1998 Olympian Andy Erickson of Minnetonka and Ryan Cameron of Minneapolis finished in 12th and 13th place respectively.

Tomorrow will be the Sprint Race, followed by two days off. The Olympic Trials will resume with races on January 2nd (Sprint Race) and January 3rd (Pursuit Format Race). The U.S. Biatlon Olympic Team will be picked the night of January 3rd.

Women's 15k Individual Event (1 minute time penalties added for each miss) 

   Name                    Hometown               Team            Penalties  Final Time 
1  Lanny Barnes            Durango, CO           Jr. Nat'l          2 0 0 0     54:30 
2  Rachel Steer            Anchorage, AK         Nat'l Team         1 1 2 0     54:53 
3  Kara Salmela            Duluth, MN            Nat'l Guard        2 1 2 1     55:26 
4  Andrea Nahrgang         Wayzata, MN           Sr. Nat'l Team     2 0 2 2     56:41 
5  Stacey Wooley           Newbury, NH           Sr. Nat'l Team     2 1 0 0     57:11 
7  Jill Troutner           Maple Grove, MN       MN Biathlon        1 3 1 0     58:34 
8  Jill Krause             St. Cloud, MN         Sr. Nat'l Team     2 2 3 3     58:48 
10 Carolyn Treacy          Duluth, MN            Jr. Nat'l Team     1 0 2 4     59:39 
14 Sarah Riley             Proctor, MN           USOEC              2 1 3 2     1:03:00 
15 Jaime Mueller           Brainerd, MN          MN Biathlon        3 1 3 2     1:05:05 


Men 20k Individual Event (1 minute time penalties added for each miss) 

   Name                    Hometown               Team            Penalties  Final Time 
1  Lawton Redman           Florence, VT          Sr. Nat'l Team     1 2 0 0     55:17 
2  Dan Campbell            Hastings, MN          MN Biathlon        1 1 0 1     56:27 
3  Dan Westover            Jericho, VT           WCAP               0 2 1 0     56:38 
4  Jesse Downs             Marquette, MI         USOEC              1 0 1 1     57:07 
5  Scott Doughty           Jay, ME               WCAP               0 1 1 0     57:20 
8  Ben Kremer              Elk River, MN         MN Biathlon        0 1 0 1     58:46 
10 Jacob Beste             Minneapolis, MN       Nat'l Guard        2 1 1 1     59:41 
12 Andy Erickson           Minnetonka, MN        MN Biathlon        0 1 1 2     1:00:03 
13 Ryan Cameron            Minneapolis, MN       MN Biathlon        1 2 1 1     1:01:25 
24 Andy Fischer            St. Louis Park, MN    Nat'l Guard        0 1 2 2     1:04:53 
25 Brian Olsen             Bloomington, MN       Jr. Nat'l          1 0 2 2     1:05:11 
27 John Kurtz              St. Louis Park, MN    Nat'l Guard        1 2 1 3     1:05:46 
31 Brett Piper             Lakeville, MN         USOEC              1 2 2 2     1:07:14 
33 Anders Osthus           Duluth, MN            Jr. Nat'l          1 3 1 3     1:07:16 

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