U.S. Biathlon Press Release



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Jerry Kokesh

US Biathlon Association

29 Ethan Allen Avenue

Colchester, Vermont 05446

314-651-2635


January 3, 2002


 



Krause and Redman Take National Championships At Biathlon Trials


Jill Krause of St. Cloud, MN and Lawton Redman, of Florence, VT won the US 
National Sprint Championships in the final race of the US Biathlon Olympic 
Trials today in Heber City, UT.

For Redman, this was his third National Championship in the last 9 months. He 
previously had won the Individual and Pursuit Championships last March in 
West Yellowstone, MT. The win today was his second of the Trials and put him 
in a solid position to make the US Biathlon Olympic Team, which is to be 
announced later today. Krause won her first National Championship and her 
first race of the Trials. 

With Olympic Team positions on the line today for many athletes, tension was 
high and nerves were on edge. Accordingly, the shooting was not as accurate 
for many of the athletes as in previous competitions .In the men's race, 
Redman recorded only 1 penalty while 2nd placer Jay Hakkinen of Kasilof, AK 
and 3rd finisher Jeremy Teela, missed 2 and 3 targets respectively. Their 
fast skiing kept them close to Redman. Hakkinen crossed the line 22.1 seconds 
behind Redman and Teela another 10.5 back. These results kept these 3 US 
Biathlon Team members at the top of the points list for top positions on the 
Olympic Biathlon Team.

    Like the 2nd and 3rd men, Krause recorded 3 range penalties, but her 
lightening fast skis carried her to victory. She finished 8.5 seconds ahead 
of Rachel Steer of Anchorage, AK who was perfect on the shooting range for 
the second straight day. another 24,8 seconds back was Kristina Sabasteanski 
of Standish , ME. Sabasteanski, Usually a 90% shooter, missed 2 of the 10 
targets today. The top finishers from the previous day's events, Kara Salmela 
of Duluth, MN and Andrea Nahrgang, of Wayzata, MN fell to 4th and 8th 
respectively. These final races did not effect their positions on the points 
list to determine the Olympic Biathlon Team. 

    Each athlete counts 3 of the 4 races to determine the final standings for 
Olympic Team selection.  The US Biathlon Olympic Team will be announced at 5 
pm today.

    The US Biathlon Team Competes under the auspices of the US Biathlon 
Association, the National Governing Body for the Olympic Sport of Biathlon. 
LL Bean, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Federal Cartridge, and Exel 
Ski Poles sponsor the US Biathlon Team.


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