Saturday women's podium (Freed in 3rd), credit: Eli Gore/U.S. Biathlon

Three GRP Snow biathletes are headed to U.S. Biathlon's pre-season camps after the October 10–11 International Team Trials at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Olympian Margie Freed and Bjorn Westervelt were named on October 13 to the pre-season selection camp in Obertilliach, Austria (November 8–22), where time trials set the first World Cup and IBU Cup teams of the winter. Wes Campbell was named to the IBU Cup preparation camp in Lake Placid.

The trials, two rollerski sprints raced on matched skis supplied by U.S. Biathlon, were a strong weekend on the results sheet too. Freed, already pre-qualified for the Austria camp, was on the podium both days: third in Saturday's 7.5 km sprint, then second on Sunday, just seven seconds behind Deedra Irwin. Westervelt was the top GRP man, fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday in the 10 km.

Margie on Saturday. Credit: Eli Gore/U.S. Biathlon

Freed's Sunday race came down to the last lap. She shot 1+0 but left the range for the final time nearly a minute down. But her final lap was fastest of the leaders, closing almost all of the gap by the line.

Bjorn warming-up before Saturday’s race. Credit: Eli Gore/U.S. Biathlon

Westervelt's two top-five finishes came in a format that hasn't always suited him. "I typically struggle with early season races, especially rollerski fall races, but the first race of trials was one of the best feeling Utah fall race efforts to date," Westervelt said. "I shot 80% in both races, which is good for some early season races but still leaves plenty of upwards potential." He added: "The racing was good enough to qualify for the Obertilliach on-snow pre-camp and additional World Cup trials in November."

Wes Campbell finish on Saturday. Credit: Glen Kutler

Campbell finished fifth on Saturday, starting right behind his teammate. "Before the race I told myself that I was going to catch him because that was a good goal for me," he said. "I had made up some time but missed two when Bjorn only missed one, but that didn't stop me from skiing as hard as I could, and that got me into fifth." Sunday was tougher on the range, 12th with six misses, but Campbell came away encouraged: "I was skiing really well, and even though [the shooting] wasn't great, all of my shots were close."

Logan Moore had the biggest turnaround of the weekend, moving from 19th on Saturday to seventh on Sunday and cutting his misses from six to three. "I made a major change in my standing position earlier in the week at the direction of the shooting coaching staff," he said. "I was still getting used to it, and felt really nervous during the race. … I felt much more relaxed and comfortable on Sunday and that showed with my shooting score." Jackie Garso also moved up, from 11th on Saturday to eighth on Sunday, with one fewer miss.

Logan Moore (45) leading down a wet descent on Sunday, credit: Glen Kutler

Coach Susan Dunklee said the weather made the weekend harder. "After a beautiful week of sunny training, we got hit with heavy rain and isolated thunder during the race weekend," Dunklee said. "The track at SoHo is already technically challenging, and the rain made it slick. The team put together some mentally tough performances."

For Moore, Garso and the rest of the team, the next chance at selection comes close to home. U.S. Biathlon's Domestic On-Snow Trials are at Craftsbury the week of December 14, and they fill the remaining spots for World Cups 4–6, IBU Cups 4–5 and the Open European Championships. "Next up for the athletes is either joining [U.S. Biathlon] pre-camps ahead of World Cup and IBU Cup racing, or preparing for another chance to race internationally with December Trials at home in Craftsbury," Dunklee said.

Full results: Saturday · Sunday · Camp rosters

Three GRP Biathletes Named to U.S. Biathlon Camps After Soldier Hollow Trials

GRP Row Fall Goodbyes