[GRP Snow]: Pre-Christmas Recap
World Cup Biathlon
Kelsey racing in France.
We left off with our World Cup biathletes heading to Hochfilzen, Austria for World Cup 2. In the opening sprint, Kelsey Dickinson placed 84th with Tara Geraghty-Moats in 94th. Kelsey then helped the US women’s team to 15th in the relay. Jake Brown sat out the sprint due to sickness but then anchored the men’s relay team to 13th.
The World Cup squad then traveled to Le Grand-Bornand, France where Jake placed 70th, Kelsey 85th, and Tara 91st in the sprint.
This trio will recuperate over the holidays then reconvene in Pokljuka, Slovenia for racing to start back up on January 5th. As always, watch replays or live on Eurovision and check results here.
SuperTour XC and Eastern Cup
Margie (left) and Alex (top step) after day 3 in Sun Valley
The GRP skiers traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho to continue some successful SuperTour racing.
Day 1, classic mass start 15k: Braden 18th; Alex 7th, Margie 8th, Annika 15th, Michaela 18th.
Day 2, classic sprint: Alex 3rd, Annika 16th, Michaela 18th, Margie 78th (ski malfunction)
Day 3, skate 10k: Alex 1st, Margie 4th, Annika 8th, Michaela 16th; Braden 12th.
Back in the East, Alex and Michaela headed to the Eastern Cup at Van Ho and had solid performances. Alex won both days with Michaela placing 4th in the classic race then moving up to 3rd in the pursuit.
GRP skiers will rest (but actually keep training) through Christmas then head to Houghton, Michigan for US Nationals with racing starting on January 2nd.
Biathlon IBU Cup Trials
Jackie skiing to victory on day 3 of trials (photo by Phil Belena).
As you may have witnessed last week, the Outdoor Center hosted the IBU CUP Trials for US Biathlon.
Jackie Garso had a stellar race series, placing 2nd in the first two races then winning the final competition. Margie Freed hopped into her first ever biathlon races, placing 12th and then 2nd! GRP U23 Emma Stertz placed 6th, 5th, and 4th in the three races.
On the men’s side, Raleigh started off the weekend with a 7th place while Luke was 10th. Luke then earned two 4th places. Raleigh was 13th and 16th. GRP U23 athlete Bjorn Westervelt had a stellar weekend, winning the opening sprint and then placing 6th and 2nd in the last two races.
Jackie earned race starts for IBU Cup 4, 5, and Open European Championships. Margie and Luke will both race Euro Champs.