Soldier Hollow Hosts Biathletes for Annual Fall Festival and U.S. Biathlon International Team Trials
by Sara Donatello
Midway, Utah - The annual Fall Festival and U.S. Biathlon International Team Trials at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah brought a weekend full of exciting racing as 116 athletes toed the line for a sprint on Friday and mass start on Saturday.
Kicking off the weekend, Maxime Germain (Chamonix-Mont Blanc, FRA/National Guard Biathlon) took home the win in the elite men’s sprint. Paul Schommer (Appleton, WI/Ariens Nordic Center/Team Birkie) placed second and Campbell Wright (Wanaka, NZL/U.S. Biathlon) crossed the line in third, just +0.5 behind Schommer. The elite women’s sprint saw Biathlon Canada’s Emma Lunder take the win, with Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, WI/Army World Class Athlete Program) finishing +9.5 behind Lunder. Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, WA/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) shot a perfect 10 for 10 to claim third.
In the Open category, Anchorage Biathlon Club athletes Levi Watson and Coal Flint claimed first and second in the open men’s sprint, with Willett Richey of Crosscut Mountain Sports Center taking home third place. On the women’s side, Anchorage Biathlon Club had yet another podium appearance with Elin Lunoe placing first. Altius’ Maren Sands finished second and Team Soldier Hollow athlete Catherine Van de Kamp took third place on her home course. Later in the afternoon, Deedra Irwin took the win over Paul Smith College’s Kaisa Bosek in the finals of the annual Biathlon Shootout. Team Soldier Hollow also hosted a Girls with Guns event, where young girls had the opportunity to do a Q & A and learn to shoot with Irwin. To round out the day, U.S. Biathlon hosted its Annual Awards ceremony at Soldier Hollow. To view this year’s recipients, click HERE.
The excitement continued to day two with the elite women’s mass start, elite men’s mass start and open mass start. Biathlon Canada’s Benita Peiffer shined on the range hitting all 20 targets to claim the win. Peiffer’s teammate Nadia Moser crossed the line in second and Kelsey Dickinson in third, just +8.7 behind Moser. Paul Schommer put on a performance in the elite men’s mass start, missing just one shot on the day to take first place. Campbell Wright joined Schommer on the podium for the second day in a row in second place and Jake Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) rounded out the podium in third.
A repeat of the women’s open sprint, Elin Luloe and Maren Sands placed first and second in the open women’s mass start. Solvej Luloe, Anchorage Biathlon Club athlete, joined her sister on the podium in third place. Levi Watson took home his second win of the weekend in the open men’s mass start, with Anchorage Biathlon Club teammate Lance Smith in second and Team Soldier Hollow’s Jaydon Crouch in third.
As the weekend’s elite races also doubled as U.S. Biathlon’s International Team Trials, Kelsey Dickinson and Paul Schommer are now pre-qualified for World Cups 1-3 alongside Deedra Irwin and Campbell Wright, who pre-qualified based on results from last season. Sixteen athletes have been selected to attend the final European pre-season camp in Vuokatti, Finland in November. Click HERE to view who will be training in Vuokatti. The camp will begin November 9 with athletes training ahead of the first BMW IBU World Cup to take place in Kontiolahti, Finland, beginning November 30, and the first BMW IBU Cup to take place in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, beginning November 28. For the full international events calendar, click HERE.