November 04, 2018 (Midway, Utah) – The USA Biathlon World Cup and IBU Cup Rollerski Team Trials took place at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Centre in Midway, Utah, this past week from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2. The location was fitting as the BMW IBU World Cup returns there this coming winter season from Feb. 14-17, which will be the first time an international biathlon race has taken place there since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

The rollerski events served as selection races for the US Biathlon national team heading into this winter’s World Cup and IBU Cup season. The racing kicked off with a 7.5 km Sprint race for the women and 10 km distance for the men. Two-time Olympian Sean Doherty took the win shooting clean in standing with one missed prone shot to claim almost a minute advantage over Leif Nordgen. Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan each missed a shot in standing but Dunklee was the superior skier winning with a 30-second margin.

Dunklee swept the Sprint events the next day as Egan struggled on the range missing five shots dropping to sixth place. Without her fellow World Cup teammate to push her, Dunklee still won by a nearly a minute over Johanna Taliharm.

Nordgen and Doherty swapped positions the next day, as Doherty couldn’t recover from his first two missed prone shots. Nordgen missed a prone shot keeping the race close but Doherty couldn’t close the gap.

The trials concluded on Nov. 2 with the Mass Start events including a 13.45km men’s race and a 9.45km women’s competition. Egan and Dunklee once again claimed first and second. The deciding factor was shooting as Egan went (0-1-0-2), while Dunklee struggled on the range (1-3-1-1).

Paul Schommer came out on top in the men’s race, a step up from his 7^th place in the same event at nationals last season. After a long summer of training he continues to show improvement, particularly in his shooting as Schommer missed only one shot on the range. Doherty’s two misses in prone were ultimately the deciding factor as he finished 15 seconds back.

With the trials concluded, US Biathlon will take into consideration these races in their selections, particularly for the early season. While a list is not yet available, some athletes such as Dunklee, Egan, Doherty, Nordgren and Joanne Reid have pre-qualified based on last season according to IBU official results.

An announcement of all athletes who qualified will be released shortly.

Trials results here.