Rosters Named for Pre-World Cup Camp and IBU Cup
by Bill Kellick
(NEW GLOUCESTER, MAINE) - US Biathlon has announced the roster for the Pre-World Cup Training Camp in Vuokatti, Finland, as well as the rosters for the first two IBU Cup competitions of the 2022-23 season.
"As we head into a new season, we are thrilled to see so many new faces accompanying our veteran athletes on the World Cup and IBU Cup rosters," said US Biathlon Director of High Performance Lowell Bailey. "It will be an exciting start to the season."
Pre-World Cup Camp
The Pre-World Cup Camp will begin November 13 with athletes training ahead of the first BMW IBU World Cup races in Kontiolahti, Finland, beginning November 29.
The men’s roster includes 2022 Olympic teammates Jake Brown (Saint Paul, Minn./Craftsbury Green Racing Project & USBA),Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H./National Guard Biathlon & USBA) and Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis./Team Crosscut & USBA). They will be joined by Vaclav Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn./National Guard Biathlon & USBA) and Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, Utah/Team Crosscut & USBA). Brown and Schommer are pre-qualified for the World Cup team. Doherty placed second in the mass start at last month's Martin Fourcade Summer Biathlon Festival.
The women’s roster is led by Olympians Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis./National Guard Biathlon Team & USBA) and Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.), along with Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt./USBA),Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash./Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Tara Geraghty-Moats (West Fairlee, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Team), an overall World Cup winner in Nordic combined. Irwin, who placed seventh in the individual race at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, is pre-qualified for the World Cup team.
The final roster for the first two BMW IBU World Cups of the season will be announced at the end of the camp.
IBU Cup Rosters
Named to the Team USA roster to compete at the IBU Cup opener in Sjusjoen, Norway (Nov. 24-27) are Amanda Kautzer (Plymouth, Minn./Team Crosscut), Mikayla Meier (Bozeman, Mont.), and Jacqueline Garso (Lake Clear, N.Y.) on the women's team, and Maxime Germain (Anchorage, Alaska/National Guard Biathlon), Eli Nielsen (Stehekin, Wash./Crosscut Biathlon) and Nikolas Burkart (Olympic Valley, Calif./Team Crosscut) on the men's roster. Germain is a bronze medalist at the Summer Biathlon World Championships. They will be joined by one man and one woman selected from the Pre-World Cup Camp in Vuokatti.
For the second IBU Cup event in Idre, Sweden (Nov. 30-Dec. 3), Kautzer, Meier and Garso will be joined by Ariana Woods (Bozeman, Mont./Crosscut Mountain Sports Center). Germain, Nielsen and Burkart will race for the men's team.