CRAFTSBURY – Two Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) skiers will be in Italy next month to compete in the Olympics. Margie Freed, a Minnesota native and UVM graduate, will be on the U.S. Biathlon squad, while Jack Young will be part of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team sprint crew. Young is from Jay, and graduated from North Country Union and Colby College. Both live and train in Craftsbury during the non-racing months.
This past weekend in Novo Mesto, Czech Republic, Freed was part of the U.S. mixed relay team placing 4th, tying the team’s best ever finish in this event in 2015. Deedra Irwin led off, keeping the U.S. in contention by shooting really well using one spare in prone and a clean standing stage. Margie Freed headed out in the pack of skiers in 10th place. Despite the pressure of racing in front of 20,000 fans (no typo on this), she used just one spare in both prone and standing tagging off to Campbell Wright in 8th place. Freed had the fifth fastest ski time of her leg. Wright skied the fastest 3rd leg time and tagged to Max Germain in 4th. After shooting clean in prone, Germain moved up to 3rd. He had to use two spare rounds in standing and left the range one second ahead of the Czech Republic skier. Germain ended up in 4th a few seconds back.
photo by Eric Hanson
Young continues to ski well in freestyle sprint races on the World Cup with a 22nd place finish in the qualifier in Oberhof, Germany, on January 10. He placed 5th in his six-person quarterfinal. He was 39th in the classic sprint qualifier in Goms, Switzerland, this past weekend. His teammates Gus Schumacher and Ben Ogden finished 2nd and 6th respectively for a super strong U.S. showing. Unfortunately, the sprint competition at the Olympics will be a classic race, where Young is still trying to improve his technique and results. Whether the he receives a start or is a back-up, he’s earned his spot on the team.
photo by Eric Hanson
Five other GRP biathletes have been skiing for the U.S. team on the IBU circuit (level below World Cup), including Bjorn Westervelt (Stowe), Jake Brown (St. Paul, Minn.), Luke Brown (St. Paul, Minn.), Kesley Dickinson (Methow Valley, Wash.), and Jackie Garso (Saranac Lake, N.Y.).
