Nikiski biathlete Hall places 2nd in Olympic Trials race

Hall finished with 100.29 points, 0.57 behind winner Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid, N.Y., in the time- trial sprint race.

Athletes are competing for two open spots in the men's biathlon team and three spots on the women's team. Jay Hakkinen, a three-time Olympian from Kasilof, and Jeremy Teela, a two-time Olympian from Anchorage, have both already qualified for the Winter Games that open Feb. 12 in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are racing this weekend on the World Cup circuit in Oberhof, Germany.

At the Olympic Trials in Altenberg, conditions were superb Thursday -- no wind and clear blue skies. Hall took advantage with flawless shooting to finish 23 seconds ahead of Leif Nordgren of Marine, Maine.

"What really impressed both the coaches and me was the strong shooting of most of the athletes," Bernd Eisenbichler, U.S. Biathlon's high performance director, said in a press release. "Given the fact that these are really important races for them, they pulled it together just fine."

Hall, 25, is among four American biathletes in contention for the two spots. Former Olympian Bailey is considered a lock for one of them, and his victory on Thursday probably nailed that down.

That leaves Hall battling three Minnesota biathletes -- Nordgren, Wynn Roberts, and Kevin Patzoldt -- for the final spot.

"I feel like I'm in a very good position, " Hall said a couple weeks ago while in Alaska for the holidays.

"I only did biathlon two and a half years so I knew that I would just have an outsider chance to qualify for the Olympics," he said. "So I worked really hard for that and I am happy to be here. I was a bit sick in December but I trained through that and now I am feeling really good and well prepared."

Despite not starting biathlon until he was 23, Hall is on the brink of claiming one of his sport's ultimate prizes.

"So far, Zach is the most consistently good shooter and very solid skiing, " said Piotr Bednarski, director of athlete development for the U.S. Biathlon Association. "Zach is still really new to biathlon. His shooting has gone from rookie to international level in two years, which is pretty amazing. Wynn, Leif, and Kevin have all been training biathlon specifically since they were 13 or 14 years old. Zach started when he was 23."

Racing continues Saturday with another sprint race, and the top 60 men and women from that race will qualify for Sunday's pursuit race. Athletes will keep their two best scores, with the top two men and top three women being nominated to the U.S. Team on Monday.

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.