Deedra Irwin was recently been named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team.

HOUGHTON — Former Michigan Tech student-athlete Deedra Irwin has been named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic Biathlon Team.

Irwin skied and ran for the Huskies on the Nordic ski, cross country, and track and field teams from 2010-15 while earning her bachelor of science in exercise science with a coaching minor.

Irwin, a 29-year old from Pulaski, Wis., has turned in the top three performances of her career this season on the IBU World Cup circuit, topped by a 36th-place finish in last month’s sprint in Hochfilzen, Austria. She is also fresh off a 15th-place finish in the 110-woman field in Sunday’s 7.5km sprint at the IBU Cup.

Irwin made the switch to biathlon after attending a U.S. Biathlon talent ID camp in Lake Placid in 2017.

After leaving Houghton, Irwin moved to Ketchum, Idaho, to train with and compete for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation’s XC Gold Team. She raced for two seasons before trying biathlon in Lake Placid, N.Y., at the 2017 Talent ID Camp. She then switched to biathlon and has been training and competing full time with USBA since then.

After last season she earned a spot on the USBA X-team, which is a development team based in Lake Placid.

For the 2019-20 season Irwin changed things up by joining the Vermont Army National Guard in order to serve her country and help in her Olympic Dreams in biathlon. She was named the 2021 Vermont Soldier of the Year.

While at Tech, Irwin skied for Team USA at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She was the top classic skier in the Central Region in 2015 and participated at the NCAA Championships while being named All-CCSA and All-Region.

In track, Irwin broke school records in the 800, 1500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters and was on a school-record 4×400 relay squad. She was All-GLIAC in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase and honorable mention All-GLIAC in the 800. She was also the top runner for the Huskies’ cross country team and was named the GLIAC Women’s Cross Country Freshman of the Year in 2011.

While at Pulaski High School, Irwin was All-State in 2008 and the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Association 2008 District 4 Girls Runner of the Year. As a Nordic Skier for the Ashwaubenon Nordic Ski Team, she was the 2010 Wisconsin Nordic State Champion and 2010 Wisconsin Sprint Nordic Ski Champion.

Olympic biathlon events include men’s and women’s individual, sprint, relay, and pursuit races. In 2011 a mixed relay event was added to the schedule for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Biathlon will compete on Feb. 5-19 at the 2022 Beijing Olympics in the Zhangjiakou Zone.