GR woman pursues new passion

For one Green River resident, staying idle isn't something she's ever going to do and her lifestyle is a reflection of that.

When Karly Eyre isn't busy teaching at Lincoln Middle School, she's coaching, participating in her favorite sports or serving her country in the Wyoming Army National Guard.

Recently, she participated in the Western Regional Championships biathlon competition in Jericho, Vermont. Eyre, who admits to being extremely new to the sport, is still learning about it. A biathlon is a combination of ski racing and target shooting.

Eyre said she originally started the sport in August of 2016, but she had to take a break from it after she needed a hip surgery.

"So that bumped me out of the sport," Eyre said.

Now, that she's healed, she's back at it.

National guardsmen from 24 states competed in the competition. Eyre said the event was supposed to take place in Minnesota, but the location selected didn't have any snow and so the event was moved to Vermont. Three regional areas -- western, eastern and central, had competitors at the competition. Eyre competed in the Western region competition.

"I think we had the most women and men for competitors in this region," she said.

Even though Eyre is new to the sport, she loves it.

"It was actually my fourth or fifth time on skis," Eyre said.

The regional competition consisted of two sprint races. Eyre said there was supposed to be a pursuit race, which is a race where participants are starting based on their finishing times, but they did two sprint races instead. During a sprint race for women competitors, women ski three laps that add up to 7.5 kilometers. After the first lap, they stop and shoot five shots while in the prone position, which is laying down. After the second lap, they shoot five shots while in the standing position before completing their third and final lap.

For each shot missed, a penalty lap on a smaller loop must be completed before advancing to the next portion of the competition.

"That's really hard because you're breathing hard," Eyre said. "I didn't hit any on prone."

Eyre did hit two of the targets on the standing shoot, but she had to complete eight penalty laps total.

Since Eyre was competing in the novice competition, she skied a total of 6 kilometers. This didn't include the penalty laps. The advanced competitors skied up to 10 kilometers.

"I know I'm new to the sport, but I'm already in love with it," Eyre said.

She took eighth place out of 12 at regionals and is already looking forward to the national event, which will take place at the end of February at Soldier Hallow, in Midway, Utah.

Eyre is really looking forward to this competition because Soldier Hallow is where the 2002 Olympics took place.

The women's team Eyre was in took second place and the men's and women's teams Eyre was in had two place in the top three.

For Eyre, who's in her early 30s and has already had two knee surgeries and two hip surgeries, it's a way to get back into competitive sports.

"I played soccer in college and hurt my knee pretty bad," she said.

However, Eyre isn't one to stop pursuing an active life and when a friend of hers encouraged her to try the biathlon, she accepted the challenge.

"I decided it was a pretty cool sport that I wouldn't mind trying out," she said.

Teaching students about her experience

Working her Army National Guard life into her teacher's life is something Eyre does. She's thankful to the school for having military leave so she can represent the national guard at the competition.

The teacher in Eyre couldn't pass on teaching her students about the experience she had. In her growth and mindset series at school she taught the children about her experience.

"Even if the struggle is uncomfortable, you can still do it," Eyre relayed to her students.

Deciding to join the National Guard

"I think I was 28 when I went to basic training," Eyre said. "I was one of the oldest ones there."

However, Eyre didn't let that discourage her. She knew she wanted to join the military after her grandfather died and knew she could do it. Eyre who has been a teacher for nine years, has been serving in the military for five years.

It was in the National Guard that Eyre found out about the biathlon. She said she knows she wasn't skiing super fast, but with practice and time she will get better.

"I've still got a lot of work to do," Eyre said.

Eyre said she's just amazed at all the opportunities serving in the National Guard can provide her with. This is just one of those things.

Eyre wants to encourage those who are interested in this sport to go to Casper Mountain Biathlon Club. She said they have an affordable biathlon program and a nice trail system.