FORT KENT – The first person Rachel Steer saw at the finish line Tuesday during the U.S. Olympic biathlon trials, other than the officials, was Toby Schwoerer.

The engaged couple em-braced, and Steer let a few tears slip.

The next person she saw? Tracy Lamb, the team leader for the U.S. Olympic bi-athlon squad, who gave her another big hug and offered his congratulations for making the U.S. team for the second time.

For Steer, a 27-year-old native of Anchorage, Alaska, her first-place finish in Tuesday’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in the sport that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting with a rifle brought tears, relief and a smile. After a stressful year, including a week in which nothing was certain until Monday for the 2002 Olympian and top-ranked woman, Steer was able to relax.

For Lanny Barnes, there was a lot of anxiety for a few minutes after she finished eighth in Tuesday’s sprint. But about noon, Barnes knew she’d be joining her twin sister, Tracy, in Italy.

The women took two different routes, but they’re both members of the five-woman U.S. biathlon team that will compete in the Turin Olympics, which take place Feb. 10-26 at the Cesana San Sicario venue.

Steer earned her second spot on the Olympic team with her second sprint victory in the final event of the four-day Olympic trials at the 10th Mountain Ski Center. Steer won Friday’s sprint to go with a fifth in Monday’s pursuit and a disappointing 15th in Thursday’s individual race.

“It’s just a huge relief to have the whole week over with,” she said.

“The Olympics are just nothing compared to the intense pressure of trying to qualify to represent your nation,” she said.

Steer, whose 302.80 percentage points were the most in the best 3-of-4 trials, headlines a team that includes twin sisters Lanny and Tracy Barnes, 23, of Durango, Colo., Caroline Treacy, 23, of Duluth, Minn., and Sarah Konrad, 38, of Laramie, Wyo.

“I have more confidence in them than any other people,” Tracy Barnes said. “With that I think we have a good shot at doing well in the relay.”

Treacy and the Barnes sisters compete for the Maine Winter Sports Center. Steer skis for the Alaska WinterStars and Konrad is a member of the Alpina team.

Sarah Kamilewicz of Proctor, Minn., had a perfect shooting day to finish second in Tuesday’s sprint, 32.8 seconds behind Steer, but it wasn’t enough to boost her onto the Olympic team. She’ll be the women’s alternate.

Steer and Konrad were the only locks for the Olympic team after Konrad won Monday’s pursuit and Steer was fifth. About six other women recorded enough finishes to make the top five. After Steer, the next four women were separated by 3.92 points.

Lanny Barnes admitted to a few anxious moments while officials did the math to figure out the new team. She edged Kamilewicz by just 0.62.

“Basically it’s what I’ve been training for,” she said. “I knew it was going to be close, and it was a tough battle out there. Everybody fought hard in all four races. So I took my sister’s advice and just never gave up.”

Jerry Kokesh, the U.S. Biathlon Association’s development director, said the incidence of twins on an Olympic team is a rarity. The Barnes sisters were the topic of unofficial discussion at a U.S. Olympic Committee media summit in October, he added, and many media liaisons for the various winter sports couldn’t recall the last time identical twins were on an Olympic team.

For Tracy Barnes, who was in much better position than her sister going into the final event, having Lanny in Turin will be important.

“She supports me in every way, and I think I perform better when she’s there,” Tracy Barnes said. “It’ll be amazing to have her there.”

Steer, who racked up 13 prone penalties in the four-event trials, had one miss in the prone shooting Tuesday and hit all five targets in the standing stage. It was just the second time she cleaned a target all week.

“Basically, if I can make it through prone, I’m like home free,” she said. “Prone is my biggest concern, and so if I can get through it with just one penalty right now, it was a good start to the day.”

Steer and Treacy left the range at about the same time after the final shooting stage, but Steer finished 57.8 seconds ahead of her.

Tracy Barnes had one penalty and was third in Tuesday’s sprint, 34.9 seconds behind Steer, her first top-three finish. Her consistency on the range over the four events put her on the Olympic team.

“My skiing’s been up and down,” said Barnes, who missed just eight of 60 targets in four days for an 86.6 percent shooting average. “Just being able to shoot well kept me up where I needed to be.”

Treacy, a Dartmouth College senior who spent part of Tuesday evening notifying her professors she was heading out of town – way out of town to the next World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany – finished sixth with one penalty Tuesday. Konrad, a longtime top-level cross country skier who has been competing in biathlon for just three years, had eight penalties and finished ninth.

Steer, who filed an appeal with the U.S. Olympic Committee last year because she felt the biathlon prequalification requirements for women were unfair, said it took some time for her to get past her belief that she should have been able to prequalify the same way as top-ranked U.S. man Jay Hakkinen.

“Once I got over the fact that I had to be here – and that took me halfway through this week – it was just a matter of getting through the races here,” she said. “I guess I just didn’t think about it in that way.”

Yarmouth High School graduate Sara Granroth, who competes for the National Guard, was 13th overall and 12th Tuesday.