Jarrod Shoemaker, the first qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Team competing in Beijing, China, will compete at the Musselman in July. Jarrod, from Maynard, Mass., will contest the ITU Pan American Cup on Saturday, July 12, a little more than a month before he toes the line at the Olympic Games.

The 25-year-old qualified for the Games by finishing as the first American at the Beijing World Cup this past September. In doing so, he triumphed over some of the biggest names in the sport, including former Olympians Hunter Kemper and Andy Potts. Alert Musselman followers will remember that Jarrod's sister, Jenna, finished 20th at the Musselman Pan American Cup in 2007.

Jarrod has a running background, competing at Nationals in high school and then for Dartmouth in college, where he contested the 5k at NCAAs (personal best: 14:09) his senior year. Two months after graduation he entered his first triathlon, and his progression has been meteoric since then. In 2005 he won the Under-23 World Championships, and has been a member of the Elite National Team since 2006. With a much improved swim and consistency on the bike, Jarrod has two top-10 World Cup finishes and last July (on the same weekend as the Musselman) he took 6th at the Pan Am Games.

The final members of the U.S. Olympic Team will be determined in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in April and Des Moines, Iowa, in June.