Grand Junction whitewater canoeist Micki Reeves finished third over the weekend in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Whitewater Slalom at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Her finish earns the 18-year-old a spot on the 15-member U.S. National team that will represent the U.S. in upcoming international competition this summer. The U.S. Olympic Team will be finalized in July after the World Cup in Augsburg, Germany.

Reeves earlier qualified to compete in the Pre-World Championships scheduled for July in Seu, Spain. Because one-woman canoe, Reeves’ specialty, won’t be an official Olympic event until 2012, the U.S. for the first time will send a three-woman team to the Pre-World races. Participating with Reeves will be Colleen Hickey and Hailey Thompson, who finished first and second in the weekend’s U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Because each country is guaranteed only a few starting spots in the Olympic Games, the remaining spots are decided at earlier international competitions.

Reeves was a member of the 2007 U.S. Junior National Team for Wildwater Racing and participated in last year’s Junior World Championships.

She is in her third season of racing with the Grand Junction-based Great Blue Heron Canoe and Kayak Club. She graduated from Fruita Monument High School in 2007 and now is attending Mesa State College.

The weekend races in Charlotte attracted more than 130 international racers from 15 countries. Along with being the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Pan American Games, the races at Charlotte also determined the Canadian Olympic Team and served as a the North and South American Qualifier Races for the Olympic Games.

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E-mail Dave Buchanan at dbuchanan@gjds.com.