Midwest Regional Biathlon Development Camp – Mt Itasca
14th Of June To The 24th Of June, 2017
The June Shooting Camp was held during the past two weeks at Mt Itasca and also using facilities in Grand Rapids and the nearby Mesabi State Trail. Participants ranged from age 13 to 23 with the younger athletes mostly participating through the race event on Sunday the 18th.
Most from out of town camped at Mt Itasca using the Chalet building for meals and showers. A nearby beach in Coleraine also saw some use. The weather cooperated nicely with the random showers missing the scheduled workouts, and temps ranging from the 40’s at night to maybe 70’s on the warmer days. It was windy every day, which affected the shooting more than in some previous years.
The camp started with 18 athletes mostly from MN, but also WI, CO, and CA. Coaches were Vlad Cervenka, Petra Cervenka, Eric Watson, Jeff Bosek, Mark Torresani, and myself, Bill Meyer.
The first week emphasis was on shooting skills working on range procedure, accuracy, and shooting speed and using the normal tests including the 20 shot and French tests. Physical tests included the Mt Itasca hill climb [3 or 4 times running] a bike time trial, and a summer cross race on Sunday am.
The following week saw a shift in emphasis to more physical activities, w/ a lot of additional shooting. On Monday, there was a 5/7.5 km running test on hilly ski trails in Grand Rapids at the high school, followed by roller skiing on the state trail. Tues saw a 11.5km roller ski time trial on the state trail, with some Nordic Combined athletes jumping in.
Wed morning as combo shooting and for some, in the pm they did another 20 shot test. Thursday began the harder workouts of the week with a hard hill bounding/strength workout in the am on Mt Itasca, followed by some easy combos in the pm.
Friday morning was the century bike ride, with most of the men and some women doing 100 miles and the other women going 100 km. It was a very windy ride with steady winds of 16 mph and gusts close to 30.
Saturday saw the conclusion with some fun shooting races including a single leg relay followed by a reverse pursuit with the relay finishers saddled with a 10 sec per place handicap.
All in all it was a successful camp with all the athletes gaining skills, improving their fitness, and learning to cope with camp life.
All results will be posted on the Minnesota Biathlon webpage as soon as I get them tabulated.
Bill Meyer
26 June 2017