Starting Saturday morning in Jericho, VT, 9 MN Youth and Jr Biathletes will compete in the US Team Trials for positions on the US team to the Youth and Junior World Biathlon Championships. The annual World Championships, normally involving teams from 25-30 nations, will be held this year in Lenzerheide, Switzerland from 23 Jan to 02 Feb.
Following are the participants and home towns:
Youth Women:
- Kaisa Bosek—Alexandria [Currently named a member of the Youth Olympic Games team for the Games starting 9 Jan in Lansanne, Swiz.]
Youth Men:
- Matej Cervenka- Grand Rapids
- Joey DelToro – Woodbury
- Sam Stertz- Grand Rapids
Junior Women:
- Emma Stertz- Grand Rapids
Junior Men:
- Garrett Beckrich- Grand Rapids
- Vasek Cervenka- Grand Rapids
- Gabe Raguse- Nisswa
- Hunter Zupko- Little Falls
Qualifying races will be held on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday, and scored on a percent back basis against the average of the top 3 in the race. All racing is done on a standard wax picked by the organizers and applied by the coaches working in unison.
There are 4 positions to be filled in each category, with all open except a slot taken in the Junior Men category by a qualifier from the IBU Trials held earlier. Each participant will be scored based on their best 2 of the 3 races.
Shortly after YJr Trials, on the 6th and 7th of Jan, 4 older biathletes from the Midwest will compete in Arber, Germany, for positions on the US Teams to the IBU Cup and World Cup events starting again shortly in Europe. In addition, Leif Nordgren, originally from Marine on the St Croix, will start on the World Cup circuit based on his previous results.
Competing in the final round of qualifying races will be: Jake Brown, St Paul, MN: Raleigh Goessling, Duluth, MN native; Deedra Irwin, Pulaski, WI; and Paul Schommer, Appleton, WI.
Our best wishes for success to all!!
Enjoy the Journey!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon