Elk River Race Recap – Feb 17th

Posted on February 22, 2008 by jake

Race Recap – Sunday, February 17, 2007

Twin Cities Biathlon hosted an informal 10K (PPSS) biathlon race at the Elk River Biathlon Range with mild temperatures, variable gusty winds, and great course conditions.

There were 9 competitors – 6 from Northwest Biathlon (3 from the Duluth area, 3 from Brainerd / Nisswa) and 3 from Twin Cities Biathlon.

The race format, a reverse pursuit / handicap, was determined by Northwest Biathlon coach Bill Meyer.

Handicap times
Frank Ruzich — 0
Jenna Ruzich — 1min
Josh Duda, Brian Wray, Lou Chouinard — 2 min
Erik Rupert, Geoff Parsons, Cody Scott — 3min
Raleigh Goessling — 5 min.

The wind played a factor as shooting accuracy was lower that expected. Raleigh Goessling, fresh from the World Junior Biathlon Championships and finishing 10th in the Minnesota High School State meet, destroyed the field with fast skiing and the best shooting of the day.

Finish times – Includes the Handicap
1] Raleigh 36:44
2] Erik 40:50
3] Geoff 43:35
4] Lou 44:35
5] Josh 44:50
6] Brian 45:19
7] Cody 51:45
Frank and Jenna DNF

Thanks to Brian Wray and Mike Gruye for volunteering to help put on this race. A special thanks to Bill Meyer for race coordination, timing, and shooting corrections after the first shooting stage.

World Masters Biathlon

Posted on January 25, 2008 by jake

Marc Sheppard of Altius Guns is leading a trip to World Masters Biathlon in Kontiolahti, Finland. The excursion runs from March 29 – April 7, 2008. this is your chance to experience International Competitino at a World Cup race site! No qualification is required for this 12th World Championships Event, although you must be at least 35 years old as of January 1, 2008 to be eligible to compete.

$2995 for competitors, $2700 for non-competing travellers.

Clean Sweep for McNamee and Toussaint at Youth/Junior Trials

Posted on December 30, 2007 by jake

Ten Additional Athletes Nominated to World Championships Team
Coleraine, MN, December 30 Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) and Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska, ME) again swept away the competition today to win their respective categories (Youth Women and Junior Women) at the Youth/Junior World Championships Team Trials.

With today’s victories, the two athletes from the Maine Winter Sports Center completed a three-for-three sweep of the Trials’ competitions. McNamee continued to dominate the Youth Women’s category, with another significant margin of victory (1:27) over second place Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN). In the Sprint and Pursuit Format competitions, McNamee won by 58.1 seconds and 2:04.7, respectively. However, In the Relay Format Mass Start (sprint using extra rounds as in a relay) today, Byrne left the shooting range with no penalties while McNamee had one. ‘Both the Youth and Junior women shot better than the Junior Men today, with all of the top women either clean or with one penalty. It was windy (gusts up to 20 mph) and they handled it better,’ stated Junior National Coach Vladimir Cervenka.

Two MWSC athletes, each with one penalty finished behind McNamee and Byrne. Third went to Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME), 1:54 back while Kaitlyn Bernard (Fort Kent, ME) finished fourth, 2:34 back.

Toussaint won her third competition by a much smaller margin than McNamee. In the two previous competitions, Brynden Manbeck (Grand Rapids, MN), still feeling the effects of a hamstring injury, was well behind Toussaint. Today, the two ended up in a heated battle as both shot clean, with Toussaint winning by just three seconds, 21:28 to 21:31. Cervenka added, ‘When you put these two women with (pre-qualified) Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), we will have a very good Junior Women’s team.’

As Cervenka noted, the Junior Men struggled a bit on the shooting range. Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) came back from his seven-penalty day yesterday to claim his second win of the weekend over Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN). Roberts had one penalty to Johnson’s two, to win by 57 seconds, 21:46 to 22:43. Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) matched Johnson’s two penalties, but finished 34 seconds behind the Minnesotan in third place. Newt Rogers (Fort Kent, ME) with three penalties finished 2:11 behind Roberts.

The Youth Men’s category saw another new face on top of the podium. Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) shot clean as did yesterday’s Pursuit Format champion Ethan Dreissigacker (Burlington, VT), but claimed a 22:38 to 23:06 victory. Third went to Michael Gibson of the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club, with two penalties, 2:18 back, while Preston Butler, with one penalty was fourth, 2:40 back.

Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN) the winner of the Friday’s Sprint competition and a pre-qualifier for the World Junior Championships was happy just to race. After having the flu earlier in the week, Nordgren realized just minutes before his start time that his firing pin was broken. Coach Cervenka scrambled to get a rifle for Nordgren (borrowed from Addie Byrne), loaded the magazines, and sent him on his way. Unfortunately, by the time Nordgren started, two precious minutes had elapsed, which left him buried in eighth place at the finish. ‘I told him he did not have to race when we found out the firing pin was broken,’ Cervenka said, ‘but he wanted to do it. It was a good learning experience.’

In addition to the three pre-qualified athletes (Nordgren, Roberts, and Spector), ten athletes received nominations to compete for the US Biathlon Team at the Youth and Junior Biathlon World championships in Ruhpolding, Germany January 26-February 2. Nominated to the team are: Ethan Dreissigacker, Raleigh Goessling, and Preston Butler in the Youth Men’s category; Hilary McNamee, Addie Byrne, and Grace Boutot in the Youth Women’s category; Mark Johnson and Russell Currier in the Junior Men’s category, and Meagan Toussaint and Brynden Manbeck in the Junior Women’s Category.

McNamee and Toussaint Two-for-Two at Youth/Junior Trials

Posted on December 29, 2007 by jake

Coleraine, MN, December 29 Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) and Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska, ME) won for the second day in a row with victories in the Pursuit Format competitions today at the Youth/Junior World Championship Team Trials.

The two women form the Maine Winter Sports Center won the Youth and Junior categories. They were the only repeat winners today, as both Leif Nordgren (Marine-on’St. Croix, MN) in the Youth Men and Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) in the Junior Men were edged out of first place by small margins.

With their victories today, McNamee and Toussaint, along with Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN) in the Junior Men’s category have now locked up positions on the Junior World Championships squad. Roberts, Nordgren, and Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) pre-qualified for the Championships.

Meagan Toussaint had the best performance of the day in the Junior Women’s 10K, with only two penalties, one in each of the two final standing stages. Her winning time of 38:52 put her 4:21 ahead of second place finisher, Brynden Manbeck (Grand Rapids, MN). Manbeck who is recovering from a hamstring injury had ten penalties. Third place went to Ellen Anderson (Grand Rapids, MN) with six penalties, 7:20 back.

Toussaint’s teammate, Hilary McNamee was equally convincing in her win over Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) in the Youth Women 7.5K, scoring a 31:40 to 33:45 victory. McNamee had five penalties to Byrne’s six. Third went to Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) also with six penalties, 3:48 back, while Jessica Caron (Fort Kent, ME), with four penalties was a mere 10 seconds behind Boutot.

With familiar winners in the women’s categories, different athletes from yesterday stood on top of the awards podium today in the two men’s categories.

Mark Johnson who earned his fifth consecutive trip to the World Championships bested Wynn Roberts 39:04 to 39:14 today. Solid shooting fueled Johnson’s victory, as he had only four penalties to Roberts’ seven. Coach Vladimir Cervenka commented, ‘Yesterday was Mark’s first biathlon competition of the year. He is in college fulltime back east now. But he raced very smart today and was cautious on the shooting range.’ Three extra penalties pushed Roberts into second place, despite having a faster ski time than Johnson. Third today went to Newt Rogers (Fort Kent, ME), with eight penalties, 2:06 back, while Travis Mann-Gow (Burlington, VT), with five penalties was an additional 20 seconds behind Rogers.

After a disastrous day in the sprint competition yesterday, Ethan Dreissigacker who competes for the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club in Jericho, VT, won the Youth Men’s 10K today. Dreissigacker yesterday cross-fired and missed some penalty loops resulting in six minutes of time added to his finish, pushing him down to 14th place. He made up for that today with only three penalties to gain an 18-second margin of victory over Leif Nordgren. Nordgren, battling flu symptoms all week, had seven penalties. Third and fourth places went to Preston Butler and Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN), each with nine penalties, 2:25, and 2:34 back, respectively.

Although there were some changes at the top of the results list today, Coach Cervenka was again pleased with the performances in general. ‘Today was a little bit harder than yesterday for some athletes. The wind was shifting on the shooting range and some athletes had problems adjusting. Still, Meagan, Ethan, Hilary, and Mark all had good performances in these conditions.’

Competitions conclude with the Relay Format Sprint and Team announcement tomorrow.

Roberts Buries Field at Youth/Junior Trials

Posted on December 28, 2007 by jake

Coleraine, MN, December 28. Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) left his nearest competitor over one minute behind today as he won the Junior Men’s 10K Sprint in the first day of competition at Youth/Junior World Championships Trials.

Roberts, a pre-qualifier for the 2008 Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships, next month today reconfirmed his status as the top US junior biathlete. He and second place finisher Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN) each had a single prone penalty, but Roberts’ 29:29 time left Johnson 1:04 behind. National Junior Coach Vladimir Cervenka summed up Roberts’ performance, “No one can touch Wynn right now. He is skiing much faster than all of the other boys.”

Third went to Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) of the Maine Winter Sports Center, 1:22 back with four penalties. MWSC Coach Gary Colliander commented, “Russell is coming back from some sickness earlier in the month and is just getting back some of his ski speed.” Fourth in the junior division went to another MWSC athlete, Newt Rogers (Fort Kent, ME) 2:30 back with five penalties.

MWSC athlete Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska, ME) topped local favorite Brynden Manbeck (Grand Rapids, MN) of Mount Itasca Biathlon in a close battle for the Junior Women’s Sprint title. Both had three penalties, with Toussaint winning in 27:11, 24 seconds ahead of Manbeck.
Like Roberts, Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN), and a pre-qualifier for the Junior World Championships won today’s Youth Sprint. Nordgren, who had four penalties, covered the 7.5K in 23:23, just 11 seconds ahead of 15-year-old Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN), who had three misses on the shooting range. Grabbing third place was another 15-year-old, Nick Michaud (Fort Kent, ME), who shot clean in prone and had just two standing penalties in his first official biathlon competition, according to Colliander. He finished 2:09 behind Nordgren. Fourth went to Preston Butler, with five penalties, 20 seconds behind Michaud.

The Youth Women’s 6K was one of the closest competitions of the day, with the top three all recording three penalties and just 44 seconds separating second from fourth places. MWSC’s Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) won the division in 23:03 over Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN), 58 seconds back. Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) finished just 31 seconds behind Byrne while fourth went to Sarah Tegeler (Alaska), with four penalties, another 13 seconds back.

Coach Cervenka was pleased with the first day of competition. “The conditions today were fair for everyone, with no wind and about 15 degrees Fahrenheit. The courses here are tough, but everyone did a good job. I thought the shooting overall was very good, so that is encouraging.”