Author Archives: jake

World Jr Trials Moved to Mt Itasca, MN

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2008 World Junior Trials originally scheduled for Anchorage, Dec 28-30 have been moved to Mt Itasca, Coleraine, MN. Race dates will be the same, Dec 28, 29, 30, with official training on Dec 27th, and unofficial training on Dec 26th.

The races have been moved because of lack of snow in Anchorage and the lack of any alternate venue in Alaska of the size and quality needed to hold a national event. The USBA thanks the Anchorage Organizing Committee for their hard work planning the event and working hard to get their new range ready for Jr Trials. We realize this is a disappointment. Anchorage has already been offered the right to host next seasons World Junior Trials.

Registrations will be transferred from Anchorage to Mt Itasca. Those that have not registered yet, but wish to compete, will need to fill out a Mt Itasca Registration form, which I will send shortly- also, it will be posted at www.minnesotabiathlon.com and here at usbiathlon.org. The Mt Itasca Biathlon Association is currently negotiating a hotel deal for biathlon competitors, and I will send out hotel information on Sunday.

Teams should plan to fly into Duluth or Minneapolis/St Paul airport. Please feel free to email me if you have questions. We apologize for the late change, but its difficult to judge when its too late to give up on mother nature.

Like the events at Anchorage, there will be categories for Seniors and Masters.

Minnesota Biathlon Winter Race Schedule 2007-2008

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December 8           Mt. Itasca Training Day
December 9           Mt. Itasca Race
December 15         Mt. Itasca Race
December 16         Mt. Itasca Race

December 22         Elk River Time Trial

Junior National Team Trials – Anchorage, Alaska
December 26        Training
December 27        Training
December 28        SPR
December 29        PUR
December 30        IND

MN National Guard Regional Champs – Camp Ripley
January 1o        Training
January 11        Race
January 12        Race

February 17   St. Cloud Race

March 1        Mt. Itasca Training Day
March 2        Mt. Itasca Race

National Guard Champs – Camp Ripley
March 10     SPR
March 12     IND

US Biathlon National Champs – Mt. Itasca
March 19     Training
March 20     SPR
March 21     Training
March 22     PUR
March 23     MASS

Minnesota Biathlon Winter Race Schedule 2007-2008

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December 8    Mt. Itasca Training Day CANCELLED
December 9     Mt. Itasca Race -CANCELLED
December 15   Mt. Itasca Race – Results pdf
December 16   Mt. Itasca Race – Results pdf

December 22   Elk River Time Trial

Junior National Team Trials – Anchorage, Alaska
December 26 Training
December 27 Training
December 28 SPR
December 29 PUR
December 30 IND

MN National Guard Regional Champs – Camp Ripley
January 10 Training
January 11 Race
January 12 Race

February 17   St. Cloud Race

March 1 Mt. Itasca Training Day
March 2 Mt. Itasca Race

National Guard Champs – Camp Ripley
March 10 – SPR
March 12 – IND

US Biathlon National Champs – Mt. Itasca
March 19 – Training
March 20 – SPR
March 21 – Training
March 22 – PUR
March 23 – MASS

Mt Itasca to Host 2008 North American Biathlon Championships

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Mt. Itasca Biathlon Association in Coleraine, Minnesota has been awarded the 2008 North American Biathlon Championships. The North American Biathlon Championship is an IBU sanctioned event, and will feature Sprint, Pursuit and Mass Start races. Race dates will be March 20-23, 2008. Athletes from all over the U.S. and Canada will be competing. In addition to the North American titles, these athletes will by vying for U.S. National Championships titles for Seniors, Juniors, and Masters.

The Mt.Itasca Winter Sports complex features a 3.3 km man made snow loop and 30 point biathlon range, as well as additional xc ski trails, an alpine ski hill, and a ski jumping facility. Mt Itasca has become a regular stop on the USSA XC Super Tour and North American Biathlon Cup circuit thanks to its challenging terrain, a fantastic stadium, and snowmaking capability. Many of the U.S. Junior National team athletes train year round at Mt. Itasca under Coach Vladimir Cervneka. Coleraine and nearby Grand Rapids, are located 3.5 hours north west of the Twin Cities and 75 minutes west of Duluth.

The race invitation and registration forms will be posted here soon!

USBA Masters Nationals

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Mt. Itasca in Coleraine Minnesota has been chosen to host the National Biathlon Championships for the US in March of 2008. This will also be the North American Championships so we can expect to see the top biathletes from the US and Canada competing.

In addition, we will be hosting the US Masters Biathlon Championships at the same time. The Masters will have separate races on age appropriate separate courses. (This is a result of the efforts of the USBA Masters Committee, on which Lou Chouinard represents Minnesota.)

We really need to have a strong showing of Minnesota Masters biathletes – including those who consider themselves to be “retired”, not-currently-training, or otherwise inactive…

Racing will be on Thursday, March 20 (the Vernal Equinox), Saturday 3/23 and Sunday 3/24 (Easter).

This will be a joint effort between the Mt Itasca Biathlon Association, MN Biathlon, and USBA. As such, we will need lots of participation and volunteer help.

More details later but please mark your calendars now!