Category Archives: International

Minnesota Athletes Race for Team USA in IBU Junior Cup and Junior Open European Championships 

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Eric Anderson (Frontenac, MN – Bluff Country Biathlon) and Annelise Baird (Baxter, MN – Minnesota Biathlon) competed in their first international races, as youth athletes competing at the junior level. Eric and Annelise competed in the International Biathlon Union Junior Cup races in Jakuszyce, Poland, held January 16-19, 2025. The Junior Cup races began with Sprint races; Annelise led the women’s team in 50th, missing just two shots on the day while Eric Anderson finished 69th in the men’s race. Based on her results from the Sprint, Annelise toed the line for the junior women’s Mass Start 60, finishing 56th. The final day of racing saw another Sprint. Eric bested his previous Sprint result in 53rd while Annelise finished in 72nd.

“I’m really proud of the team’s efforts this week at the Junior Cup in Poland,” said U.S. Biathlon Director of Athlete Development and IBU Junior Cup Team Leader Tim Burke. “Many of our athletes were competing in their first international biathlon races, going up against competitors up to four years older. Despite the challenge, they held their own and can leave Poland with the confidence that they are ready to compete at the junior level on the international stage.” 

The team then traveled to Altenberg, Germany for the 2025 IBU Junior Open European Championships, held January 22-26. The race weekend consisted Individual races, Mixed and Single Mixed Relays, Sprints, and finished up with Mass Start 60 races. Eric Anderson finished 61st in the Individual with Annelise Baird in 78th. Eric and Annelise then teamed up with Tristan Thrasher (Steamboat Springs, CO – Team Altius) and Haley Finch(Anchorage, AK – Alaska Winter Stars) for the Mixed Relay where the US Team finished 16th. Annelise finished up her racing with 79th in Sprint while Eric was 99th in the Sprint. Neither qualified for the Mass Start 60 but they enjoyed cheering for their US teammates racing the mass start.

Photos: Chris Campbell

Annelise Baird led off the JOEC Individual race in Altenburg, GER, with start position 1. Photo: Chris Campbell
Eric Anderson tags Tristan Thrasher in the Mixed Relay in Altenburg, GER. Photo: Chris Campbell
Annelise Baird tags Haley Finch in the Mixed Relay in Altenburg, GER. Photo: Chris Campbell
Eric Anderson heads back on course after shooting the in the JOEC Individual race in Altenburg, GER Photo: Chris Campbell

Youth Olympic Games Information

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Hi Coaches, 

I hope everyone is having a great summer!  

You are receiving this email because you have a coach/official membership with USBA.  I want to provide some important information on the 2024 Youth Olympic Games and hope you can share this with any athletes that you work with who are eligible for the games.  

The ICC and our Board of Directors have approved the selection procedure for YOG.  You can find that on our new website here, and I have also attached it to this email.

To be eligible for YOG, an athlete must be born between the 1st of January 2006 and the 31st of December 2007.  This is an IBU/IOC rule and does not come from USBA.

YOG qualification will happen in coordination with our YJWCH trials in Mt. Itasca, MN, from December 28th- 31st, 2023.  To qualify for YOG, athletes must race in these trials!

Any athlete hoping to qualify for YOG must be added to the USOPC’s long list.  Once on the long list, athletes will be asked to submit passport copies, headshots, etc.  To be added to the long list, athletes must submit their intention to race in trials by providing some basic information by August 1st on this G-Form. 

Please note that athletes competing at YOG will need passports that expire no earlier than August 3rd, 2024!  If you need a new passport, please get on that ASAP!

I look forward to seeing many of you in Jericho at Summer Nationals!

Best,
Tim Burke
Director of Athlete Development
U.S. Biathlon Association

THIS COMING WEEK THE 29TH OF MAY, 2023

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Good  Morning Everyone!

Hope by now, nearing the end of the 2nd month of the training year, everyone has been out on rollerskis to get used to the feel and to start working on technique!! Don’t drag your old bad habits into the new season!! It takes about 3 weeks of steady work doing something right, to get out of those bad moves/timing/body positions etc!! Later in the week I will send out a checklist of things for good skiing. You can gain a ton of time in racing by being efficient and putting your body weight to work! To say nothing about building the strength in the exact muscles you need on skis!!!

You should also be shooting regularly now, working on improving your accuracy, your moves getting into and out of position, and in taking less and less time to identify that perfect white circle of the sight picture [see attached] – and getting the shot off smoothly!!! Basic marksmanship!! We will be working on cutting down range time, shooting fatigued, and shooting with a high heartrate at the practices and camps!! But if you can’t hit the target shooting when calm, you will have multiple problems as we approach the physiological demands of actual race shooting. One of the most productive things you can do is dryfire!! Everyday is best! I knew a World Cup competitor who used to put on her race gear to dryfire!! And she was good!! [not her skis!!—but it wouldn’t hurt to stand on rollerskis in your basement!!] 

Coming right up is the 4 day camp at Mt Itasca starting on Wed, the 14th of June—the Invitation is attached!! We have plenty of room on that range, and it should be a really fun 4 days!! Please sign up asap so we can get a handle on numbers for food and coaching needs!!

And following shortly after the Mt Itasca camp, there will be a daycamp on Saturday the 24th followed on Sunday the 25th with the first rollerski biathlon race of the year at Elk River! Mark your calendars, and keep an eye out for the Invitations to those events!!

I am also including the WI Biathlon schedule for those who live near Brillion!

Put together by Gregg Pattison and Mark Torresani: Gregg and I have been working closely with Ariens to bring a fun-filled summer and fall roller ski and running biathlon series. Once a month from June through November, Ariens will be hosting this series. Although we haven’t ironed out all the details yet, there will be multiple race distances for all abilities. For those of you who aren’t roller skiers, there will be a running format as well.Save these dates

  • Sunday, June 4th
  • Sunday, July 16th
  • Sunday, August 6th
  • Sunday, September 17th
  • Sunday, October 15th
  • Sunday, November 12th

So the Journey is well underway!! Enjoy!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Biathlon-Camp-Announcement-2-2Download
Training-Plans-for-June-Camp-4-1Download

Jack Cashman in Norway

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Good Evening!

Jack Cashman is in Norway at the Ski Festival in Norway for Youth ages and below. Attached please find the results of todays sprint. You can scroll down to the “Gutah 16 ar class” and find Jack in 9th with 0,2 shooting!! out of 43 in that class. I think there are 1022 participants total!!https://liatoppenskiskytterfestival.no/uploads/iKjjhea8/230415Offisiellresultatliste-sprint.PDF

Biathlon is not a small sport in Norway!!

– Bill Meyer

USBA Coaches Update (Early April)

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Coaches! 

I hope this note finds you well, and you will enjoy spring in all the ways possible (with snow, sand, safari…whatever works for you).

Quick few updates to share: 

An update to those coaches who have encouraged athletes to apply for the USBA Regional Select Camps. We have confirmed locations & cost for these camps. 

USBA West/AK Regional Select Camp, June 19-23 confirmed for Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, Bozeman, MT. $500 fee will cover all coaching, lodging, ground transport, & meal costs. Transport to Bozeman by car or via flight (BZN) will be the responsibility of each participant. More details to be shared with selected participants by May 2.

USBA Midwest/East Regional Select Camp, June 26-30 hosted at Ariens Nordic Center, Brillion, WI. $400 fee will cover all coaching, lodging, ground transport, & meal costs. Transport to Brillion by car or via flight (airports of GRB or MKE) will be the responsibility of each participant by May 2.

Both of these camps are by invitation/selection only, and application for both will be via Google Form at this link: https://forms.gle/QjHREp6TL3Mwucjz8 (due May 1, but sooner is better).

Note: Coaches have been encouraged to promote only the best (primarily IBU Youth age) athletes in the region who are ready for a high level & high intensity camp on roller skis and alongside other top athletes. We are targeting a small number from each region. We are also encouraging coaches to consider promoting XC athletes within the region. Contact jfarra@usbiathlon.org with any questions. 

The 2023 USBA Coaches Conference is set for June 1-4 in Lake Placid, NY, and will be 2 full days on the 2nd & 3rd, with arrivals on the 1st & departures on the 4th. The cost will be $50 with instructions for payment to come later. Lodging & meals are being covered for all participants at the USOPC Training Center (limited beds, so first come first serve, & expect roommates). For those planning to attend please advise by Wednesday April 26 via this Google Form https://forms.gle/QxTxmZjaYycGgFZy8 and/or contact jfarra@usbiathlon.orgwith questions.

Ethan Allen Biathlon Camp Opportunity

As per tradition, the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club will offer a training camp opportunity in advance of the 2023 USBA Summer Nationals which is set for August 4-6. John Madigan has informed us that they welcome Clubs & athletes for training Monday July 31st through August 6th (must be registered in advance). BUT unfortunately, there will be no lodging available this time on base. Some Teams/Clubs have had luck staying at the UVM Campus housing (https://www.uvm.edu/eventservices/housing-services), though no rifles or ammo are permitted on campus, so they will need to be stored & secured at the EA range. More to come on this at https://www.eabiathlon.org/

Also note, the traditional USBA Elite Development Camp in Lake Placid, is expected to be held once again immediately following the 2023 USBA Summer Nationals event in Jericho scheduled for August 5 & 6. Contact tburke@usbiathlon.org with questions.

I want to thank all coaches & club leaders who helped host Biathlon Try-It events this winter… just some of the ones I am aware of include:  4 US Skiing JNQ events around the country, at 3 major Youth Ski Festivals, at multiple Club building events, and at NCAA champs & SuperTour Finals in Craftsbury (live fire events for top skiers & their coaches). We even had the IBU Secretary General, Max Cobb helping on the range for 3-4 hours in Craftsbury in late March! 

In just over 2 months we believe we had upwards of 750 Youth & Juniors experience the sport with the laser rifles alone this winter, and we look forward to continuing to maximize their use around the country with much more time to plan before next season. More to come on this initiative in the coming months.

Finally, I am fired up for the USA athletes participating in the Liatoppen Biathlon Festival this coming weekend in Norway! Thanks to the coaches supporting it, and Go USA!
https://liatoppenskiskytterfestival.no/ 

Cheers.

John Farra

Director of Sport Development

U.S. Biathlon Association

+1.719.744.2842

Updates and Info

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Happy Holidays to you!

So, we have folks in Anchorage for the US Y & Jr World Championship Team Trials, others headed that way, many working with their high school teams this week, and others doing their own thing. With that wide spread of training advice needs, I think I am done with the “Hypothetical 500 hr per year” weekly training plans —for the time being…ski a lot, shorter and harder when you are approaching an important race series, and keep your hands on that rifle!! The majority of your fitness training is over now for the year—but you can still gain by adding some frosting to the cakes—both skiing and shooting—and definitely in the combination of the two!!

If anyone wants a plan..let me know! 

I will likely continue to send out a weekly epistle, but sans the weekly plan. 

In Anchorage, Dec 26th is Unofficial training, 27th is Official Training where the course and range are set up like for the first race, and Wed the 28th is the first race—a Sprint with 10km for all Men and 7.5km for all Women. If they use the normal winter Biathlon courses, the courses have more vertical climbs than Mt Itasca. They are not quite so technical [hard corners, difficult transitions], as I recall. 

The Sprint will be followed on Thursday the 29th by a 10 km Pursuit format for both genders, then another Official Training Day, and finally another Sprint—this one 7.5km for Men and 6.0 km for Women.

The Trials are scored on a % back basis based on the average time of the top 3 athletes in each race. Then each athlete is ranked by their best two races.

The US Team announcements should be made soon after the last race.

Then in mid Jan we have two opportunities; a Regional Race weekend at Blackhawk near Madison WI and also an Invitation to a race at Camp Ripley on Sunday the 15th—please see the attached, and let me know if you plan to attend either event. The following two weekends in Jan will each see an event at Elk River on Sundays—a MN Cup first then a one day Regional race on the last weekend. 

So, a lot of opportunities coming up shortly, but in the meantime—follow along with our MN Biathlon team in Anchorage. Results should be available on Zone4.ca , the USBA webpage, or the Biathlon Club of Anchorage webpage. 

Enjoy the snow, it will warm up soon [just a little, I hope] and be sure to get out on skis with your rifle!! And  Dryfiring really works!! As Nike used to say, “Just Do It”

Happy New Year’s—Enjoy the Journey!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon