Category Archives: International

Five MN Biathletes Named to US Youth and Junior World Championship Team

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https://www.teamusa.org/US-Biathlon.aspx

Five Biathletes from MN were named by US Biathlon to the US Team to the Youth and Junior Championships to be held Feb 26th to March 4th in Otepaa, Estonia.

In the Junior Women category U21
Amanda Kautzer Twin Cities

In the Youth Women category U19
Emma Stertz, Mt Itasca Biathlon

In the Junior Men category U21
Cam Christiansen

In the Youth Men category U19
Vasek Cervenka Mt Itasca Biathlon
Garrett Beckrich, also Mt Itasca

In addition 3 of the above from MN are invited to the  Junior IBU Cup #3 Jan 25th-27th in Poland and the Junior Open European Championships from Jan 31st- Feb 4th in Slovenia.
Kautzer, Cervenka and Beckrich.

The full team for YJr Worlds is 16 athletes accompanied by coaches and wax technicians. Of those, 8 total were invited to the Junior IBU and Open European Championships.

Biathletes participating in the US Trials held Thursday and Friday at Mt Itasca came from Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Washington, Minnesota, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Montana, Utah, and New York.

Our congratulations to those who will be representing the US at these events!

US Youth and Junior Trials for World Championships – Second Race Recap & Results

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The second race in the US Trials for the Youth and Junior World Championships upcoming in Estonia in Feb were held at Mt Itasca this pm. The wind was up from the NW along with temps hovering around zero F.

2017 Jr&Y Trials 12.29.17

In the Men’s 7.5km Sprint, Junior Cody Johnson of the National Guard team won, shooting clean in 19:55.Youth Vasek Cervenka of MN Biathlon Mt Itasca was 2nd with 5 misses 39.6 sec back, and Junior Cam Christiansen of MN Biathlon NNW, also shooting clean, was 3rd 1:04 behind.

On the Women’s side in the 6.0 km Sprint, Junior Amanda Kautzer, MN Biathlon LNR won, shooting 1,0 in 21:12. She was followed by Youth Helen Wilson of Alaska Biathlon with 3 misses 1:15 behind, and in 3rd was Youth Sara Beaulieu of OSI, with 2 misses finishing 1:37 behind.

Due to the grim forecasts for Saturday and Sunday, the third race was cancelled by the Jury late pm. The results for the two races will be considered by the International Competition Committee and with their recommendation by the USBA Board early in the coming week.

US Youth and Junior Trials for World Championships – First Race Recap & Results

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On the warmest day of a cold week, with temps in the single digits but only a light wind, the first race of the YJr Trials took place on Thursday late afternoon. Shooting conditions were a little tricky with a reversing wind at times. Trail conditions were excellent thanks to Regional Coach Vlad Cervenka and his snowmaking crew!!

2017 Jr&Y Trials 12.28.17 Results

On the combined list for the Youth and Junior Women’s 7.5km Sprint, Youth Helen Wilson of Alaska Biathlon dominated, shooting 1,0 and finishing in 25:17. She was followed by Junior Amanda Kautzer, MNBiathlon, LNR with 3 misses 42 sec back. In Third was Youth Emma Stertz, MNBiathlon Mt Itasca, also with 3 misses 1:07 back.

In the Men’s 10km Sprint, Mt Itasca Youth athletes dominated with Vasek Cervenka shooting 2,1 and finishing in 26:36 for 1st place, and Garrett Beckrich shooting 1,2 and finishing 1:15 back for 2nd. In 3rd was Youth Eli Nielsen of Methow Valley WA, shooting 1,0 and finishing 1:31 back.

The second race of the Trials will be held this afternoon with temps hopefully up to 0F. That will also be a Sprint race but slightly shorter distances, 7.5 km for the Men and 6.0 km for the Women.

The Trials are planned to conclude on Saturday with a Pursuit Format event. The final team will be selected by the International Competition Committee based on the results of the Trials.

US Trials for the US Team to the Youth and Junior Worlds

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Well the IBU Cup Trials are finished—and now we need to look forward to the end of next week! Beginning with unofficial training on Wed the 27th, then Official training on the 28th and races on Fri, Sat and Sun the 29th, 30th and 31st respectively, the US Trials for the US Team to the Youth and Junior Worlds will be held at Mt Itasca.

2017 Junior Youth WCH Trials

The race invitation is enclosed. Please let me know if you are coming and what days you expect to race for either the Trials or the MNCup races- even if you have talked to me previously. If you are doing the Trials, you should mail in your entry so the organizers can get start lists etc put together. Also, If you are doing Trials, you must have at least one and up to two pair of race skis into the wax room by Thursday afternoon at the latest. The USBA waxing protocol will be in effect. I would suggest you put on a couple of coats of a very cold wax like Start Green prior to arriving—that will harden up the bases somewhat.

Bring a lot of warm clothes both for warmup and for racing!! A pair of over mittens can be used for the first lap then tossed before the 1st shooting.

As the invitation notes, these 3 races are also MNCup events and open to any biathlete with some experience.

Due to the lack snow around the state, I strongly recommend you arrive for unofficial training on Wed so we can work on your technique and shooting skills on skis!!

In general this current week is the Recovery week of the cycle. It is also a good week to work on ski technique, shooting and especially some speeds—on variable terrain, practice skiing with perfect technique—as fast as you can ski for 30 sec. Find another part of the trail and repeat—put in about 10 of these—then just go easy for a day before doing it again.

Next week should start out with a hard workout on Monday, but being Christmas you can keep it short Smile. On Tues—work on Technique for about an hour—and hope to see you on Wed!!

An important stop in the Journey!!
Have a Merry Christmas!!

Bill Meyer, Coach