USBA International Team Criteria for the 2021-22 season

Below you will find links to the finalized and approved criteria for the 2021-22 season. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions.

Senior Team Criteria:
https://www.teamusa.org/US-Biathlon/Resources/Team-Selection-Procedures/International-Team-Selection-Criteria

Junior Team Criteria:
https://www.teamusa.org/US-Biathlon/Resources/Team-Selection-Procedures/Youth-and–Junior-Selection-Procedures

Last day of 2021 Nationals

On Sunday, it continued with a 5 km Super Sprint with 4 shooting stages for all athletes. The wind continued to rise- estimate in the high 20’s or low 30’s mph—but the penalty loop was only 75 meters for that format.

Sam Stertz, Grand Rapids, took 1st place in the Youth Men’s division with 2,1,3,1 shooting! Another National Championship for MN!!
Kaisa Bosek continued her run with a 2nd in the Youth Women’s class with 1,0,1,1 shooting! And Evelyn Hudrlik moved up to 7th, shooting 3,2,4,3. Nice result for a 1st yr in Biathlon!!
Saylor Landrum finished in 10th, shooting 1,1,4,2.

On Tues, Marc Sheppard sent out the overall shooting results. Kaisa Bosek was the top shooter for Nationals this year with 83.3% Avg, followed in 20th place by Sam Stertz at 63.3%, Saylor Landrum in 26th at 60%. Cheresa Bouley only was able to do two races, but her average was 70% –about in the top 10.

Midwest Regional Race at Blackhawk near Madison WI, Jan 16/17, 2021 – RESULTS

https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=231258
https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=231341

Hi Everyone, here are the race results for the races at Blackhawk this weekend. “Good Job!” to all who participated!

The distances are not correct—but all in each class raced the same course for that class. Conditions yesterday were tough at 35F with a lot of sloppy new snow. Today was much improved with 28F and just a touch of snow coming down.. Great grooming and really good race organization!!


Below please find the Invitation to the first Midwest Regional Race to be held at the Blackhawk Ski Area near Madison WI on the 16th and 17th of Jan, 2021. Signup information is below and please note: You must sign up online!

I really hope we can get a good turnout from MN. The results from these races will be sent in to USBA for consideration along with other results from Dec and Jan as to selection for the US Team to the Youth and Junior World Championships.
Hope you can make it!!
Bill Meyer, Coach

On Saturday and Sunday, January 16th & 17th, Blackhawk Ski Club will host the second set of WI Biathlon races of the 2020/2021 season! These will be USBA Midwest Regional Open Biathlon races for USBA safety certified athletes.

Note that you must register for these races online prior to Noon on Friday, January 15th. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and other practical issues, there will be no same-day registration. All Open race participants are required to supply their own rifle and ammunition unless you make prior arrangements with one of the race organizers.

No fees will be collected online during the registration process so we have no concerns if you register for the race but are unable to attend the race for whatever reason. Please register online immediately if you have even the slightest thought of racing!

Note four important points:

  1. No same day registrations will be offered on Saturday or Sunday. Register online at Webscorer before Friday, January 15th or do not race.
  2. Arrive with your USBA membership current (see below) or do not race.
  3. Read and understand the COVID-19 adaptations in the Webscorer event announcements below. If these are unacceptable to you in some way, do not race.
  4. Do not attend the race if you have, or recently have had, flu symptoms and/or a fever.

Important: For the OPEN races, athletes 15 and over (calculated on 31 Dec 2020) must select the 10K “Distance” (7.5K for females entering the Saturday Sprint race) of the race when registering online with Webscorer and athletes 14 and under must select the 2.5K (Saturday) and/or 4K (Sunday) “Distance”.

Register for the Saturday Open races at the Webscorer link below.
Blackhawk 2.5K, 7.5K, 10K Interval Start Biathlon | Event registration | Webscorer

Register for the Sunday Open races at the Webscorer link below.
Blackhawk 4K, 10K Interval Start Biathlon | Event registration | Webscorer

For Open racers, the USBA membership number entry is optional in Webscorer, please enter your membership number if you are a Competitor level USBA member. If you are not a USBA member, arrange your USBA Member-for-a-Day purchase in advance of race day. Annual USBA memberships expire in October every year so be sure to renew your membership for this season, if necessary.

Biathlon liability insurance is provided by the USBA for race participants so USBA membership is mandatory on race day.

The links to USBA membership options are on the Webscorer registration page.

When you complete your online Webscorer registration, it is important to email the registration to yourself as proof that you are registered properly in case of last minute IT issues with the Webscorer web site.

Important: After registering on Webscorer, scroll down the Webscorer page to verify that your registration was accepted by Webscorer (and to access the “email to self” option).

Bib exchange and race fee payment will take place at the Biathlon Range Shelter according to the times posted in Webscorer. Here are the materials that are required for the bib exchange on race day:

  1. Online registration printout (email to yourself by scrolling down after “Submitting” your online registration)
  2. Exact cash or check payment (to “Blackhawk Ski Club”, see fee schedule on Webscorer registration page)
  3. USBA Red Book (received at your USBA safety training class) (Open Racers Only)
  4. USBA Membership Card (if you are a Competitor member of USBA)
    OR
    Online USBA receipt confirmation (online at USBA web site)

Volunteers are needed to facilitate the running and scoring of the race.

I look forward to seeing you at Blackhawk!
Best regards,
Mike Larsen
WI Biathlon

Proposed weekend schedule from Mark Torresani

After receiving comments the below race format and schedule is proposed. I will work with Mike Larsen to get the sign up for races live on Webscorer. All races will be in a time trial fashion due to Covd restrictions with approximately 30 seconds between racers at the start.

Saturday January 16th
10:00 AM Set up and Registration [payment!] See note above!! Must sign up online!
11:00 Sight in U15, U19, U22
12:00: Sprint U19 and U22, 7.5K Women, 10K Men, PS
1:00, Sprint U15, 2.5K, 75M penalty lap PP (first prone shooting on standing target)
1:30 Masters, Seniors: site in/zero
2:15: Masters, Seniors, 10K PS
4:00 4K 4 person “fun” relay, PPSS (two skiers shoot prone, two skiers shoot standing, with 3 extra rounds for misses for all racers) 30 second penalty for missed targets. Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Rifle?

Sunday January 17th
8:00 AM Set up and Registration
9:00 Sight in U15, U19 ,U22
10:00 U19 & U22, 10 K PPSS
11:00 U15, 4K PPPP, 75M penalty (two prone on standing targets and two prone on prone targets)
12:00, Seniors, Masters Site in/zero
12:45 Seniors, Masters 10K PPSS
2:00 Awards

Youth/Junior World Championship Athlete List- Candidates

Good Evening Everyone!

Below is an email from Sara Studebaker at USBA regarding the list of candidates for the US Youth and Junior World Championships.

I believe it is self explanatory , but if you have any questions please get in touch with me. If you are not on the list and wish to be, also get in touch with me.
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon


Dear Coaches,

As you know, Youth and Junior World Championship Trials have been cancelled and a discretionary selection process has been set forth and approved (more info here, if you missed it). The initial list of athletes for consideration to the Youth/Junior World Championships Team has been posted. If you have athletes that should be on this list and are not, please email Tim Burke (tburke@usbiathlon.org). Additions and changes to the list must be received by Jan. 23 at 11pm ET.

Please note that ALL ATHLETES ON THE LIST, including those added now, must fill out the form agreeing to the USBA Covid Travel policies. The form can be found at the link below. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Tim, Danika or me.

https://www.teamusa.org/US-Biathlon/News/2021/January/11/YJWCH2021-consideration-list

Thank you,
Sara


Sara Studebaker-Hall
U.S. Biathlon
Director of Operations
208-340-5489

Interesting Links

One of our newest members, Ryan, found these two on line. With our newfound time again for most, it is worthwhile reading through the Coach’s doc especially for those in Coaching positions!!  Actually Art Stegen in NY, Marc Sheppard in West Yellowstone, and I collaborated on this about 10-15 yrs ago. There is a newer Coach’s document out by USBA, but this covers the basics like taking a shot and rifle fitting in more detail. Also note, since this was written, I have found a 4 week training cycle with an easier 2nd week works better than stepping up the load 3 weeks in a row then recovery. Kind of a mini recovery week in #2 and a bigger one in #4. The principles of load and recovery then supercompensation are still valid!! You won’t improve your fitness without that supercompensation!!  The youtube clip is interesting also!! 

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

I found a coaches handbook online from the USBA that I’ve been reading through, attached below. I’ve been enjoying learning about the technical aspects of the sport and it’s been helpful to mentally prepare myself for firing posture, sequence and cadence.
I also found a great video explaining how biathlon came to be. https://youtu.be/14NTlDvmzyc

Best wishes, Ryan