Category Archives: Novice

Mt Itasca on Sunday, rifles turn in, and Nationals

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Good Morning Everyone! Just a followup to earlier emails!

  • We are making plans for the trip to Nationals at West Yellowstone. We have 9 from the Midwest signed up, with 2 or 3 more on the fence yet. Jeff Bosek is the trip leader. Jeff, Mark Torresani and I are planning on coaching. If you plan to attend, please look over the Covid protocol above and the Nationals Invitation. Fill them out and note they must be submitted online no later than the afternoon of Sunday 21st of March for registration. There is no onsite registration!!! And please let Jeff and me know if you are coming and haven’t already contacted us; or if you need to confirm. When you are registering and if you will be shooting on Tues or Wed prior to Official Training, try to get the 10:00-12:00 slot for range time. Jeff will be available on the range to coach those days. Some of us are staying at the Day’s Inn. We suggest a direct call vs online to save a few $$. 
  • All MN Biathlon rifles leased for the year are due to be turned in at the end of the month. A questionnaire has been sent to all those who have rifles, or have expressed interest in leasing next year. If you misplaced that, or didn’t get one and would like to lease next year, that form is also attached. If you want a rifle next year, you need to fill that out and return it to me—either by email or by mail to the below address by Monday the 15th of March. 
NationalsInvite2021-1Download
US-Nationals-Covid-Testing-Info-1Download
MN-Biathlon.-2021-2022-QuestionaireDownload

If you are not attending Nationals, please thoroughly clean and then turn in the rifle asap or after the Sunday race. If you have had good participation and would like to lease again, please put a piece of masking tape on the stock with your name on it. After the coaches go through the rifles and clean them, check them over, and replace any missing/damaged parts, we will be re-issuing. Who gets a rifle, who gets an upgrade, or who will need to buy their own to continue will be determined based mostly on the questionnaire answers and the coach’s discretion thereto.  If you are going to Nationals, we can look the rifles over at West and re-issue for next year. Please contact me if you have any questions!!

Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Elk River time trial – Jan 10, 2021 – RESULTS

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Time trials 10 Jan 21 at Elk River – Natural snow- +25F  B skls  9.1 km course
NAMEClubPPSSTOTAL FINISH TIMEClass
Men9.1km 
Drew SampsonTC31531235:35.0YM
Matthew BrodersonTC3321936:38.0<17
Eric AndersonBluff32421145:05.0<15
Carson Peterson TC34431445:31.0<15M
Noah BesemannTC42241246:13.0<17
Women9.1 km
Kaisa BosekWolf0101237:35.0YW
Audrey LahammerBluff32421140:29.0<17
Evelyn HudrlikTC4212940:44.0<17
Saylor LandrumTC1041641:04.0<17
Lauren HuberWolf44231349:27.0<17
Selah BinsfeldTC44331453:51.0<15

Jan 2021 updates

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Due to the last Covid rules which curtail competitions per se until the 14th of Jan, MN Cup #2 as rescheduled is now cancelled. Our planning has gotten short range by necessity, and for that I apologize—but we do have a couple of events that should be ok and should happen!!

This coming Sunday—Elk River- we will have a time trial course set up where you can come, zero yourself and time yourself. It will use the normal winter course Pursuit format so PPSS and a 5 lap total of 9.1km of skiing plus penalty loops.

To accommodate both zeroing and time trialing we will need to do this by 10 maximum wave appointments with me. 9:30 or 11:00. Please sign up shortly. If we run out of slots [10 x 2], I will open up another time slot in the early afternoon We will need to zero quickly so be there on time and ready to go. I anticipate no more than 15 min to zero. Once we switch to metal, all zeroing will be done for that wave. Watch your email, as I might move you or your group to anther time slot.

The 23rd/24th weekend is not yet determined—we may do more time trials at Elk River

and the 30th/31st will be Regional races at Mt Itasca, with an announcement/invitation coming out shortly.

I am anticipating at least two events in Feb, another Regional event in March along with Nationals in West Yellowstone.

I did note this past weekend that quite a few of our Biathletes participated in the JNQ races in Houghton MI with some really spectacular results!! Training pays!!

Enjoy the Journey!
Bill Meyer, Coach

MN Cup #1 and #2 Cancelled

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Good Morning,

As you probably are aware, the Governor yesterday extended the “pause” on youth and adult sports competitions until the 4th of Jan at the earliest. The COVID rates are simply not dropping enough to warrant a return to normal. Again, too many are not following the protocols that the health experts have laid out—so we all suffer!!

Accordingly, MN Cup #1 & #2 are cancelled. The Midwest Regional Races tentatively scheduled for the 2nd & 3rd of Jan will be rescheduled.

In addition, USBA announced this morning the the US Youth and Junior World Championship Team Trials have been cancelled. You can read the full announcement on the USBA webpage.

As they will be looking at regional results to make up the US teams, being prepared, well trained and racing in Jan will be doubly important!!

In the meantime, skiing at Mt Itasca is good, and there is a 1.5 km course that you can use to mark your progress!

It’s a long journey- and certainly not always easy!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon

Interesting Links

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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
CoachesEducationDownload

Daycamp and Races on Oct 31 and Nov 1

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Good Morning Everyone-

First, both the daycamp and the race have capped numbers [20 and 25 respectively] and we are at or very close to the caps. If you want to go onto a waiting list, please get in touch with me.

As I checked the COVID statistics this morning, MN appears to be experiencing a big spike in both new positive cases and related deaths. We will need to watch this closely for the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, whether you are planning on coming to ER or not, but especially if you are, PLEASE be very careful over the next two weeks, wear your mask when indoors and social distance where possible. And wash wash wash. Keep your hands away from your face. Try really hard not to become a statistic!!!

You should also get your annual flu shot as soon as possible.

If we all take these precautions now, and no one comes to the end of the month events feeling under the weather, I think we can be pretty much assured we aren’t bringing the virus to the gatherings.

AT THE EVENTS, MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED UNLESS YOU ARE ON THE FIRING LINE OR SKIING. SOCIAL DISTANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. We will have extra rifle racks down at the firing line on Saturday and during zero on Sunday. All spectators, coaches, and officials should be masked at all times. Please spread out!

If these rules bother you, please stay home. No one should end up regretting they came sick and passed it on, or on the other hand, be concerned because someone else is trying to be macho!!!

Now, this morning we woke up to this:

It is too early to predict the weather two weeks out, but watch your email after next weekend. We may need to modify our plans. While roller skiing with a skim of snow on the ground is futile, running, hill bounding, and shooting all work fine.

In any case, be careful, be safe, and keep an eye on your email for updates!!

The best season of the year is on its way!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon