A Minnesota Biathlon training day was held at the Elk River range on April 12.
Fifteen athletes and several coaches worked with the athletes on rifle fit, shooting position, and basic skills. Participants ranged from some with international racing experience to the first time biathlon shooting.
The next training day will be May 4th. Registration and information coming soon!
| Woodland Trails Regional Park Elk River Saturday, April 12, 2025 |
| Register here |
| Training for newcomers and experienced athletes |
| Schedule 9:00 – Check-in at the biathlon range. 9:00-9:30 – Introductions and rifle safety assessment. 9:30-11:00 – Rifle fitting and basic skills. 11:00-12:30 – Second training block. 12:30-1:15 – Lunch! Some snacks provided, bring some of your own as well. 1:15-2:45 – Third training block. 2:45-3:30 – Fun shooting games. |
| Training fee $30 + club membership $10 for each additional biathlete from the same household. Ammo available for newcomers for $40 Payable by cash or check on the day of the event. |
| Have you bought your 2025 membership yet? Membership form here. |
| US Biathlon Basic Rifle Safety Course REQUIRED |
| WHAT TO BRING • Membership form and payment. • Rifle, Ammunition. • Rollerskis (recommended but optional – yeah its only April), boots, poles, helmet, other protective gear as you desire. • Running shoes and workout clothing appropriate for the weather. • Bounding poles if not roller skiing. • Hydration/snacks. |
| It takes many volunteers to put on our events. Please sign up to volunteer here. |
| Questions? Concerns? Contact administration@minnesotabiathlon.com |
Duluth coach John Gould has this report from Senior Nationals:
Minnesota Biathlon Athletes: Adelaide Bielke, Kellen Groth, Pat Lammersen, Eliza O’Cooper and Jonathan Rova participated in the Biathlon Senior Nationals at the Crosscut Nordic Center in Bozeman/Montana.
Coaches were John Gould of Duluth Biathlon and Holly Hanson of Bluff Country Biathlon. Julia Bielke, Kristin O’Cooper and Pat Lammersen Sr. served as range assistants.
The athletes participated in two days of training on Tuesday (March 25) and Wednesday (March 26) and three days of racing from Thursday, March 27 through Saturday, March 29. The race formats comprised a sprint race on the first day, a mass start race on the second day and a super sprint race on the third day. U15 athletes skied respectively 4.5, 7.5 and 4.5 km distances. U17 athletes skied respectively 6.0, 10 and 5 km distances. IBU Para Standing athletes skied a 7.5 sprint distance and were integrated into appropriate IBU age category distances for the mass start and super sprint competitions. Masters skied a 7.5 km sprint distance.
MN biathletes had to acclimatize themselves to the altitude in the mountains and deal with wet and sloppy snow. They all did very well to have completed two full days of training and 3 full days of racing.
Kellen Groth raced in the U17 division. Pat Lammersen and Eliza O’Cooper in the U15 division and Adelaide Bielke in the Standing Women Para Biathlon division. Our Master Biathlete Jonathan Rova participated only in the sprint race on the first day of competition.
Kellen won the male U17 mass start competition in a time of 34:16 and 0-1-2-4 shooting bouts. Pat Lammersen had his best day in the super sprint format finishing in a time of 34:41 with shooting bouts of 5-3-2-0. Eliza completed her Super Sprint in a time of 31:48 with shooting bouts of 0-1-0-1. Adelaide Bielke was integrated into the Youth Women Division in the Mass Start Race and finished the 10 km distance in a time of 34:00 with shooting bouts of 1-0-0-0.
Everyone enjoyed making new friendships and skiing along side of our national team athletes. As St. Scholastica students, Kelsey Dickinson and Paul Schommer both started their biathlon journey at Snowflake in Duluth. Kelsey won the Senior Women’s Mass start and Paul was second in the Senior Men’s Mass Start. Minnesotans Emma Stertz, Sam Stertz, Anna French, Jake Brown and Amanda Kautzer were all in the Senior IBU field and had solid performances.
Below is the current schedule through the end of 2025. All events are subject to change – especially the on-snow events – due to a variety of factors.
| April 12th | Training Camp | Elk River |
| May 4th | Training Camp | Elk River |
| June 19th-22nd | Training Camp | Mt. Itasca |
| June 29th | Rollerski Race #1 | Elk River |
| July 12th | Rollerski Race #2 | Elk River |
| July 15th-18th | Ariens Nordic Center High-Performance Training Camp | Brillion, WI |
| July 19th-20th | Midwest Regional Summer Championships | Brillion, WI |
| August 16th | Training Camp | Elk River |
| August 17th | Rollerski Race #3 | Elk River |
| September 6th | Rollerski Race #4 | Elk River |
| September 7th | Training Camp | Elk River |
| September 13th | Duluth NorthShore Inline Marathon Rollerski Race with Duluth Biathlon | Duluth |
| September 14th | Duluth Training & Running Event | Snowflake Nordic |
| October 12th | Rollerski Race #5 | Elk River |
| November 30th | On-snow race | Mt. Itasca |
| December 6th-7th | On-snow races | Mt. Itasca |
From Kara:
Thank you all for joining us at today’s Duluth Biathlon race. It turned out to be a good day for racing. Also thanks to all the volunteers that made it happen and thanks to the ladies that helped with lunch. It definitely takes a village and we appreciate the support from you all!
Thanks to all who came to Elk River and made the best of a low-snow winter!
Overall | Category Place | Category | Racer | Overall Time | Back | P | P | S | S | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | JM | Joel Bouley | 26:45 | +0:00 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | 1 | YM | Jack Cashman | 27:20 | +0:35 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | 1 | SW | Cheresa Bouley | 27:56 | +1:11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 4 | 1 | JW | Saylor Landrum | 32:35 | +5:50 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | 1 | U17M | Owen Swanson | 32:46 | +6:01 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 6 | 1 | YW | Mallory Romanesko | 36:03 | +9:18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | 1 | MW | Alissa Johnson | 37:01 | +10:16 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| 8 | 1 | MM | Blake Johnson | 38:22 | +11:37 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 | 1 | U17W | Selah Binsfeld | 39:10 | +12:25 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 17 |
| 10 | 1 | SMW | Emily Broderson | 43:11 | +16:26 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 15 |