Tag Archives: Competition

Biathlon Senior Nationals at Crosscut Nordic Center in Bozeman/Montana

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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.

Minnesota Cup #8 – Results

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Thanks to all who came to Elk River and made the best of a low-snow winter!


Overall		Category PlaceCategoryRacerOverall TimeBackPPSSTotal
11JMJoel Bouley26:45+0:0011316
21YMJack Cashman27:20+0:3521115
31SWCheresa Bouley27:56+1:1112126
41JWSaylor Landrum32:35+5:5010113
51U17MOwen Swanson32:46+6:01413513
61YWMallory Romanesko36:03+9:1822127
71MWAlissa Johnson37:01+10:16244313
81MMBlake Johnson38:22+11:37323210
91U17WSelah Binsfeld39:10+12:25534517
101SMWEmily Broderson43:11+16:26535215

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