From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
Photos Gallery: Biathlon NorAm / WYJC Trials Mass Starts in Canmore
After the first round of NorAms being canceled in Canmore, Alberta, two weekends ago due to cold weather, the domestic biathlon season finally got off the ground on Thursday with the first race in a NorAm series which also served as Canada’s selection trials for its team to World Youth and Junior Championships in Minsk, Belarus. The team has not yet been named.
On Sunday, a day of mass start competitions, Loppet Nordic Racing’s Jake Ellingson decided to take a day off in preparation for the next round of NorAms in Mount Itasca, Minnesota, and took the opportunity to shoot the day’s races with a camera instead of a rifle.
While the youth and junior categories remained as competitive as ever, with not only the best Canadians vying for a trip to Minsk but several provinces also using the races as trials for the Canada Games and few Americans scattered in as well, the senior category lost the entries of Canada’s IBU Cup team, which departed for Europe that day. A strong field of Americans and remaining Canadians nonetheless battled it out.
Jacob Dalberg (National Guard Biathlon) and Mike Gibson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project).
Start of the men’s race.
Katrina Howe (Maine Winter Sports Center) bringing it in for second place in the women’s race.
Sasha Eccleston (Camrose Vikings).
Stuart Harden (Rocky Mountain Racers).
Maddie Phaneuf (Maine Winter Sports Center) and Leilani Tam Von Burg (Biathlon Alberta Training Center) off the line in the junior women’s race.
Jarod Algra (West Coast Nordics) leads the youth men’s field into the range for prone.
Women’s field.
Women’s podium: winner Clare Egan (Craftsbury Green Racing Project, center); 2nd place Katrina Howe (Maine Winter Sports Center, left); 3rd place Erin Yungblut (Biathlon Alberta Training Center).
Junior men’s field.
Teo Sanchez (Chelsea Nordic) leads Jason Lawton (Biathlon Ontario) and others into the range in the youth men’s race.
Emily Dickson (Caledonia Nordic Ski Club).
Junior men’s podium: winner Stuart Harden (Rocky Mountain Racers, center); 2nd place Matt Strum (Biathlon Alberta Training Center, right); and 3rd place Matt Hudec (Biathlon Alberta Training Center, left).
Siena Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing) leaving the range.
Jacob Dalberg (National Guard Biathlon).
Maddie Phaneuf (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon X Team).
The junior men’s field hits the range.
Charles Pépin of La Poursuite leaves the range during the youth men’s race. Photo: Jake Ellingson
Getting ready for customers.
Sean Doherty (USBA “X” Team) smiling after winning a NorAm mass start in Canmore, Alberta, earlier this season. Photo: Jake Ellingson.
Kesey Dickinson (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon Development Team).
Youth women on the shooting mats.
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Siena Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing).
Léo Grandbois (Biathlon Estrie) racing at the Canmore NorAm mass start in December 2014. (Photo: Jake Ellingson)
Men’s podium: race winner Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team, center); 2nd place Casey Smith (Maine Winter Sports Center, left); Guillaume Bertrand (Rocky Mountain Racers).
Youth men’s field on the range.
Brian Halligan (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon Development Team).
Clare Egan (Craftsbury Green Racing Project/US Biathlon X Team) takes a big lead to the finish line of the women’s race.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team).
The men’s field leaves the start.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team) leads Casey Smith (US Biathlon “B” Team/Maine Winter Sports Center) and Vincent Blais (ACBQ) onto the course.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team) before the start.
Youth men’s field.
Tadhg Nakada (National Guard Biathlon).
Casey Smith (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon “B” Team) in the penalty loop.
Patrick Johnson (Far West Elite Team/Auburn Ski Club) warming up.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team), Mike Gibson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project), and Max Durtschi (US Biathlon X Team) racing
Matt Neumann (Caledonia Nordic Ski Club).
Youth women’s podium: winner Bryn Robertson (Foothills Nordic, center); 2nd place Siena Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing, left); 3rd place Emily Dickson (Caledonia Nordic Ski Club).
Junior women’s podium: winner Maddie Phaneuf (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon X Team, center); 2nd place Leilani Tam Von Burg (Biathlon Alberta Training Center, right); 3rd place Alexandria Hynds (Chelsea Nordiq, left).
Paul Everett (Methow Valley Biathlon) and Jules Burnotte (Biathlon Estrie) in the penalty loop.
Maddie Phaneuf (Maine Winter Sports Center) leads Leilani Tam Von Burg (Biathlon Alberta Training Center) and the rest of the junior women’s field.
The junior men’s field before the start.
Elise Putnam (National Guard Biathlon).
Paul Everett (Methow Valley Biathlon, bib 3) and the rest of the youth men’s field about to start.
Guillaume Bertrand (Rocky Mountain Racers).
Mike Gibson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project).
Kelsey Dickinson (Maine Winter Sports Center/US Biathlon Development Team) heading for the finish.
Sean Doherty (US Biathlon X Team) bringing it home for the win in the men’s race.
Sarah Poisson-Grégoire of ACBQ leaves the range in the youth women’s race.
Ethan Dreissigacker (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) leads the men’s field into the range for the first prone.
Kristin Chicoine (Foothills Nordic) had the best race suit, by far.
Paul Everett (Methow Valley Biathlon) is the first to leave the range in the youth men’s race.
Start of the youth men’s race.
Max Durtschi, who attended last year’s tryout camp, racing in his U.S. biathlon duds at a NorAm competition in Canmore, Alberta, this winter. (Photo: Jakob Ellingson)
Men’s field ready to start.
Kelsey Dickinson representing the Maine Winter Sports Center at NorAms in Canmore in December, 2014.
The youth men heading into the range.
Melanie Schultz (Canmore Nordic).
Clare Egan (Craftsbury Green Racing Project/US Biathlon X Team).
Vincent Blais (ACBQ) in the men’s race.
Patrick Johnson (Far West Elite Team/Auburn Ski Club) in the men’s race.
Casey Smith (Maine Winter Sports Center) still on the shooting mat after most of the men’s field has left.
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