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Tag: tryout camp

  • U.S. Biathlon to Host Tryout Camp, Following Last Season’s Success

    U.S. Biathlon to Host Tryout Camp, Following Last Season’s Success

    The faces of the 2014 U.S. Biathlon Talent ID Recruiting Camp together on Whiteface Mountain after completing a 2.5 k Uphill Run Test named after Tim Burke (not pictured), who mapped the course. From left to right: (back row) Paul Schommer, Casey Shannon, Paul Everett, Luke Brown, Patrick Johnson, Max Durtschi, (front) Elizabeth Izzo, Greta Anderson, Erika Flowers, Kelsey Dickinson, and Elizabeth Guiney. USBA is hosting another camp in June.
    The faces of the 2014 U.S. Biathlon Talent ID Recruiting Camp together on Whiteface Mountain after completing a 2.5 k Uphill Run Test named after Tim Burke (not pictured), who mapped the course. From left to right: (back row) Paul Schommer, Casey Shannon, Paul Everett, Luke Brown, Patrick Johnson, Max Durtschi, (front) Elizabeth Izzo, Greta Anderson, Erika Flowers, Kelsey Dickinson, and Elizabeth Guiney. USBA is hosting another camp in June.

    For the second consecutive year, the U.S. Biathlon Association is hosting a tryout camp this summer in Lake Placid, New York.

    The camp is intended for elite cross-country skiers with either no experience in biathlon, or very little. Last year, the first time USBA had hosted such an event in years, included several athletes who went on to represent the U.S. in international competition this winter, and some who also earned 2015-2016 National Team nods.

    As was the case last year, the camp will allow athletes to get an introduction to shooting; to spend some time training and chatting with current top National Team members; and to complete some rigorous physical testing, like an uphill running time trial at Whiteface Mountain.

    Last year’s camp roster included several athletes, like Paul Everett and Kelsey Dickinson, who had competed at the previous year’s World Youth and Junior Championships. Dickinson was named to the National Development Group mid-autumn, and Everett joined her in competing again at World Youth and Junior Championships and at Open European Championships. Everett was named to the National Development Group for the 2015-2016 season last week.

    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)
    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)

    But the camp also included senior athletes with no history in the sport. The inaugural Tim Burke Uphill Run Test was won last year by Erika Flowers of the Stratton Mountain School and Max Durtschi, a former professional cyclist who grew up skiing in Sun Valley and was attending Dartmouth College.

    Flowers didn’t end up focusing on biathlon last season, but Durtschi went on to represent the U.S. at IBU Cup competitions in Canmore, Alberta. So did Patrick Johnson, another camp alum who has taken up biathlon full-time out of the Auburn Ski Club in California. Johnson recently won two national titles in his new sport, and both he and Durtschi were named to USBA’s 2015-2016 “X” team.

    What’s the difference between the “X” team and the Development Group?

    “The X Team is the ‘A’ team of the Development side, and the Development Group is the ‘B’ team,” USBA Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler explained last year. “X team gives you a resident bed in Lake Placid and other benefits, but this season we want to really work very intensively with both teams to give them most time possible with biathlon training. So also the Development Group got a good amount of camp days in Lake Placid and/or Utah, so all the athletes have a good chance to develop as quickly and as far as possible in a short amount of time.”

    Patrick Johnson of the Auburn Ski Club won two 2015 National Championships titles on home turf in Truckee, California. (Photo: Mark Nadell/Macbeth Graphics)
    Patrick Johnson of the Auburn Ski Club won two 2015 National Championships titles on home turf in Truckee, California. (Photo: Mark Nadell/Macbeth Graphics)

    With the 2015 season complete, the message is clear that being identified as a good prospect at the tryout camp can lead to international race starts, and potentially a national team nomination. And USBA seems to want to attract more athletes like those it found last year.

     

    Press release with link to application form

    US Biathlon Talent Identification Camp
    Olympic Training Center
    Lake Placid, New York

    Dates:
    Arrival: June 20th or 21st – camp starts on Sunday June 21st at 7:00 PM
    Departure: June 25th – camp ends June 25th at 10:00 AM

    Camp Activities:
    US Biathlon is looking for talented endurance athletes who are interested in becoming world-class competitors.  The talent identification camp will help us evaluate your stage in this journey.
    –        Physical tests, e.g. uphill run, 30 meter test
    –        Strength tests and flexibility screening
    –        Roller ski technique training with World Cup athletes Lowell Bailey, Susan Dunklee, Tim Burke, and   Olympic Champion Andrea Henkel Burke
    –        Shooting drills and precision test
    –        Question and answer sessions with World Cup athletes Lowell Bailey, Susan Dunklee, Tim Burke, and   Olympic Champion Andrea Henkel Burke
    –        Final running Biathlon competition running at the Olympic Biathlon venue Mt van Hoevenberg

    Needed material:
    –        Gear for indoor and outdoor sport
    –        Gym shoes
    –        Running shoes
    –        Roller skis, ski boots, poles
    –        Writing material

    Applications: please fill out the attached application form and email it to US Biathlon Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler by May 5th: b_eisenbichler@yahoo.de

    Invitations: will go out latest by May 15th

    Travel: Applicants are responsible for their own travel.  Those arriving by air should plan to arrive in Albany, NY.

    Housing & Meals: The camp will take place at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY.  Meals and lodging will be provided there free of charge.

  • ‘I Want to Be a U.S. Biathlete Because…’ (Video)

    ‘I Want to Be a U.S. Biathlete Because…’ (Video)

    LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Imagine taking your first shots on a biathlon range one week and being named to a national development, or even better, an ‘X’ squad a couple months later.

    That’s the reality that a select few out of 11 at the U.S. Biathlon Association (USBA) Talent ID and Recruiting Camp (held June 23-26) could face when the USBA staff makes its picks in the next few weeks. Make the next round and be invited to a Talent Group Camp back in the same place, Lake Placid and its Olympic Training Center facilities, in late August and find your fit within the team.

    In April, USBA named three juniors to its X team: Anna Kubek, Maddie Phaneuf and Sean Doherty. Kubek opted for college, but Phaneuf and Doherty, along with anyone else named to what’s expected to be a small squad, earn residency in Lake Placid and training-camp days with national-team coaches. New development coach Jean Paquet, who will move to Lake Placid and start in earnest in August, will head up this team along with the national development group, which already includes Clare Egan and Brian Halligan. Development group skiers will be invited to training camps, where they’ll also receive coaching support.

    The difference between the two development tiers generally boils down to experience and proven results.

    “The X team, we’re looking for athletes out of two categories,” said USBA Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler, who made the trip over from Germany to oversee the tryout camp. “The first one is our young juniors or youth athletes who have proved through excellent results at Youth or Junior World Championships, we’re looking for probably top-eight result there, like Sean had and Maddie had … and then we also look to find excellent cross-country skiers that are willing and want to change over to biathlon. If we find someone who has a good handle on the rifle and wants to go that route we have the chance to … name them to this X team.”

    The development group could either be someone who achieved a top 20 at Youth or Junior World Championships, or “a really good cross-country skier that wants to change to biathlon or has big progress in biathlon already,” Eisenbichler said.

    “The whole idea was to not cut on the junior level in America for biathletes so we’re still supporting them in these different two teams, but to really open it up for these cross-country athletes that are willing and have potential to do biathlon on a high level. … What we’re looking for here is athletes we can work for the future with.”