ANCHORAGE, ALASKA–Cold temperatures and wind appear to be the calling card of a biathlon race this season. One week ago the biathletes raced in frigid conditions in Minnesota and today even with a noon time start to ensure enough daylight, athletes were covered head to toe to prevent frostbite. Despite the difficult conditions, the MWSC Biathletes came ready to race.
Contributed photo
Before sweeping the top four places, Fort Kent native Grace Boutot prepares to race, making sure she is fully protected from any potential frostbite.
Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) hit 7 of 10 targets to win the first race of the Youth World Championship trials and to lead a MWSC sweep of the top 4 places. Teammate Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) managed 3 hits per stage to finish 2nd, 33 seconds back of Boutot. With the top shooting of the day, Molly Susla took an early lead after cleaning her first shooting stage, but 2 misses in standing dropped her back just behind McNamee. Kaitlyn Bernard (Ft. Kent) like McNamee hit 6 of 10 targets to finish 4th. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) hit 6 of 10 to finish 6th and Jessica Caron (Ft. Kent) finished 8th with 4 penalties. “The shooting today wasn’t our best, but we were on par with the rest of the field,” commented MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander. “The cold and wind make it tough shooting conditions, but tomorrow we’re hoping to improve our shooting scores.”
In the Youth Men’s race Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) left the range after prone tied for 3rd. Skiing strong Michaud entered the range, but missed all 5 drooping him back to finish 7th in a time of 36:35. Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) won with 5 misses in a time of 34:20. In the Boys race, Sam Humphries (North Yarmouth) skied very strong winning in a time of 22:38.
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA–With temperatures hovering right around the legal racing limit of minus 4 degrees Farenheight racers took to the course in rapid succession in today’s Pursuit Format. Departing every 10 seconds each competitor could see at least one other racer the entire loop before entering the range making for some head to head shooting and eventually skiing.
In the Youth Women’s race Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) entered the range with teammate Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield), McNamee already eating up the 10 second differential. Boutot cleaned and quickly distanced herself from the field as other competitors entered the range and suffered penalties as well. Boutot wouldn’t suffer a miss until her first standing stage where she missed two and then one more in her final stage for a total of just 3 misses. McNamee missed just 1 target in her middle two stages, but 2 in her final stage relegated her to 3rd place behind Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) who tallied just 6 penalties on the day to finish 1 minute 37 seconds behind Boutot who won for the second time in a time of 33:24. Kaitlyn Bernard (Ft. Kent) struggled in two of her stages today, but finished with a clean shooting in her final shooting to claim 4th. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) like Bernard had two difficult and two strong stages leaving her in 6th followed by Jessica Caron (Ft. Kent) with 7 penalties in 7th.
Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) climbed up from 7th to finish 2nd in the Youth Men’s race. Missing 2 in his first stage Michaud moved up two spots and then into 3rd after a rough second stage for the top 6. Hitting 6 of his final 10 shots including a final stage duel against yesterday’s winner Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) where Michaud pulled into 2nd and held it all the way to the finish. Distancing himself early Ethan Dreissigacker ( Craftsbury, VT) hit 15 of 20 to claim his first victory of the trials series. Despite missing his start while trying to stay warm by keeping his warm up on as long as he could, Sam Humphries (North Yarmouth) won the Boys race for the second day in a row hitting 12 of 20 targets.
Tomorrow concludes the Youth and Junior Biathlon Trials with the Mass Start Relay Format competition. The US Biathlon Youth and Junior Teams will be announced at 8pm EST.
