FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Gary Colliander
Minnesota Biathlon
Community Olympic Development Program
[email protected]

March 9, 2002

 

North American Biathlon Championships/U.S. Biathlon Championships
Day 2

Ft. Kent, Maine - Three inches of snow fell throughout the night creating softer conditions for the athletes competing in today's Pursuit competition. Athlete's time back from Thursday's race were cut in half creating the start times for today. In the Sr. Women's race, 2002 Olympic Team member Rachel Steer of Anchorage, AK only missed one target in her first shooting to claim her first National Championship of the week. Steer started the race today in 2nd and didn't waste time as she caught and passed Thursday's winner Ekaterina Ivanova. Ivanova struggled from the beginning missing 4 of 5 in her first shooting stage. Finishing in 3rd place just 17 seconds behind Ivanova was Kara Salmela of Duluth, MN. Salmela was also a member of the 2002 Olympic Team and began today's race in 4th.

Marie-Peirre Parent of Quebec won her 2nd North American Championship title today in the Jr. Women's category. Parent missed only 3 targets as she pulled away from her competitors. Jenny Ester of Stillwater, MN finished in 2nd with 6 penalties and Julie Warneke of Elk River, MN was 3rd with 9 penalties.

Emila Dermarchis of Burlington, VT put together a solid race with strong skiing and near perfect shooting on her way to her first National Championship. Demarchis began today in 2nd and hit 17 of 20 targets to overtake Thursday's winner Annelies Cook. Cook struggled in the range after her first shooting, hitting only 2 targets in each of her final three stages. Antonia Slaughter of Maple Plane, MN hit 9 of her first 10 targets and took the lead going into the 3rd shooting stage. Slaughter, Cook and Demarchis shot together, but Demarchis would leave in 1st this time and wouldn't look back as she skied to victory. Both Cook and Slaughter remained on the podium finishing in 2nd and 3rd. Michele Morin of Quebec won her 2nd North American Championship in the Girls category and Shannon Meehan of New York finished in 2nd.

In the Sr. Men's race, Tim Burke of Paul Smith's, NY had clean shooting through his first two stages and only missed three in his final two, as he won his 2nd National Championship title in just as many races. Burke is a member of the U.S. Jr. National Team, but has thus far showed that he is ready to compete at the higher level. Steve Lapierre of Quebec also hit 17 of 20 targets and moved up from 5th to 2nd. Entering the final shooting stage in 7th place, 2002 Olympian Dan Campbell of Hastings, MN shot clean and left chasing 3-time Olympian Curtis Schreiner of Day, NY and Jacob Beste of Minneapolis, MN. Campbell caught and passed both Schreiner and Beste on the trail to finish in 3rd place.

Local favorite Walt Shepard of Yarmouth, ME turned in a strong performance winning by almost two minutes. Shepard who trains at the Maine Winter Sports Center in Ft. Kent hit 15 of 20 targets as he won his 1st National Championship of the week. Thursday's winner Dominic Villeneuve of Quebec placed 2nd with 6 penalties and Anders Osthus of Duluth, MN finished 3rd with 7 penalties. Osthus began the day in 4th and used strong shooting in the beginning to move up to 3rd.

Kevin Patzoldt of Grand Rapids, MN led a Minnesota Biathlon sweep of the first 6 places, as he won his 2nd National Championship of the week. Patzoldt had only 4 mistakes in the range, finishing ahead of training partner Ben Byrne of Bovey, MN. Byrne had one less penalty in his first shooting stage, which allowed him to catch up to Patzoldt, but 4 penalties in his second shooting were no match to Patzoldt's clean shooting. Kurt Farchmin rounded out the top 3 with 7 penalties. Kai Salmela of Duluth, MN was today's big mover, Salmela missed only 4 targets and moved from 9th up to 5th place.

Real Tetrault of Canmore moved up from 6th to win his first North American Championship title in the Boys category. Tetrault had a fast time on the track and missed only 4 shots. Marc Andre Bedard of Quebec spent the majority of the race battling with Mark Johnson of Grand Rapids, MN. Johnson hit 9 of his first 10 shots, which moved him up in the field into a race for 2nd place with Bedard. Bedard proved to be the stronger skier by beating Johnson by 18 seconds; both shot the same in the final two shooting stages.

Women's 10k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Rachel Steer U.S. Nat'l Team Anchorage, AK       1 0 0 0 30:47 
2   Ekaterina Ivanova Nat'l Guard Vermont        4 0 1 1 31:42 
3   Kara Salmela U.S. Nat'l Team Duluth, MN        1 1 1 1 31:59 
4   Kristina Sabastianksi U.S. Nat'l Team Heber City, UT       0 0 2 1 33:40 
5   Debbie Nordyke Nat'l Guard Heber City, UT       2 2 2 1 35:43 
6   BethAnn Ellingson MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN  0 2 1 1 37:08 
7   Carolyn Treacy MN Biathlon Duluth, MN         1 2 3 2 40:26 
8   Diana Tremblay Biathlon Quebec Quebec, Canada       1 1 1 2 42:27 
9   Sarah Riley USOEC Proctor, MN         5 5 3 2 42:50 
10 Lindsay Cox USOEC Burlington, VY         1 2 0 2 43:57 

Jr. Women's 10k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Marie-Pierre Parent Courcelette Quebec, Canada      1 1 0 1 35:34 
2   Jenny Ester MN Biathlon Stillwater, MN       1 0 2 3     42:18 
3   Julie Warneke MN Biathlon Elk River, MN        2 3 2 2 45:30 
4   Vicky Whaley New Brunswick        1 2 3 3 48:16 
5   Kate Durda EARCE Burlington, VT        3 2 5 4 49:32 






Youth Women's 7.5k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Emilia Dermarchis EARCE Burlington, VT        1 0 1 1 27:16 
2   Annelies Cook NYSSEF Saranac Lake, NY    1 3 3 3 28:56 
3   Antonia Slaughter MN Biathlon Maple Plane, MN    1 0 4 3 29:41 
4   Brit Salmela MN Biathlon Duluth, MN         2 0 2 2 31:41 
5   Kelsy Bouchard MWSC Ft. Kent, ME         0 1 2 3 31:48 
6   Cayley Baird MN Biathlon Stilwater, MN         2 2 2 4 33:05 
7   Syverine Abrahamson MN Biathlon Homer, AK         2 3 4 0 33:20 
8   Jessie Jaques Canmore 2010 Canmore, Canada     3 1 2 3 35:38 
9   Brynden Manbeck MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN   1 0 5 5 37:18 
10 Nicky Pacas Biathlon Quebec Quebec, Canada        2 4 3 3 39:45 

Sr. Men 12.5k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Tim Burke U.S. Jr. Nat'l Team Paul Smith's, NY    0 0 2 1 37:25 
2   Steve Lapierre Canada Military Quebec, Canada       1 1 0 1 39:08 
3   Dan Campbell U.S. Nat'l Team Hastings, MN         1 3 3 0 39:26 
4   Jacob Beste Nat'l Guard Minneapolis, MN     1 2 2 3 39:36 
4   Curtis Schreiner Nat'l Guard Day, NY          3 2 1 0 39:36 
6   Jesse Downs USOEC Marquette, MI          0 1 4 4   40:00 
7   Lowell Bailey U.S. Nat'l Team Lake Placid, NY        2 2 2 2 40:18 
8   Sergei Vinagradov Nat'l Gueard Jericho, VT          3 0 3 2 41:05 
9   Rob Rosser WCAP Heber City, UT        0 2 2 2 42:26 
10 Patrice Cote Canada Military Quebec, Canada        2 2 1 1 42:26 

Jr. Men 12.5k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1  Walt Shepard U.S. Jr. Nat'l Team     Yarmouth, ME        2 0 1 2 38:45 
2  Dominic Villenueve Corcelette Quebec, Canada      1 0 3 2     40:35 
3  Anders Osthus U.S. Jr. Nat'l Team     Duluth, MN            1 0 3 3    41:24 
4   Brian Olsen MN Biathlon Bloomington, MN   0 1 1 3 42:21 
5   Steve Scott MN Biathlon            St. Paul, MN        3 1 2 2 42:51 
6   Lars Gaalaas MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN 0 1 0 2 43:59 
7   Chris Gadacz MN Biathlon Elk River, MN         1 0 2 4 47:05 
8   Kevin Tremblay Biathlon Quebec Quebec, Canada      1 2 3 4 48:08 
9   Jeff Alden MWSC Caribou, ME        1 1 3 1 48:11 
10 Tom Secord MN Biathlon New Brighton, MN 3 4 4 2 51:28 
12 Ross Roetman MN Biathlon Bemidji, MN         2 1 2 5 53:34 







Youth Men 10k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Kevin Patzoldt MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN  2 0 1 1 32:19 
2   Ben Byrne MN Biathlon Bovey, MN         1 4 2 1 34:26 
3  Kurt Farchmin MN Biathlon Duluth, MN         1 1 3 2 35:12 
4   Bjorn Bakken MN Biathlon Duluth, MN         1 0 4 2 35:40 
5   Kai Salmela MN Biathlon Duluth, MN         1 0 2 1 36:43 
6   Nathan Erlandson MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN  1 1 3 3 37:45 
7   Francois Leboeuf Courcelette Quebec, Canada       1 2 2 4 37:52 
8   Blake Sherwood MWSC Ft. Kent, ME         2 3 1 3 39:50 
9   Tyler Gerling MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN  1 1 4 2 40:32 
10 Antoine Richard Biathlon Quebec Quebec, Canada       3 4 4 2 41:16 
14 Aaron Nistler MN Biathlon Bemidji, MN         5 2 3 4 45:10 

Boys 7.5k Pursuit 
Name      Team    Hometown        Penalty    Time 
1   Real Tetrault Canmore 2010 Canmore, Canada    0 1 1 2 27:14 
2   Marc Andre Beddard Courcelette Quebec, Canada       2 2 3 2 27:44 
3   Mark Johnson MN Biathlon Grand Rapids, MN  1 0 3 2 28:02 
4   Nathan Smith Canmore 2010 Canmore, Canada     3 2 3 2 29:31 
5   Maxime Leboeuf Courcelette Quebec, Canada       1 2 3 5 29:36 
6   Colin Robb Canmore 2010 Canmore, Canada     2 3 2 5 30:44 
7   Pier Desilets Courcelette Quebec, Canada       2 1 2 2 31:06 
8   Russel Currier MWSC Ft. Kent, ME         3 3 2 4 31:37 
9   Patrick Mottard Courcelette Quebec, Canada       0 2 5 1 31:37 
10 Ian VanStraten MN Biathlon      Duluth, MN        3 2 4 4 33:06 
11 Brandon Ostroot MN Biathlon        Columbia Heights, MN 4 5 1 4 33:45 
13 Wynn Roberts MN Biathlon Battle Lake, MN     3 5 3 4 35:57 


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