FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minnesotans Compete at NorAm Biathlon Rollerski Championships

The first round of Olympic selection races for the US Biathlon took place at Camp Ethan Allen this weekend.  The US and  Canadian National teams, as well as  biathlon clubs from across US and Canada, came to test each other in two days of racing.  Most of the teams arrived on Monday, August 5th, for a week of training on Camp Ethan Allen's newly paved 5km roller loop/biathlon range.  World Cup stars like Jay Hakkinen and Canada's Jean-Phillip Le Guellec lived in the National Guard barracks along side junior  biathletes from Minnesota, Vermont, Maine, Ontario, and Quebec.    Junior teams from Lithuania and Sweden also came to spend the week training and racing with National team athletes.   All 120 athletes and coaches ate together at the biathlon range in the training camp arranged by the US Biathlon Association.   Athletes spent the week combining their ski training and shooting on the paved biathlon range.  

The Canadian National team coaches did not hide their enthusiasm for the excellent training in Jericho- "I have been to many roller ski facilities around the world, and this is the very best ",  exclaimed Jean Pacquet, Canadian National team coach.  "Its physically challenging, but still really fun to ski."   The Ethan Allen roller loop follows the homologated ski course, and features an number of long V1 climbs, as well as  technical descents. 

A large group of Minnesota and Wisconsin biathletes travelled to train and race in Jericho.  Coaches Vladimir Cervenka (US Junior Team/Mt Itasca) and Bill Meyer (Nisswa NW Biathlon) brought a group of 11 junior and senior athletes for the training camp.

Day One:  Sprint Competition (7.5km Women, 10km Men, two shooting stages)

In the Women's race, a relative newcomer to the US National Team took top honors.  Hannah Dreissigacker (US National Team/Craftsbury Green Team) topped a strong women's field, f/ollowed by Rossana Crawford (Biathlon Canada) and Susan Dunklee (US National Team/Craftsbury Green Team).  On the senior men's side, veteran World Cup racer Lowell Bailey ran away with the victory, finishing ahead of Brendan Green (Biathlon Canada) and Tim Burke (US National Team).  Minnesotans Wynn Roberts (National Guard) and Leif Nordgren placed 7th and 8th respectively.

Top Midwestern athletes included Jakob Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing) who placed 1st in the Jr Men's sprint, followed closely by Zean Baker (Nisswa NW Biathlon) in 2nd.  Anna Kubek (Mt Itasca Biathlon) raced in the senior category in order to start in the Olympic selection races, and finished 15th. 

Other notable Midwestern finishes: 

• Siena Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing)- 6th Youth Women
• Amanda Kautzer (Loppet Nordic Racing) - 3rd Girls
• Jacob Dahlberg (National Guard)- 6th Junior Men
• Vasek Cervenka (Mt Itasca)- 4th Boys

Day Two: Pursuit Competition (10km Women, 12.5km Men, four shooting stages)

The Pursuit is one of the most exciting biathlon formats as athletes start the race in the order they finished the previous days Sprint.  With a tightly spaced field and 4 shooting bouts the results can quickly turn upside down, and this race was no exception.  In the Senior Women's race, Rosanna Crawford (Biathlon Canada) moved up to 1st place after missing only 1 of 20 shots.  Despite missing 7 targets, Hannah Dreissigacker (US National Team/Craftsbury Green Team) retained 2nd place with good skiing and the good fortune of her pursuers having a tough time at the range.  Tracy Barnes (Twin Biathletes) moved up through the field from 11th place to take 3rd with 1 miss on the range.   Corrine Malcolm of Hayward, WI had an excellent shooting day a moved up several places to 15th place, with Anna Kubek (Mt Itasca) placing 16th.

Lowell Bailey (US National Team) extended his 1 minute lead from the sprint to 3:20 over Brenden Green (Biathlon Canada) and Tim Burke (US National Team).  The youngest member of the US National Team- Leif Nordgren of Marine on St Croix,  moved up to 4th place from his 8th place start.  Wynn Roberts (National Guard) of Battle Lake, MN, fell to 13th from 7th , and Bill Bowler of Wasau, WI, moved up 4 places to 14th.

In the Junior Men's category, Jakob Ellingson (Loppet Nordic Racing) and Zean Baker (Nisswa NW)  continued their battle from the Sprint day, finishing the Pursuit 1st and 2nd, only 1 second apart.  Jake Dahlberg (National Guard) moved up one spot to 5th, and Tyler Gustafson (Mt Itasca) placed 6th.

Other notable Midwestern finishers:

• Cam Christiansen (Nisswa NW)- 9th Youth Men
• Vasek Cervenka (Mt Itasca)- 3rd Boys

Several Minnesota junior athletes will spend the next week with Jr Team coach Vladimir Cervenka training at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center with Swedish Junior National Team.  US Juniors will go to Sweden in November for early on-snow training as part of a International Biathlon Union athletes exchange.

The Olympic selection process for the US Team will continue with two roller ski races in October at Soldier Hollow, Utah.

Complete results for the North American Rollerski Biathlon Championships can be found at www.eabiathlon.org

After the race (LNR and Alaska Girls)- from Left to right : Hanne Guthrie, Amanda Kautzer, Siena Ellingson, Jade Woods (Anchorage Biathlon) 

[Photos: Julie Kautzer]