Anchorage, AK, December 31. Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) and Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) with victories in the Relay Sprint competitions gave the two athletes a sweep of the three days of competitions at the Youth/ Junior World Team Trials here.
With their wins, Roberts swept the Junior Men’s Division, while Boutot swept the Youth Women’s category. Roberts again overpowered the other junior men with a 22:29 victory over the 7.5K distance. Wayne McClure (Anchorage, AK) finished 3:05 back, while Travis Mann-Gow took third, 3:50 back.
Boutot also won by a sizable margin in the Youth Women’s 6K, topping Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) by 1:26, while Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME), finished 1:49 back.
Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) won for the second day in a row after barely missing the Sprint title. His 24:01 win put him 1:06 ahead of Ben Michaud (Fort Kent, ME). Preston Butler (Marion, MA) had a strong performance for the second day in a row to finish third, 1:16 back.
After the three days of competition, 10 athletes were named to the US team for the Youth/Junior World Championships, which start in Canmore Alberta, Canada on January 26.
Roberts and Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix), both pre-qualified and are the only Junior Men.
Boutot leads the strong Youth Women’s Team. Joining her are veterans Addie Byrne and Hilary McNamee.
Dreissigacker leads the Youth Men, all of whom competed last year in Ruhpolding, Germany. Nick Michaud, Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN), and Preston Butler join him in that category.
Although the team is a bit smaller than in some years, Coach Vladimir Cervenka anticipates some good performances. “We definitely will have good relay teams in the two youth categories and Leif and Wynn have been pointing for the Championships all year. Also, this is an easy trip for us, with no overseas travel, which is an advantage for both our team and the Canadians.”
Bednarski praised the Anchorage Organizing Committee. “The people here did a great job across the board, from food and accommodations to staging the races. Kincaid Park is a great venue, with super trails, a world-class shooting range, and simply a great place for a major event. The people here are eager to host other biathlon events and they have definitely shown they can handle it very professionally. Everyone who helped with our Trials deserves a big thank-you.”
Watch live results and streaming video of all competitions at www.biathlonworld.com.
The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo http://www.usbiathlon.org to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.
