Colorado biathlete Joanne Reid will join Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan to make up the U.S. women's World Cup team for the first period of racing. Meanwhile, Russell Currier (Outdoor Sports Institute) and Paul Schommer (USBA) are short-listed for the men's squad and will join a national team training camp in Canmore, Alberta, before one is ultimately selected.
The "Jacked Up Old Man" won his third Climb to the Castle up Whiteface Mountain on the race's 10th anniversary, edging Russell Currier by eight seconds, and a 17-year-old CSU skier held off her twin sister and an SMS junior in the women's race.
This week's workout comes from the eastern edge of the U.S. in Fort Kent, Maine. With plenty of snow ski on, the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon program completed a head-to-head shooting workout that can be adapted to a non-shooting interval workout for cross-country skiers.
While TSS can stand for a lot of things in a training plan (i.e. Top Secret Strength, Totally Stupid Strength), the bottom line is it's an uphill workout that reinforces good ski technique and power. All you need is a short, steep hill.
After the second set of US Biathlon trials in Jericho, Vt., three athletes have been selected to join five others at the national team's upcoming camp in Utah, preceding the World Cup team naming later this fall.
The second set of trials for US Biathlon's World Cup team takes place this weekend in Jericho, Vt., with sprints both Saturday and Sunday. Three women are in the mix for two openings for IBU World Cups 1, 2 and 3, and several men are competing for one remaining men's spot.
Note: Two photo captions in this article have been corrected to identify Sun Valley's Rogan Brown as the men's race leader around mile four.
Russell Currier, Kelsey Dickinson, and Brian Halligan admit that they didn't have great results this season - so they understand why they weren't re-named to U.S. Biathlon Association training groups. But along with Casey Smith, who was also cut from the 'B' team, they have few options to improve their results and get back now that Maine Winter Sports Center is defunding travel and competition for senior athletes.
Earlier this month came the news that Will Sweetser was parting ways with the Maine Winter Sports Center and leaving his post as competitive sports director. Meanwhile, the MWSC is restructuring its Olympic Development Team, which means less money for top-tier athletes and more toward the junior and postgrad programs.
With a goal of a top eight on Saturday, the Canadians did two places better to tie a team-best sixth in the IBU World Cup men's relay in Hochfilzen, Austria. Russia won it by 20 seconds over France, and Norway was another 7.7 seconds back in third.
Tim Burke put it all on the line and missed a single target -- his last one -- for 13th in Friday's 10 k sprint on the first day of the Hochfilzen IBU World Cup. Also for the U.S., Lowell Bailey shot clean for 17th.
U.S. Biathlon, unlike some national teams, doesn't select its World Cup team each spring. Certain team members prequalify, but there were at least two spots up for grabs at the four-race rollerski trials held in August and October in Jericho, Vt. The final team was announced Tuesday, one month before the season starts in Sweden. (Updated)
“You know we do other workouts,” Tim Burke says with a laugh more than halfway up the 4,867-foot Whiteface Mountain. Minutes before, the U.S. biathlete completed Tuesday's big effort in 13 minutes, 21 seconds, finishing about 1,300 feet higher than he started for a new record in the hill climb named after him.
Saturday's Climb to the Castle was a success for both organizers and participants. Despite strong winds, the weather held and skiers were able to ski a challenging 5-mile climb on roads that had been paved just the day before. Take a look at our photo gallery to see the race for yourself.
Liz Stephen is a force to reckon with - even when she’s off her game. Both she and Tim Burke repeated their 2013 performances in windy conditions at NYSEF's 2014 Climb to the Castle.
Lowell Bailey went 2 for 2 on the weekend in Jericho, and two different U.S. women edged Canada's Rosanna Crawford for victories at the North American Rollerski Championships at the Ethan Allen Firing Range.
Last year, Casey Smith transitioned away from school at Montana State University and into full-time training at the Maine Winter Sports Center. His first season as a senior biathlete reaped big rewards: an appearance at Olympic Trials, podiums at the Czech Cup, and a top-30 finish at Open European Championships. As recognition, Smith earned a "B" team nomination.
Brendan Green led the Canadians in 21st with his best Olympic result on Thursday, and if he hadn't had two penalties in the 20 k individual, he would've been even closer. His teammates, Nathan Smith and JP Le Guellec placed 25th and 35th, respectively, and Tim Burke placed 44th with four penalties.
For most, the Olympic experience goes much deeper than results, and that couldn't have been more true for several North Americans competing at the highest stage of their sport for the first time on Saturday. U.S. cross-country skier Jessie Diggins emerged in eighth and Canadian biathlete Nathan Smith tallied 13th to highlight the day.
This weekend Russell Currier hit the biathlon World Cup for the first time this season, and was happy with his performances heading into the Olympics: in the sprint he finished 60th, using the 17th-best ski time of the day to make up for a bevy of penalties, and then he improved his shooting in the next day's pursuit.