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Hello Biathlon Fans! . . . . . Download the PDF race announcement for RACE #4 and #5 February 24 and 25 . . . . Washington Biathlon Association held races #2 & #3 of the Washington Cup series at Stevens Pass Nordic Center last weekend under sunny skies and cool temperatures. Turnout was good, with some fast new skiers getting their first or second races in. Skiing conditions were great, as was the range, thanks to the efforts of SPNC's manager Mike Power and Nick Whitman, their fabulous groomer. (Thank you guys!) In the Senior Women's division, Sibylle Wilbert won with some fast skiing in 38:22, followed by Arminda Phillips 1:38 back at 39:50. Marie Garrett's shooting contributed to a 3rd place finish at 45:39, and Mandie Majerus was 4th at 46:58. Robin Pederson skied fast, but took a wrong turn and wound up with a DNF as a result. Ahh well, chalk one up to experience! The Senior Men's division heated up quickly with some fast new guys. Doug Reid and Sean Kato gave veteran Aaron Scott a run for his money, but Aaron is pretty quick on the skis. He won the Sprint in 32:46, with Reid just :51 back in 2nd at 33:37, and Kato another :18 back in 3rd at 33:55. Veterans Dave Anana (34:58), Steve Eastwood (36:14), and Jay Bender (36:55) were 4th, 5th, and 6th... the usual dogfight between Eastwood and Bender setting up for the Pursuit on Sunday. Mike Hoffner was 7th (37:20), Dave Shaw 8th (37:28, Jonathan Sirois 9th (38:12), Max Limb 10th (38:27, Corey Hoeger in his first winter race in 11th (47:49) and Dan Cole 12th (59:42). We are finally getting some younger biathletes out to compete, with one each in Youth Girls, Jr. Women, and Jr. Men. Newcomer Ellen Terry is fast on skis and promising in the Jr. Women's division. Chris Fletcher, the lone Jr. Male is becoming a skilled biathlete, skiing faster all the time and outshooting many of the Senior Men. His times would always have him in the mix in the Sr. Men's race, so we keep bugging him to "Ski up"! Eight year old Isabelle Anana showed her dominance on the range with the best shooting numbers of the day - 0 & 1. Sunday's Pursuit saw Arminda Phillips take time out of Sprint leader Sibylle Wilbert with four fewer missed targets, but it was not enough to get by her in the end. Wilbert remained on top, Phillips 2nd, Mandie Majerus 3rd and Marie Garrett in 4th. Finish order remained the same for the top spots among the men, with Aaron Scott building on his lead to finish over 5 minutes ahead of 2nd place, aided by some great shooting. Jay Bender and Dave Shaw each moved up a few places, past Steve Eastwood who had sight problems and enjoyed the pleasure of all 20 penalty loops. Newcomers James Dahl and Rob Dilling moved up from the back of the pack, having not skied the Sprint the day before, to finish in 8th and 10th respectively. Jr. competitors remained unchallenged in their age groups. 11 yr. old Alexander Pavlinovic competed in his first winter biathlon, hitting 10 out of 20.... great for a first winter race! Isabelle Anana, once again, showed the rest of us how to hit targets, getting 19 of 20. For full results please go to RESULTS Aaron Scott is in 1st place in the Washington Cup points list, Dave Anana 2nd and Jay Bender 3rd. Points List You can also see photos at www.wabiathlon.org Also check out Stephen Rusk's great photos from Saturday at Flickr.com Thanks Stephen! Kudos to all those involved for the fantastic efforts, both with set-up Saturday Morning, and break-down Sunday afternoon. The entire range was broken down and packed in the container in under 1/2 hour! Incredible! Afterwards all returned to the SPNC lodge for awards and our biggest and best prize raffle ever. Thanks to all our generous sponsors (see logos at right). You are the greatest! We gave away a Stone Grind from Nordic Ultratune ($100 value!) and a Swix Wax Iron, courtesy Mike and Stevens Pass Nordic Center ($120 value), and numerous other great prizes from Toko, Leavenworth Mountain Sports, Der Sportsmann, Mt. Stuart Physical Therapy, and even a $20 gift card at the 59er Diner! We will have another great prize raffle on Sunday at the Feb. 24-25 races, with additional prizes in the mix from Altius Handcrafted Firearms. This just in from member Brian Gill...MT Guns just received a shipment of Ihzmash biathlon rifles. www.mtguns.com You can also visit Marc Sheppard's shop - Altius - to see what he has in stock. www.altiusguns.com There are also used rifles on the www.minnesotabiathlon.com and www.coloradobiathlon.org classified pages. Biathlon World Championships in Antholz, Italy begin tomorrow! SCHEDULE Check out streaming webcasts of the races at www.wcsn.com Also in some areas on FOX. Read what Chad Salmela, former World Cup Biathlete, now TV commentator, has to say about TV Coverage HERE |
