Maine Winter Sports Center

Heading West

The Maine Winter Sports Center's Biathlon Team heads to Utah for three weeks of training. The Team will train primarily at Soldier Hollow, the venue for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Joining the MWSC Biathlon Team will be both the U.S. Men's and Women's National Teams.

Training
Both Men's and Women's Teams will train alongside the very best biathletes in the U.S. Taking advantage of the high altitude and beautiful surroundings, the camp will be both challenging as well as a psychological boost. "The athletes have trained well while at home over the past six weeks", stated Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander. "They're really ready for this trip, to get out west, to be in a different environment, and see where they stack up with the others."

Racing
During the camp the athletes will take part in two rollerski races. For the women these races are just an indicator to see how they rank amongst each other. For the men however, these races will finalize the December World Cup Team which has one spot still up for grabs.

MWSC Biathletes attending:
BethAnn Chamberlain - Caribou
Andrea Mayo - Soldier Pond
Grace Boutot - Ft. Kent
Bill Bowler - Wausau, WI
Eliot Neal - Wilson, WY
Russell Currier - Stockholm
Walt Shepard - Yarmouth

Stay updated by visiting www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com

The Maine Winter Sports Center is hosting the 2nd Annual Harvest Classic on Sunday, September 20th in Caribou, ME. The Harvest Classic is a bicycle race and tour that is open to all abilities and ages.

The tour is a 20 mile loop around the roads of Caribou and surrounding towns. The tour is open to all abilities and will not be timed. Riders are welcome to take all the time they need to complete the tour. The race is 2 laps for a total of 40 miles. Prizes are awarded to the top riders in the race. The loop starts at the Caribou High School parking lot and passes through the towns of Carson, Perham and Woodland. The loop is on back roads with very light traffic. Start time for the race and tour is 9:00AM with a pre-event meeting for all riders 10 minutes prior.

Registration opens at 7:30AM at the Caribou High School parking lot. Cost is $12 or $10 with the donation of a pair of running shoes to the MWSC shoe recycling program. Parking is available at the start.

The race and tour is once again a fundraising event for the Northern Skiers Club of Caribou. All proceeds from the race and tour go to the Northern Skiers Club.

For more information please contact David Chamberlain at 207-540-3866 or davidc@mainewsc.org.

330 Presque Isle Road, Fort Fairfield, ME 04742

Don Gallagher Farm 88 acres - link to Real Estate Listing
The Gallagher property is a perfect spot for anyone looking to start a bed and breakfast, catering to skiers and mountain bikers and trails runners. The property abuts the World-Class Nordic Heritage Center's trail system to the west and also offers beautiful views to the east. The Nordic Heritage Center - considered one of the top 5 nordic skiing venues in the world - has hosted to the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships and multiple US National Cross Country Ski Championships. It is also scheduled to host the 2010 Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships. The Center also has over 20 miles of IMBA designed single track mountain bike trails.

Consists of approx 18 acres grassland
57 acres of woodland/woodlot (which includes Nordic Heritage Center Ski trails and bike trails.)
1 Butler Farm building with small livestock stable
1 shop building w/ many farm tools including:
2 tractors
Massy Ferguson 180 Diesel, and Massy Ferguson 65 gasoline
tractor implements include:
snowblower and snowplow
2 mowers
1 disc harrow
20 acres of this land is presently in the federal Conservation Reserve Program.
Farm house with garage for sale with or without farm property
This property is listed with Remax. Norman Grant agent.
Remax has listed house and farm for $150,000

Linda M. Page, 69, of Limestone, a longtime friend and supporter of the Maine Winter Sports Center, passed away Friday, Aug. 14, 2009.
Linda was a civic-minded role model, skiing competitively on the local Aroostook Cup circuit and in Masters World Cup events. She was also involved in many civic organizations, including serving on the Boards of Directors of the Nordic Heritage Sport Club, and the Limestone Ski Club. Linda also loved traveling and square dancing with her husband of 50 years, Norman Page. Donations in Linda's memory may be made to the St. Louis Church Building Fund or the Robert Frost Memorial Library. Friends may express their condolences to the family at www.lancastermorgan.com.

UMFK to Host 5k
Fort Kent, Maine - The University of Maine at Fort Kent Athletic Department will run a 5K race on Saturday September 19th as part of the "Come to Campus" and "Scarecrow Festival" weekend events in Fort Kent. The race will be open to all age groups and race time is set for 10am. Race-day registration and number pick-up will begin at 9am at the UMFK Sports Center and the first 30 people to register will receive a race t-shirt. The fee for the race will be $10 with proceeds to benefit the UMFK Athletic Department. Racers will compete in four different age groupings, under age 18, age 18 through 29, age 30 through 44, and age 45 and up.

For registration information contact Eric Werntgen in the UMFK Athletic Department at 834-7828 or visit www.umfk.maine.edu/athletics/ to fill out an on-line registration form.

Linda and Norm Page of the Maine Winter Sports Center

Linda and Norm Page in Italy 2006

In Memory of Linda Page

When I was seven, I hiked down into the Grand Canyon with my family. When we reached the Colorado River, we ran into a group of rafters. Heading up the group was not the ubiquitous burly bearded young man, but a woman well into her 60s. She was wearing a leopard-print wetsuit and expertly maneuvering her raft thorough the raging water with a massive smile on her face. This image has continually inspired me over the past 20 years. It has been a reminder to me to enjoy life and follow my passion, regardless of what is stacked against me.

Ever since then, I have been lucky to know many incredible women who have been similarly inspiring. Some I am lucky to call friends, and they have made a huge impact on my life and on the lives of all who come into contact with them. I am so thankful that Linda Page was one of these women. Whether an Aroostook Cup race, taking local youth out to ski, a trip to the Birkie, or a women's clinic, Linda always showed up with a smile on her face and ready to partake in whatever adventure lay ahead. Linda played an important role in getting many young kids on skis, and constantly reminded the rest of us to enjoy every aspect of life. Both she and her husband Norman loved each other and life so fully, it was impossible not to get taken in by their enthusiasm.

Linda, you will always be remembered for your wonderful smile, love of life and willingness to share that love with others. You will be missed but your legacy will continue to enrich many lives for years to come. Thank you.

Linda at World Masters Italy 2006

I once had a job in a little place called Northern Maine. My family and I moved up there to help start a new organization called Maine Winter Sports Center. Driving up to this far away corner on the map we had no idea what was in store for us.

The rest is history, a wonderful place with an amazing job and the opportunity to meet and work with even more amazing people.

I was blessed to have such amazing folks to work with and for everyday, and am blessed everyday to be able to call them all friends.

Being an upstart program we didn't always know what we were going to do or who we would be doing it for or with. Fortunately we had some very enthusiastic locals.

One couple helped us all do our jobs with a hug and a smile no matter what we were up to. Norm and Linda Page were with us in the rain, sun, snow, locally, nationally, and internationally. If we ever had a question about what we were doing, all we had to do was look up and see Norm and Linda driving up in their truck and we knew exactly what we were doing.

Over the past few days, weeks, months, I have had so many great thoughts of Linda as I tried to help her fight cancer. I have so many memories of Linda I would like to share a couple.

The first day we skied together was in the howling wind in Caribou at the track. Linda was a person that had a pair of skis, just kind of getting around. Not the amazing skier that traveled all over the county and world skiing with grace and glide.

I remember so many days doing dry land training in Caribou, Presque Isle, and Fort Kent in the middle of a hard workout with everyone sweating, breathing and bent over and looking over and seeing Linda smiling. Yes, they drove to all the venues for practice more often then not. The memory only made better by Captain Canada ( Sarah Peters ) leading the painfest, and Linda smiling even bigger because of Sarah's presence.

A little list ; Skiing in the sun, running in the rain, skiing 24 hours in the rain, skiing 24 hours under clear skies and stars, teaching kids with Norm/Linda/John Farra in Limestone, having potlucks in the Limestone cabin in the woods, seeing a World Cup in Oslo, seeing Viking ships, skiing the Gaspe, crust skiing through the woods of the Page farm, drinking Grapa in Italy, skiing the Birkie, working on the Paralympic World Championships, skiing a ton of Aroostook Cup races, skiing around in the woods in Ashland at the Sam Ouellette, watching the World Cup in Fort Kent from a bar in Lillehammer, drinking wine in the Page's living room, hearing about the Page's cruises, summer skiing at Soderberg Glacier, harvesting potatoes as Norm drove the harvester and Linda looked on, running up Big Rock, Liz and I having some of the most amazing raclette in Chamonix with the Pages, having gnocchi that was worth ordering seconds of, seeing the Olympic Games in Torino, picking potatoes with my kids and Linda, Pineland, Mt. Carlton in the rain, Sharing life, dancing at 3am in a disco in Italy.

Doesn't sound like a bad job (life) to me.

In the end I gained a dear dear friend that I hold in a very special place in my heart.

But, the most amazing memory I have of Linda is the memory of her with her true love. Norman and Linda were and will always be an inspiration to me.The story of how they met and loved is what life is about. They were dancers, and they danced through life holding each other and loving each other.

Thank You Linda
I Love you, and thank you for all you have given us all of these years.

Your friend Greg

Bethel, ME - The U.S. Biathlon Women's National Team will be training in Bethel, Maine through Sunday, August 23. Joined by members of the Maine Winter Sports Center Biathlon Team the group of 10 women will utilize the local surroundings in the final week of a three-week camp.

The Women trained and raced at Camp Ethan Allen in Jericho, VT for two weeks prior to arriving in Bethel. Utilizing the rollerski loop and range the athletes raced in the North American Rollerski Biathlon Championships and did plenty of biathlon specific training. This week in Bethel is intended to focus on volume (long distance) training. "The Women are very excited to be here", stated MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander. "The two weeks in Jericho were very good, very focused. Here in Bethel the ladies will be able to still train very effectively, but will enjoy the more relaxing surroundings versus the military barracks."

U.S. Women's National Team
Tracy Barnes-Colliander - Ft. Kent
Lanny Barnes - Durango, CO
Annelies Cook - Saranac Lake, NY
Susan Dunklee - Barton, VT
Laura Spector - Lenox, MA
Sara Studebaker - Boise, ID

MWSC Team
Grace Boutot - Ft. Kent*
BethAnn Chamberlain - Caribou
Andrea Mayo - Soldier Pond*
Addie Byrne - Bovey, MN*

*member of U.S. Junior National Team

For updates, check out:

Linda Page of the Maine Winter Sports Center

Linda Page in Italy 2006

As you know by now, Linda Page passed away last night after a short fight with Lung cancer... it progressed very quickly over the past few weeks, but I am very grateful that I was able to spend a few hours with her and norm in their beautiful home on top of the hill on the Bog Road in Limestone this past weekend. I brought my computer along and shared some pictures of some great trips and reminded Linda of all the challenges she brought upon herself... I am not sure how many 40km Sam Ouelett marathons she tackled, but it was a quite a few. I have put together some photos that I found this morning that remind me of her great strength and wonderful energy for any adventure.

When I first came to MWSC, we lived on the base in Limestone and the Limestone Ski Club became my first club. I attended all the club meetings and potlucks as well as proudly skied for the club in all the Aroostook Cup events. Between Norman and Linda winning their age groups on most every occasion and me winning or places in many of the events... the little Limestone Ski Club was quite a powerhouse in those first few years of the Cup. It was a great time for us all.

Linda and Norm Page in Italy 2006

Greg Rawlings was their link to Masters practices and trips all over the world, while I was their club liaison and assisted them with their youth skiing efforts in Limestone. They kept pushing the school to offer skiing in the PE curriculum and had success finally by offering to Teach the classes themselves for a 4 week block in January each winter... they gathered a group of passionate skiers to skier with the kids both during school and ran a great after school program a few days a week as well. In addition, Norm was the Limestone Grooming squad... he groomed the Trafton Lake trails regularly and continued it on to the Limestone School so the kids had tracks for practice. My single favorite place to classic ski was the Trafton Lake Trails which were groomed and maintained by Norm, Linda and the rest of the Limestone Ski Club, which included a very cool warming hut in the middle of the trails. They opened their home to host a wonderful classical skiing event called the C-Me-Ski on the potato fields a few years in a row until it got so popular that the house was busting at the seams... If this wasn't enough, Norman loaded up the grooming equipment and set out for the Aroostook Wildlife Refuge to set trails as well, and this is where the 21km C-Me-Ski event was held in the later years that I was in town.

Linda at World Masters Italy 2006

You would be hard pressed to find examples of people in the County who bought into the MWSC model better than Norm and Linda. They not only did everything they could to get kids and adults involved in skiing in their community, they welcome people to their wonderful community trails and their great ski races, while participating in nearly every event and every trip available to them. At practice Linda would do anything we challenged her to do, including standing on one foot while throwing a medicine ball to Norm, and playing Speedball with the youth group (kids 50 years younger) and doing dryland ski technique drills with any of us crazy coaches.

Lastly, they become hosts to one of our Elite athlete, Sarah Peters (aka Captain Canada), and Sarah developed a friendship with Norm and Linda that I will always be envious of... she was like a daughter to them and they truly looked forward to the trips that Sarah would take back to Limestone to visit. As a matter of fact, they skied together on April 16th, just before Norm and Linda went on their family Cruise, which was just before they figured out Linda wasn't well. Thanks for keeping them in your life Captain Canada. Your energy added so much to their lives.

Norm and Linda at Mad Town Sprints 3-14-04

I am so proud to have shared my MWSC experiences with them and thankful that they welcomed me into their world. Linda wasn't so sure she was going to make much longer during my visit last weekend, but I guess I thought if anyone could beat this disease it would be her. Sad I am not there now, but grateful for the chance to hug them both.

I have gathered some photos, but will need to send them in small chunks so they will go through. Thanks for letting me share my experiences. Hope I can be half was cool and adventurous as them when I am older. BTW, my daughters have not seen me cry much before this, and when I shared the pictures I gathered it was great to hear Lina tell me she remembers Norm and specifically remembers Linda watching them at Aroostook Cup races.

Love you Norm and Linda.

John

Jericho, VT - In the final day of the NorAm Biathlon Rollerski Championships, the MWSC Biathlon Team turned in some strong finishes to end the week. Strength on the range, ski course and in numbers, the Team represented the MWSC blue and white with pride.

Russell Currier put on a shooting clinic in the Pursuit race at the NorAm Championships at Camp Ethan Allen. Currier more known for his strong skiing abilities cleaned 3 of 4 shooting stages hitting a total of 18 for 20. Playing cat and mouse with 2006 Olympian Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) Currier shot rapidly in his final two standing stages to finish it off as Bailey was doing laps in the penalty loop. Currier won in a time of 33:19, 27 seconds over Bailey. Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT) rounded out the top 3 with 4 penalties and 44 seconds back. Bill Bowler (Wausau, WI) finished 5th hitting 14 of 20 targets. Walt Shepard (Yarmouth) finished 7th with 15 of 20 shooting.

Eliot Neal (Wilson, WY) hit 14 of 20 to finish 3rd in the Jr. Men's race in a time of 35:13. Ethan Dreisegacker (Craftsbury, VT) for the second day in a row with 7 penalties and a time of 33:02. Sam Humphries (Yarmouth) matched Neal on the range with 14 hits and finished in 35:53. Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) struggled hitting 9 of 20 to finish 8th in 38:24. In the Boys race Drew Grout (Yarmouth) finished 1st in a time of 44:16 with 14 penalties and Chester Jacobs (Yarmouth) hit 10 of 20 to finish 2nd in a time of 47:40.

Tracy Barnes-Colliander (Ft. Kent) won again hitting 15 of 20 in a time of 33:13. BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou) hit 12 of 20 to finish 10th. Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) hit 14 of 20 to win the Jr. Women's race over Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN). Boutot finished in a time of 37:26 good enough for 8th in the Sr. Women's race. Byrne finished in a time of 38:39. Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) rounded out the top 3 with 16 hits and a time of 40:01.

Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) hit 10 of 20 with a time of 40:28 to win the Youth Women's race. Molly Susla (Yarmouth) finished 4th with 11 penalties and a time of 44:13. Tara Humphries won the Girls race with a time of 53:53 and 17 penalties.

Jericho, VT - The first day of racing at the North American Biathlon Rollerski Championships provided plenty of head to head action and some great shooting by youngsters Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) and Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN). Sunshine and cooler temperatures provided both racers and spectators with perfect conditions and a little breeze provided just enough of a challenge on the range to test the athletes nerves.

MWSC teammates Bill Bowler and Russell Currier started 2 minutes, 30 seconds apart, but in the end finished 2.4 seconds apart. Bowler bested Currier by the small margin with 4 penalties, 2 in each shooting stage to finish 3rd. Currier missed 2 in prone and his final shot in his standing stage to finish 4th. Walt Shepard hit 7 of 10 to finish 10th. Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) hit 8 of 10 to win in a time of 24:44. The surprise of the day was Wynn Roberts who shot clean, 10 for 10 to place 2nd, 56 seconds back.

Racing up in the Jr. Men's field, Sam Humphries (Yarmouth) placed 5th in a time of 23:35 with 3 penalties. Eliot Neal (Wilson, WY) placed 6th with 5 penalties (23:49) and Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) placed 7th (23:57) also with 5 penalties. Ethan Dreissegacker (Craftsbury, VT) won with 4 penalties in a time of 22:00. Racing up in the Youth Men's race the Yarmouth trio of Drew Grout, Tom Sullivan, and Chester Jacobs placed 9th, 10th, and 11th with 6, 7, and 4 penalties respectively.

Tracy Barnes-Colliander (Ft. Kent) won today's Women's race with 3 penalties and a time of 22:15. Twin sister Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) placed 2nd with 2 penalties, 14.6 seconds back. Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) rounded out the top 3 with a time of 23:00 and 4 penalties. Caribou's BethAnn Chamberlain placed 7th with 6 penalties and one of the day's better ski times. Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska) placed 13th with 9 penalties.

Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) placed 2nd with 6 penalties finishing 1 minute 58 seconds behind Addie Byrne who shot clean. Andrea Mayo (Ft. Kent) won the Youth Women's race with 5 hits and a time of 22:47. Molly Susla (Yarmouth) placed 4th with 6 penalties and a time of 26:05. Racing up, Tara Humphries (Yarmouth) hit 2 of 10 to place 6th.

Tomorrow concludes with the Pursuit race. Check out mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com for more updates and pictures.

MWSC Biathletes to compete in NorAm Roller Races this weekend
Jericho, VT - The Maine Winter Sports Center Biathlon Team has been training for the past week at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, VT. This weekend they will take part in the North American Rollerski Championships with an estimated 75 athletes competing. Saturday will be a Sprint race followed by Sunday's Pursuit race.

Olympic Development and Continental Team
Russell Currier (Stockholm)
Bill Bowler (Wasau, WI)
Walt Shepard (Yarmouth)
Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent)
BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou)
Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska)
Andrea Mayo (Ft. Kent)

Jr. and Regional Team
Eliot Neal (Jackson, WY)
Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN)
Sam Humphries (Yarmouth)
Molly Susla (Yarmouth)
Chester Jacobs (Yarmouth)
Tom Sullivan (Yarmouth)
Drew Grout (Yarmouth)
Sarah Becker (Yarmouth)

Stay tuned for more updates. Also, check out www.mainewsc.org and mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com for more current updates and pictures.

Presque Isle, ME - Beautiful sunny skies and a slate of fun bike events greeted participants of this year's TAMC/NHSC Fat Tire Festival at the Nordic Heritage Center. The August 1st and 2nd event drew mountain bike enthusiast from around the County, state and as far away as Texas. The weekend was kicked off Saturday morning with a group mountain bike ride and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, kids of all ages took part in a mountain bike rodeo, which included events such as wheelie contest, Huffy toss, tire drag and a terrain park obstacle course. The event was followed by the first ever mountain bike biathlon at the venue. Racers completed three 2 kilometer laps, shooting five shots between each lap. The afternoon wrapped up with a downhill mountain bike race. Racers zipped down the 1 mile course and finished by jumping off three wooden ramps. Spectators lined the bottom of the course to see racers catch some air. A pasta feed and bonfire capped off the day and allowed Sunday's racers fuel up for the cross-country competition.

On Sunday, the venue was a buss of excitement. The day began with a kids' bike race, which gave young cyclists from ages 3-13 a chance to show their speed on two (or three!) wheels. After the kids showed everyone how it was done, adults took to the start line for 1, 2, or 3 laps of a 7.5 mile single track course. The hot weather and hilly and technical terrain threw many challenges at the fifty racers and made for some great performances. Many smiling volunteers, cold drinks and a BBQ awaited bikers when they crossed the finish line.

A huge thank you to all the volunteers, sponsors and participants who helped make the 3rd Annual Fat Tire Festival a success. See you out there next year and in the meantime, happy trails!

For full results visit the "Events" tab at http://www.nordicheritagecenter.org/.

Photo courtesy of Brent Jepson.

Presque Isle, ME - Good food, skill-testing single-track trails, and heart-pounding mountain bike races and tours are in store for participants in the fourth annual TAMC/NHSC Fat Tire Festival, August 1 and 2.

Taking place on the trails of the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, the event has something in store for mountain bikers of all ages and abilities.

On Saturday, the Mountain Bike Fun Day will feature tours of the Nordic Heritage Center Trails, a Bike Rodeo and Mountain Bike Biathlon, bike maintenance clinics and demos, as well as a spaghetti feed and bonfire that evening - all at no cost to participants. For a nominal fee, riders may also feed their competitive hunger by registering for the Downhill Races.

Sunday's schedule will mark the third event in the Maine Mountain Bike Association's point series of races. Riders from throughout Maine will join local riders from Aroostook County and New Brunswick to race for points in Novice, Sport, and Expert categories.

Local bike shops and food vendors will be on hand both days.

The Nordic Heritage Center includes over 20 miles of hand-made and machine-made single track. The trails wind through different forest types and vary from smooth and fluid to narrow and technical. Moderate to expert line options such as log skinnies, exposed bedrock outcrops, and natural drops can be found on some of the trails.

The Nordic Heritage Center Lodge, which is open to the public from 6 am to 10 pm daily and includes kitchen facilities, restrooms, shower rooms, and a sauna, will serve as the hub of the events.

To register, please visit www.bikereg.com. For more information, please visit www.nordicheritagecenter.org or contact Competition Secretary Kate Knowles at NordicFTF@gmail.com.

Summit Timing's Ernie Page will be in the County to put on a hands-on timing clinic during the first weekend in August. No down jackets, gloves or hand warmers required! Whether brand new to timing or a seasoned veteran, this is a great opportunity for you and members of your clubs to get up to date on the software and equipment from the person who created it.

For more info please download the attached document [pdf].

Caribou, Maine - The Maine Winter Sports Center announced today that William "Willie" Neal, age 19, of Jackson Hole, Wyoming was killed while rollerskiing in Fort Fairfield yesterday. Neal, who had been named to the MWSC Regional Biathlon Team last month, was on a training session with another MWSC athlete, who was not hurt in the incident. Details of the accident are still under investigation, but according to the Fort Fairfield Police Department, the skiers were on the correct side of the road when an automobile struck and killed Mr. Neal. The driver of the automobile had recently graduated from Fort Fairfield High School.

Neal had been accepted to Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, but had deferred for a year to train full time with the Maine Winter Sports Center in the hopes of making the 2010 World Junior Biathlon Team.

"Willie was a talented young athlete, a smart and inquisitive young man and exactly the kind of athlete we look for," said Andy Shepard, President of the Maine Winter Sports Center. "He was a role model others looked up to and we were excited to have him join our program." "This is a devastating blow to the entire US nordic skiing family and on behalf of the volunteers, athletes, staff and board of the MWSC; our thoughts and prayers go out to the Neal family."

Neal came to the MWSC after spending time with Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation and his hometown club, the Jackson Hole Ski and Snowboard Club.

Neal was known throughout Jackson Hole for his environmental and political activism. In August 2008, he attended the Democratic National Convention in Denver as the youngest delegate from Wyoming. He also served as an intern to Sen. John Kerry in Washington D.C. He started the Idle Free Jackson Hole campaign, which worked to craft a no-idling ordinance for the town of Jackson.

June 17, 2009: Bowdoin College invites applications for an Assistant Coach of Nordic Skiing. This position assists in all aspects of the intercollegiate Nordic Ski team including race day logistics and waxing, travel, grooming, and team events.

Click the link to learn more. http://tinyurl.com/bowdoinski

If you have any questions or want to apply please contact Nathan Alsobrook at nalsobro@bowdoin.edu.

Nintendo Wii Includes Fort Kent in their biathlon game.

Caribou, Maine - Nintendo Wii, the world's leading video game system, has come out with a biathlon game which features 13 World Cup venues and Maine biathlon fans will be excited to know that Fort Kent is one of them.

The game is an interactive system that requires you to simulate the skiing motion with a game wand in each hand while standing on a game-board shifting your weight from side to side. While the motion is not as physically demanding as a real ski race, both the athletes in the game and the players in real life get their heart rate up. That becomes an issue when you head into the range and try to hit your targets. The game lets you create your own athletes and as your athletes get more experience their skills improve - just like real biathletes.

"It's a lot of fun to have a global giant like Nintendo become a part of the momentum and fun we are creating here in Maine," says Andy Shepard, MWSC President. "I think it also is a statement about Maine's new role on the world's sports stage."

Maine Winter Sports Center's 10th Mountain Center in Fort Kent hosted Maine's first Biathlon World Cup in 2004. Over 600 local volunteers put on a wildly successful event with 20,000 spectators over the three days of racing. Another 50 million watched live on TV around the world. The event was responsible for $5.2 million in economic impact to the Saint John Valley.

The Nintendo Wii game system retails for $250.00 and the biathlon game is $28.00.

Ft. Kent, Maine - The Nation's top female biathletes will come to Ft. Kent Maine for their first summer training camp. From June 21 to July 4th, the women will utilize the landscape of the St. John Valley, the 10th Mtn. Center, and the facilities at the University of Maine-Ft. Kent.

In 2005, the trials for the 2006 Olympic Team were held in Ft. Kent and although the team may not be selected here this time around, it's guaranteed that the women's team selected for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics will be here for two weeks. The women will train primarily up at the 10th Mtn. where the rollerski loop was extended last season making it the 3rd longest in the country and an ideal place to train. "We're really excited to be in Ft. Kent and to utilize the facilities there", stated Assistant Coach Patrick Coffey. "This will be a first time experience for me, but I'm looking forward to seeing the 10th Mtn. and surrounding landscape, I've heard many great things from the athletes."

Ties to the Maine Winter Sports Center - "This will be a bit of a homecoming for most of this team, since all but three women in this group have gone through the Maine Winter Sports Center Program", stated MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander. "Many of the women still keep in contact with friends they made during their time here. They're all really excited to come back and be here."

U.S. Team: Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO)*, Tracy Barnes-Colliander (Ft. Kent)*, Carolyn Bramante (Duluth, MN)*, Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY)*, Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY)*, Laura Spector (Lenox, MA)*, Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), Jennifer Wygant (Burnsville, MN)
*former MWSC Biathlon Team members

Also joining the camp will be some of Maine's best female biathletes: BethAnn Chamberlain, Grace Boutot, Hilary McNamee, and Meagan Toussaint.

Official News of the U.S. Ski Team

PARK CITY, UT (May 26) - Some of Maine's finest were honored last weekend as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association's recognized the nation's top contributors to skiing and snowboarding in the U.S. Friday (May 15) in Park City.

Among the many honored were local Maine residents Andy Shepard and Lee Todd.

Shepard, of Yarmouth, ME and head of the Maine Winter Sports Center, was honored with the USSA's Russell Wilder Award, given annually to recognize the most outstanding effort in focusing the interests of American youth on the sports of skiing or snowboard.

Shepard has led the effort of motivating 3,000 kids in northern Maine, and about 5,000 annually statewide, to participate in ski sports through the Maine Winter Sports Center. The cross country ski leasing program alone involves 2,000 pairs of skis! He is constantly searching for ways to increase the numbers of skiing youth in Maine. MWSC has been hosting USSA events since 2000, including SuperTours, U.S. Championship events, and has the Junior Olympics set for 2010.

Todd, who has served USSA's sports as a staff member and a volunteer over a period spanning four decades, received the organization's highest volunteer honor, the Julius Blegen Award. A longtime cross country skier, Lee joined the USSA staff and worked for 10 years from 1978-89, leaving his position as USSA nordic program director to takeover International Special Olympics. For much of the next 20 years, he worked as a volunteer serving in a variety of domestic and international leadership positions.

His work with the FIS was vital to the growth of cross country skiing internationally - and always with the USA's interests at heart. He served nearly 20 years on the FIS Cross Country Rules and Controls Sub-committee, as well as the non-European representative to the FIS Cross Country Committee from 1998 until his retirement in 2008.

Domestically, he played a pivotal leadership role as a USSA board member for cross country from 1994 through 2006. During that time he skillfully represented cross country skiing building consensus within the USSA Cross Country Sport Committee.

For more information on the USSA awards visit www.usskiteam.com

Will Sweetser(MWSC XC Development Director), Andy Shepard(MWSC President), Lee Todd(Chief of World Games and Competition for Special Olympics and MWSC Trustee), Eileen Carey(Vice President MWSC, John Farra (Nordic Director US Ski Team and former MWSC VP).

May 16, 2009: MWSC President Andy Shepard received the Russell Wilder award at the annual US Ski Team Congress in Park City, Utah. The award recognizes efforts to develop skiing in the United States. "It was an honor, and certainly a highlight of my career, to accept the honor on behalf of the MWSC Board, staff and thousands of volunteers who have made such a difference over the last 10 years," said Shepard. The Russell Wilder Award was established in 1955 and past winners include Buddy Werner, Charles Broomhall, John Caldwell, Steve and Phil Mahre, Bob Beattie and Billy Kidd.

MWSC trustee Lee Todd was also recognized, receiving the Lifetime Achievement award for over 30 years of service to the US Ski Team and Special Olympics.

The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) announces that registration is now open for the third annual Maine Training Group Summer Volume Camp. The camp will take place at the University of Maine Campus in Fort Kent and is open to all Maine State residents who have qualified for the NENSA JO Team or the Maine EHSC or J2 Championship Teams in 2009. This camp has been very well attended in the past few years. It is run in conjunction with the Quebec Junior/U23 Provincial Team. The camp is a great chance for athletes to get an extra edge on summer training and train with the other top skiers in Maine, as well as MWSC and Quebec elite athletes. Coaching is done by Maine Winter Sports Center coaches, MWSC Continental Team athletes, Quebec Team coaches, and select coaches from around the state of Maine.

When: 1 p.m., July 7 through noon, July 12
Where: UMaine Fort Kent campus
What: Dryland training including rollerskiing (skate and classic), hill bounding, running, strength training and games
Cost: $200
Registration deadline: June 15
For more information: please contact Will Sweetser at will@mainewsc.org.

Participation is limited so sign up soon!

Caribou, ME The Maine Winter Sports Center is pleased to welcome its Biathlon and Cross-Country Teams for the 2010 season. This year's squads are led by returning veterans David Chamberlain, Russell Currier, BethAnn Chamberlain and Sarah Dominick. Promotions for young stars like Grace Boutot and Nick Michaud, continue to emphasize the importance of steady, progressive development. On the cusp of the 2010 Olympic Year, MWSC is proud to introduce its largest team to date.

Olympic Development Team:

Grace Boutot - Biathlon (Ft. Kent, ME)
BethAnn Chamberlain - Biathlon (Caribou, ME)
David Chamberlain - Cross-Country (Caribou, ME)
Russell Currier - Biathlon (Stockholm, ME)

Continental Team:

Fred Bailey - Cross-Country (Caribou, ME)
Bill Bowler -Biathlon (Wausau, WI)
Nick Kline - Cross-Country (Portland, ME)
Andrea Mayo - Biathlon (Soldier Pond, ME)
Hilary McNamee - Biathlon (Ft. Fairfield, ME)
Nick Michaud - Cross-Country (Fort Kent, ME)
Walt Shepard - Biathlon (Yarmouth, ME)
Meagan Toussaint - Biathlon (Madawaska, ME)

Regional Team:

Joey Bard, junior - Cross-Country (Woodland, ME)
Sarah Dominick, master - Cross-Country (Stockholm, ME)
John Dixon, junior - Cross-Country (Champlain Valley, VT)
Cameron MacKugler, U23 - Cross-Country (Londonderry, VT)
Willie Neal, junior - Biathlon (Jackson Hole, WY)
Eliot Neal, junior - Biathlon (Jackson Hole, WY)
Welly Ramsey, junior - Cross-Country (Farmington, ME)
Derek Rowe, junior - Cross-Country (Farmington, ME)
Pavel Sotskov, U23 - Cross-Country (Gilford, NH)
Tim Whiton, U23 - Cross-Country (Portland, ME)

Collegiate Training Group:

Corey Park - Colby College
Kyle Marvinney - St. Lawrence University
Justin Fereshetian - UMPI
Andrew Levesque - UMPI
Kaitlyn Bernard - Colby College
Jessica Caron - Bowdoin College
Molly Susla - Colby College
Adam Fissette - UMPI
Justine Cyr - UMPI/College of the Atlantic
Sam Tarling - Dartmouth
Ben Knowles - St. Lawrence University

Bowdoin College is hosting a free coaching clinic, geared toward all Maine high school and youth coaches (although coaches from other states are welcome to attend as well - no charge for anyone). The keynote presentation is geared toward all sports, and the rest of the clinic is a mix of general and sport-specific presentations. Bowdoin Nordic Coach, Nathan Alsobrook will be giving a talk about the concept of xc skiing as a power-endurance sport and how this affects our approach to training. There are also a few other presentations that might be useful to ski coaches: strength and conditioning, speed and agility training, and teambuilding, among others.
Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks!

For more info visit Bowdoin's Athletics page here.

PRESQUE ISLE - The University of Maine at Presque Isle announced today that it has hired a nationally recognized ski coach - whose athletes have garnered World Championship and Junior Olympics National titles and spots on prestigious national and international ski teams - to lead the development of its Nordic Ski Team as it prepares for Division I NCAA status for the 2009-2010 athletic season.

Alexei Sotskov, who helped to develop the Gunstock Nordic Association in Gilford, New Hampshire, and Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont, into national powerhouses for the U.S. Nordic Ski Team, will take over the University's program, which has won seven National Championships in its first four years in the U.S. Collegiate Ski Association (USCSA). Sotskov will begin work this summer to recruit athletes to UMPI's Nordic program.

Sotskov's former athletes include U.S. Ski Team member Kris Freeman (4th at the 2009 World Championships and a contender for a medal at the Vancouver Olympics), Carl Van Loan and Jed Hinkley (U.S. Nordic Combined Team and former World Nordic Combined Junior Champions), and Kate Newick, a standout for Middlebury Ski Team. Sotskov has also had 14 athletes win Junior Olympic National titles.

"Presque Isle offers one of the top Nordic venues in the world, one of the longest snow seasons in the country and a community that embraces the benefits of the Nordic skiing lifestyle," President Don Zillman said. "We thank coaches Kris Cheney Seymour and Petr Jakl for advancing our fledgling program at UMPI. They set the stage for Coach Sotskov to bring the program to competitive excellence at the highest level of NCAA competition."

Sotskov was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and has spent his entire career coaching and mentoring Nordic skiers. He has a wealth of international coaching experience, having served as a ski and athletic coach for the Russian National Nordic Combined Team, and as the head Nordic Combined coach at the School of Superior Athletic Performance in Russia. During the summer of 2008, he coached the New Zealand National Nordic team, and one of the athletes qualified for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Sotskov moved to the United States in 1992 to coach for the Gunstock Nordic Association. Three of the racers he trained there competed in the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. In 2002, he joined Vermont Academy as Nordic Coach and Director of Sports on Snow. While there, his athletes won four out of six NEPSAC (New England Preparatory School Athletic Council) titles and five Lakes Region championships. Most recently, Sotskov served as the Assistant Athletic Director and On-Snow Sports Coordinator at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire.

Sotskov has a bachelor's degree in physical education/athletics from the State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport named after P.F. Lesgaft in Russia. He and his wife Victoria Vinidiktova will be relocating to northern Maine. They have a son, Pavel, who is a member of the Dartmouth College varsity Nordic team. Their son will be graduating this summer and will be joining the Maine Winter Sports Center program as a Nordic skier.

With the University's Ski Team competing in the NCAA Division I next season, Maine will have more college ski teams than any other state in the country. Other NCAA ski programs in Maine include those at Bowdoin, Bates and Colby colleges.

Student athletes looking for more information about the University of Maine at Presque Isle Ski Program should contact Alexei Sotskov at (603) 630-5486 or asotskov60@gmail.com.

The Portland Sunday Telegram has announced its annual All State Ski Team and Fort Kent High School and the Maine Winter Sports Center are very well represented. The Telegram All State Team includes nine Boys, 12 Girls and an Alpine and Cross Country coach.

It is a very prestigious and exclusive award and those named to the Team, and the schools they represent, have a lot to be proud of. Only 21 skiers were chosen from across three Classes and between three disciplines - alpine, nordic and skimeister (skiers who combine their alpine and nordic scores to crown an overall champion.)

MWSC nordic skiers include Nick Michaud, Kaitlyn Bernard and Grace Boutot - all of whom ski for Fort Kent High School. Also representing Fort Kent on the All-State Team are Logan Doak, a Sophomore who won the Class C Skimeister title, Roxanne Pelletier, the Class C Skimeister Champions as a Freshman and Fort Kent High School coach, Greg Voisine. Voisine's Fort Kent Team won the Nordic Class C title, the Alpine title and the Overall State Championships this year - his 10th Overall title in his 18 years. "Five Fort Kent skiers named to a State team of 21 is a very impressive showing for Fort Kent, but not at all surprising when you look at the long skiing tradition in town, said MWSC President, Andy Shepard." Yarmouth and Mt. Blue high school in farmington each had two skiers named to the All-State Team.

Michaud is a Junior at Fort Kent and won both the Freestyle and Classic State titles. Bernard is a Senior at Fort Kent and won the Classic State title and was 3rd in the Freestyle. Boutot was the State Freestyle Champion and also added a Silver medal at Biathlon Junior World Championships this season.

Lucas Mather, a Senior at Presque Isle High School, was also named to the Team, winning the Class B Giant Slalom and Skimeister titles.

Maine Winter Sports Center finished off an historic year with very strong results at North American Championships in Val Cartier, Quebec. The weather was warm and sunny and with the Men going first they had calm winds and relatively fast tracks. The Women, racing in the afternoon, were racing on slow, spring snow throughout the weekend.

Individual
Current and former MWSC female athletes took 5 of the top 6 spots in the North American Biathlon Championships on Thursday. Tracy Barnes took the Individual title with 4 penalties and fast skiing, 2 minutes 17 seconds ahead of Canadian Megan Imrie (5 misses). Carolyn Brumante took the Bronze with 3 misses (3:24 back). Annelies Cook was fourth with 5 misses (5:00 back), followed by BethAnn Chamberlain with 4 misses (5:27 back) and Laura Spector with 9 misses (5:44 back). Yolaine Oddoue from Canada took the Youth Women's title with 1 miss, 1:44 ahead of Minnesota's Addie Byrne, who had 3 misses. Grace Boutot took the Bronze with 4 penalties, 2:29 back. Andrea Mayo was 7th with 8 misses, Hilary McNamee was 9th with 8 penalties, Jess Caron was 14th with 12 misses and Kaitlyn was 20th with 9 penalties.

Russell Currier won the Bronze medal in the Men's division with 4 penalties, 2 minutes behind Canadian Robin Clegg who had 2 penalties.

Sprint
MWSC Alumni again dominated the top of the Senior Women's results. Lanny Barnes took the Silver medal in the Sprint race - the last individual race of the season. Barnes shot clean and finished 1:11 behind Canadian Megan Imrie. Laura Spector won the Bronze with 1 penalty, 1:21 back. Haley Johnson was 4th, 1 penalty - 1:36 back, Tracy Barnes was 5th, 2 penalties - 2:13 back, Annelies Cook was 6th, 3 penalties - 2:37 back, BethAnn Chamberlain was 9th, 2 penalties - 3:06 back and Carolyn Brumante was 10th, 4 penalties - 4:13 back.

In the Youth Women's division, Boutot and Oddoue switched places, with Boutot taking the Gold with 1 penalty, 1:05 ahead of the Canadian, who also has 1 penalty. Kaitlyn Bernard recovered from a difficult day in the Individual to take 5th with 6 misses, 3:14 back. Andrea Mayo was 9th, 5 misses - 4:55 back, Hilary McNamee was 11th, 5 misses - 5:19 back and Jess Caron was 12th, 5 misses - 5:39 back.

Russell Currier was 8th in the Senior Men's division with 4 penalties, 1:46 back.

Mixed Relay
The US team of Kevin Patzoldt, Tracy Barnes and Russell Currier took the Silver medal, 46 seconds behind a Quebec Team made up of Marc-Andre' Bedard, Claude Godbout, and Robin Clegg. The US took the Gold with a dominating performance in the Junior division with a team made up of Lief Nordgren, Grace Boutot and Wynn Roberts. They finished 2:46 ahead of Canada's top Junior team (Matt Neumann, Aaron Neumann, Megan Tandy).

For full results: http://www.biathloncanada.ca/main.php?p=3746&lan=1
Photos: http://gallery.me.com/mwsc#100305
This wraps up the 2008/2009 Biathlon Season.

The 2008-2009 winter season will wrap up for Black Mountain of Maine on March 29th, but not before a last hoorah. Sponsored by the Rumford Hospital, Family Fun Weekend is an event not to be missed.

Friday March 27 - The festivities begin Friday March 27th at 6:00 pm with the third and final Hill Climb of the season. Trophies will be awarded for the race that evening plus the prestigious King Of The Hill awards will be presented for the winners of the Hill Climb series.

Saturday March 28 - Saturday March 28th gets off to a soaring start at 10:00 am with a Balloon race, followed by the ever challenging backwards race at 11:00am. There will be a Firehose race at 1:00 and a Tug-of-War at 2:30. Don't miss out on the fun and beautiful Torchlight Parade at 8:15 pm. (Remember, participants must be 12 years of age or older to carry a torch).

Sunday March 29 - Sunday March 29th brings the Egg McMogul Race at 9:30 am, this is the perfect way to "earn" your breakfast! At 11:00 am test your skills on the obstacle course. From 11:00am to 1:00 pm enjoy an A-La-Carte style lunch at the summit. Not a skier or boarder? Take a $2 lift ride to the top, and enjoy lunch and the spectacular scenery. (Rides up the lift will be at 11:00am, 11:30 am, noon and 12:30. Rides down will be at 11:30, noon, 12:30 and 1:00).

The Family Alpine Race begins at 1:00 and the wildly popular Pond Skimming at 3:00. Watch as both skiers and snowboarders' talents are tested with attempts to clear the man made slush pond at the base of the mountain. Spectators beware; viewers of this spectacle have been known to get wet in the past. Or throw on your own equipment and give it a whirl. Awards will be presented at 4:15 just after the pond skimming ends. Family Fun Weekend is the perfect way to close the shutters on a great winter season. Don't miss out. For more information call the mountain at 364-8977 or check out our website www.skiblackmountain.org

'09 Nationals Sprint
'09 Nationals Pursuit
'09 Nationals Mass Start
Maine Club Championships

Read more at USBiathlon.org

March 21, 2009 - Click the link below to see pictures from the Maine Biathlon Club Championships this weekend!

download the Results here [pdf]

Photos from the event

Mar. 19, 2009 MWSC's Hilary McNamee captures Youth Sprint title, Susan Dunklee, of Barton, Vermont, and Bill Bowler of Wausau, Wisconsin, take Senior National titles on the opening day of the TD Banknorth National Championships.

On the four foot base of spring snow North America's top biathletes competed on the newly renovated trails and stadium at the 10th Mountain Center in Fort Kent, Maine. Susan Dunklee posted the fastest time of the day in 25:54.3 over the 7.5 km sprint course for women, visiting the penalty loop once in prone and once in standing. Following close behind was Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO), and her twin sister Tracy Colliander-Barnes (Fort Kent, ME) finishing in 25:17.1 and 25:44.5 respectively.

The home team of the Maine Winter Sport Center swept the 6 km youth women competition led by Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) with a time of 22:32.3, followed by Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) 15.2 seconds behind and Andrea Mayo (Fort Kent, ME) 21.6 behind the leader. Melissa Manning of the Western NY Biathlon Club won the girls competition in a time of 41:58.1.

For the men Bill Bolwer edged out Jesse Downs (WCAP, Jericho, VT) over the 10 km sprint course with a time of 28:11.1, exactly three seconds ahead of Downs. In third was Zach Hall (Nikiski, AK and a resident at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY) with a time of 28:31.2.

The champion in the junior men category, Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) posted the fastest time of any American over the 10 km course in 27:41.4 with one miss prone and two standing. Teammate Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN) finished in 29:09.4 with five penalties, and third place went to Nick Peterson of the Vermont College program with a time of 31:19.3.

Leading for the masters men was Sean Kato, from Washington Biathlon with a time of 22:07.1. Age group winners for the masters classes will be announce on Friday. Jackson Hall and Chester Jacobs, both of the Southern Maine Biathlon Club, went one two in the boys class, finishing in 32:37.5 and 36:56.5 respectively.

2009-3-19 Sprint Event [excel]
2009-3-19 Sprint Men [pdf]
2009-3-19 Sprint Women [pdf]

Former Maine Winter Sports Center athlete, Jeremy Teela captured a Bronze medal at the ore-Olympic World Cup in Vancouver today. He had one miss in the 20 k Individual race and finished 4.3 seconds out of a Silver medal and 23.3 seconds out of Gold. Vincent Jay of France won the Gold and Daniel Bohm of Germany was second. This is the first podium finish for the US men since Josh Thompson's Silver in Canmore, Canada in 1992.

Teela, whose best ever 20K previously was 14th place in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City found some magic at this venue that will host the 2010 Olympic winter Games next February. From the outset, Teela was having a great day. At the first split on the course, he was in the fastest of the fifty plus competitors at that point.

He cleaned the first prone stage very deliberately, and was in the top 10. After a single miss in the first standing stage, he was in seventh position and skiing very fast. Every time a message came over the US radios, his fast skiing was the number one topic. The second prone stage was clean and suddenly, he was in fifth position going into the final standing stage. Coach Per Nilsson called out his final five shots over the radio and ended with, "Teela cleaned!" he left the shooting range in third and moved up to second position by the finish. A later finisher Daniel Bohm of Germany just nipped Teela for second place, by 4.4 seconds.

Truckee, CA - The sun was high in the ski and the excitement was palpable at the opening day of the 2009 Cross-Country Junior Olympics. On March 9th, four hundred of the country's best junior ski racers gathered at the Auburn Ski Club at top of Donner Pass to try their hand at the 1 kilometer freestyle sprint race.

Maine Winter Sports Center skier and Fort Kent native Nick Michaud had high expectations for the day but was not feeling his best during the morning qualification round: "I felt really tired in the morning and was feeling the effects of racing at 7,000 feet. It was harder to breathe and my muscles were really fatigued." The effort was still good enough to earn him the 11th fastest qualifying time and a spot in the afternoon 6-person quarterfinal heats. "Going into the afternoon, I knew I could get out off the line fast just relax until reaching the final climb," Michaud recalled. His strategy worked and he gained confidence throughout the day. He breezed through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds to advance to the A finals. "During the finals, I was right where I wanted to be going into the final 200 meters," Michaud said. Heading into the final 100 meters of the course Michaud was even with Erik Bjornsen of Winthrop, Washington. With the finish line in sight, fellow New England team member Ethan Dreissigacker made a bold move in the outside lane to overtake both Michaud and Bjornsen for the race win. In the final meters, Bjornsen pulled ahead of Michaud by a ski length. Michaud won the bronze, about a second from the winning effort. "I am really excited about the race," Michaud said, "going into today I didn't think I could hang with these guys but now I know I can ski with them."

Nine other Maine athletes and several Maine Winter Sports Center athletes qualified for the afternoon heats and three made it to the finals. Adele Espy of Freeport finished with an 8th place, Sam Tarling, also of Freeport had a 9th place effort and Emily Atwood of Cape Elizabeth ended up in 11th. These performances contributed to the commanding lead the New England team has after the first day of competition. Competitions resume on Wednesday March 11th for freestyle mass start distance races.

Bates College and Black Mountain of Maine to host 2009 NCAA Ski Championships.

photo right: Gary Colliander heading for the win.
photo below: Caribou High School Ski Team, City Sprint Champs.

Caribou, ME--The Maine Invitational Ski Sprints attracted nearly 60 sprinters to downtown Caribou last Saturday. Under cold, sunny skies, the city's central lot was converted to a snow covered stadium for skiers to contest their speed over 500 meters. The event crowned the fastest ski sprinters in Maine in middle school, high school, senior and masters categories.

The hometown teams took home top middle school and high school prizes--along with the $300 program support checks--in the youth 250m sprint and the junior 500m team sprint. The fast, flat track made for tight races and dramatic crashes. A particularly loud and partisan crowd cheered the kids on from the spectator and concessions areas.

In the masters men's 500m race, a heated battle developed between local contractor and ski enthusiast Carl Soderberg and UMPI Nordic Coach Petr Jakl. While Soderberg controlled the semi final heat, Jakl was able to slip by on the second lap of the final to earn the $100 top prize. Ashland Middle School coach Linda Milligan easily took the masters women's class.

The most heavily contested race of the day came in the open women's class where U.S. biathlete BethAnn Chamberlain battled teammate Hilary McNamee and MWSC VP Eileen Carey. In the end, Chamberlain held off Carey for the win. In the open men's field, MWSC Biathlon Director Gary Colliander easily distanced himself from MWSC athlete Nick Michaud and U.S. Biathlon's Russ Currier.

The success of this event has already sparked interest in expanding the format for a repeat event in downtown Caribou next season.

Caribou, ME - A record 16 cross-country skiers from the state of Maine have qualified to participate in the USSA Junior Olympics this year. The athletes will compete as members of the New England Team at the Auburn Ski Club in Truckee, CA from March 7 through March 15. In the past, Maine typically accounts for 8 to 10 athletes on the 50 plus person New England Squad. This year's qualifiers easily surpass the previous record 13 qualifiers from Maine.

Maine Winter Sports Center affiliated athletes accounted for fully half of this year's Maine JO competitors. MWSC qualifiers include: Grace Boutot, Fort Kent; Hilary McNamee, Fort Fairfield; Kaitlyn Bernard, Fort Kent; Nick Michaud, Fort Kent; Justin Fereshetian, Turner; Sam Humphries, North Yarmouth; Joey Bard, Woodland, and Corey Park, Presque Isle. Other athletes from Maine earning slots on the New England JO Team are: Adele Espy, Freeport; Lucy Garrec, Freeport; Emily Attwood, Cape Elizabeth; Rachel Hall, Cumberland; Sam Tarling, Cumberland; Graham Egan, Cape Elizabeth, Lucas Milliken, North Yarmouth, and alternate Welly Ramsey, New Sharon.

While not all of this year's qualifiers will attend the JOs, due to illness and competition conflicts, the improvement in Maine's ability to compete within the strongest cross-country skiing region in the nation marks significant progress.

"In light of the success that the U.S. is currently enjoying at World Champs, and looking at New England's success at Junior Olympics in the past, I'd say it's only a matter of time until Maine puts an athlete on the podium at Nordic Worlds or the Olympics," said MWSC XC Director Will Sweetser. "One of these kids could easily be our next Kikkan Randall or Bill Koch."

MWSC and the Maine Nordic Skiing community wish Maine's JO athletes success.

It was tough for BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou) to step on to the podium after her performance in Saturday's Sprint competition. Missing 7 of 10 targets, Chamberlain was down, but not out. Heading into today's Mass Start she set her goals high and delivered. Leading the pack into the range on the first lap, Chamberlain hit 3 of 5 in a test of nerves as the group shot simultaneously. With others missing targets Chamberlain was back on course with a little cushion, a cushion that would last the entire race as she raced to her first win since January. Finishing 2nd was yesterday's winner Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) and 3rd went to Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT).

Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) won the Youth Women's race out pacing teammate Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond). Boutot hit 12 of 20 and Mayo 11 of 20 as the winds picked up throughout the race.

Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT) put on a shooting clinic today missing one each in his two standing stages and shooting clean through his two prone stages. Finishing 2nd was Bill Bowler (Lake Placid, NY) followed by Newt Rogers (Ft. Kent) in 3rd.

The racers have some time off for rest and training heading into March's U.S. and Canadian Nationals.

In normal Presque Isle fashion, winds blew across the range and stadium today making shooting conditions anything but easy. Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) and Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) continued their strong performances in the Youth Women's field placing 1st and 2nd. Boutot shot aggressively in prone hitting all but one target, but with gusting winds she added 2 more penalty loops before she could get back on course. Winning in a time of 25:38, Boutot won for the 3rd time in as many tries. Placing 2nd, Andrea Mayo managed 3 hits in both of her stages. After the race she commented, "I read the wind well today, but just took a few bad shots. This is good practice for us having this wind, I really like these conditions." Danika Frisbie of Vermont placed 3rd with 6 penalties.

After tight racing in Lake Placid last weekend the trio of Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID), Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT), and BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou) all managed to get back on to the podium again. This time with just 3 penalties, Studebaker claimed gold in a time of 26:50. Just 23 seconds behind with 1 additional penalty was Dunklee followed by Chamberlain who struggled on the range today missing 7 of 10.

Bill Bowler (Lake Placid, NY) skied his way on to the top spot of the podium. Hitting 6 of 10 Bowler won in a time of 32:45. Zach Hall (Nikiska, AK) placed 2nd with 3 penalties and Jesse Downs was 3rd with 4 penalties.

Tomorrow concludes with the Mass Start competition.

U.S. Women Make Historic Finish in World Championships Relay

"Girls, I think you just made history!" US Biathlon Executive Director Max Cobb proclaimed after the finish of the women's relay during the World Championships in Korea. And they did: Finishing 10th in the relay competition in front of World Champion Norway really made the whole team proud. It was the best World Championship relay finish for the women since ninth place finish in 1997.

Lanny Barnes started first and managed to stay clean in the first shooting. That put her already in a good position, with only two extra shots in the second shooting she managed to stay in a good 12th place. "I am really glad that the WCHs are over. I felt quite tired on the track but I am satisfied with my shooting", Lanny stated after her race. Haley Johnson took over as 12th and managed to stay on that position until the next exchange although she needed five extra rounds overall. "Actually this is a good result for me. I was scared that I would have to go in the penalty loop but it's great that I actually hit some targets", she said with her usual sense of humor after the race. "And I felt really good on the track as well."

Laura Spector was "so excited about the race. I didn't even want it to be over. I felt so good on the course although it was hard to know in which position I might be because the order changed all the time. But I knew I was in a good position so I just kept on going." Spector had some problems with the windy conditions at the shooting range but managed to stay out of the penalty loop with three extra shots.

The last competitor was Tracy Barnes and she put up one of the best performances of her life: Not only that she stayed clean at the shooting range, she also presented the fastest shooting time of the day. "I just watched my sister's race and that somehow put me on a high. It was so inspiring I didn't even know if I hit all the targets when I left the range. I really didn't notice anything besides me." Having Tora Berger, the strongest Norwegian woman, fighting with her for place ten also gave her an extra portion of motivation. "I can't believe we managed to finish the race ahead of the Norwegians. That is simply awesome!"

Coach Per Nilsson was not only happy with the skiing performance but also the result at the shooting range. "We had the third best shooting performance of the day and those were really tough conditions. I am really proud of the girls!"

Tomorrow at the last days of this year's WCHs the men will have the opportunity to follow the girls in a Top10 position.

Boys Classic - results [pdf]
Boys Classic Team - results [pdf]
Boys Skimeister - results [pdf]
Boys Team All - results [pdf]
Girls Classic - results [pdf]
Girls Classic Team - results [pdf]
Girls Skimeister - results [pdf]
Girls Team All - results [pdf]
Top Ten Alpine - results [pdf]
Top Ten Nordic - results [pdf]

Chamberlain Strides to Second in SuperTour Standings

Madison, WI--Just four weeks ago, David Chamberlain (MWSC/Fisher Craft) stood in 18th place on the SuperTour points list. After a four week, four state campaign of cross-country ski battles, Chamberlain finished this weekend's Madison Capitol Sprints with a pair of second place finishes and stepped into second place overall on the national SuperTour list.

Chamberlain has earned his way back onto the podium with a show of overall excellence. Three weeks ago, he earned his first SuperTour victory since 2006 in a 10km classic race. Since that time, he's placed second in three SuperTour sprint races, earned a third in a classic distance race, and not once fell short of the top 15. This past weekend's team sprint looked like a chance for Chamberlain and teammate Colin Rodgers (Fischer Craft) to earn the win. But, as Chamberlain stepped into his skis for his final loop, his binding broke in the exchange zone. By the time he scrambled to get his warm up skis on, the pack was gone.

"As Colin came in to tag me I was standing there with one ski on yelling for someone to get me my warm up ski which was in the transition area," Chamberlain recounted. "By the time I got my ski on the race was 100m up the trail."

Chamberlain put in a valiant effort to close the gap and actually caught all but the first place team, giving Rodgers the chance to earn them the silver.

With just the American Birkebeiner and US Distance Nationals left on the schedule, Chamberlain sits only 22 points out of the overall SuperTour lead.

Boys Individual Skate - results [pdf]
Boys Team Skate - results [pdf]
Girls Individual Skate - results [pdf]
Girls Team Skate - results [pdf]
Boys Team GS - results [pdf]
Girls Team GS - results [pdf]

Lake Placid, NY - Temperatures in the mid 50's and rain last week caused organizers to make a decision whether or not to hold this weekend's Biathlon NorAm Cup in Lake Placid, NY. Through many discussions and weather watching, the organizers called off the NorAm event, but local club volunteers and coaches decided to put on an event for the athletes who were willing to make the trip. With a little help from Mother Nature and many hard working volunteers, a course was put together in time for today's Sprint race.

In the Senior Women's race BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou, ME) placed 2nd with one penalty and a final time of 24:28. Just 5 seconds ahead of Chamberlain was Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) just back from competing on the IBU Cup in Germany and Czech Republic. Dunklee completed the 7.5km course in 24:23 with 2 misses coming in her standing position. Rounding out the top 3 was Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) in a time of 24:57 with 1 penalty.

Less than two weeks after winning a silver medal at the Youth World Championships, Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent, ME) showed good form hitting 9 of 10 to win the Youth Women's 6km race in a time of 22:07. Joining Boutot were two of her MWSC teammates, Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond, ME) finished with 8 of 10 shooting, with her two misses coming in the prone stage. Mayo's time of 23:55 was 32 seconds faster than teammate Kaitlyn Bernard (Ft. Kent, ME) who finished with a time of 24:27 and 4 penalties.

Peyong Chang, Korea - Getting the word just a day prior to the first race of the Biathlon World Championships, Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) started the Sprint competition in place of Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) who came down with a cold. Warm temperatures and a lack of snow made for tough conditions on the already difficult course. Gusting winds proved to have no favorites as athletes fell prey to the tough shooting conditions throughout the day. Skiing strong on a course that suits his style, Currier found his line on the downhills and attacked the steep uphills. Entering the range for his prone stage, Currier struggled taking 3 penalties. Back on course Currier maintained his strong form and hit 4 of 5 in his standing to place 58th in a time of 27:12, 2:55 behind World Champion Ole Einer Bjoerndalen of Norway who hit 8 of 10. Placing in the top 60 qualifies Currier for tomorrow's Pursuit race.

Results and updates can be found at www.biathlonworld.com

The Nordic Heritage Sport Club is eagerly awaiting the arrival of skiers and biathletes for next week's full docket of events. The Club will host the Class B Nordic State Championships on February 16th and 18th and North American Cup Biathlon races on February 21st-22nd.

Maine's top class B high school racers will gather to kick off the week of racing with a 5km freestyle race on Monday, February 16th. Girls will start at 3pm and boys will follow at 4pm. The State Championships will wrap up with a 5km classic race on Wednesday the 18th, with boys starting the day at 9am and girls at 10:30am. The Alpine events for the Championships will be held at Big Rock in Mars Hill.

The week of racing will continue when some of North America's top biathletes battle it out on the trails and shooting range during the 9th NorAm Cup. Competitions on both Saturday the 21st and Sunday the 22nd will begin at 10am. Saturday's event will be a sprint competition and include a novice division for any aspiring biathletes. Sunday will be the head to head mass start competition. Come and join us as the week's excitement unfolds at the Nordic Heritage Center!

Canmore, Alberta, Canada, February 3, 2009. The American 3 x 6 km Relay in the Youth Women class had moments of triumph and of struggle.

Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) led off for the team, shooting clean with no extra round in prone and only needing two extra rounds in standing she tagged off to Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) in fourth place just two seconds off the third place Italian Team. Boutot skied well, posting the second fastest time in her first and second loops and shot five-for-five in both prone and standing. She left the range in first pace just 0.3 seconds ahead of the team from Belarus.

At the tag Boutot handed off to Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) in second place, just 11.9 seconds behind Belarus. McNamee, who has been sick during the championships, struggled on the range, needing four extra rounds and having to ski a penalty loop. But her efforts were not unrewarded, the team finished fifth and was honored in the flowers ceremony - a fine end to a good week of racing for the young American women who won a medal and scored two more top-ten finishes.

Earlier in the the day Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) and Nick Michaud (Fort Kent, ME) competed in the 3 x 7.5 km Youth Men Relay and finished eighth having struggled on the range. Dreissigacker cleaned his targets using three extra rounds and tagged off in fourth place. But the challenge on the range was too much for his teammates and the team ended up with a total of six penalties and 13 extra rounds.

Results | Photos from Judy Geer | US Biathlon Photo Gallery

The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo on our homepage to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

Telemark, WI--David Chamberlain proved that his fitness places him firmly in the top of the national field this weekend with his second SuperTour podium in as many weeks. After last weekend's win in Mount Itasca, MN, Chamberlain took a well deserved break this week with short travel to Telemark. Then, in Saturday's classic race, he finished just behind CXC's Bryan Cook and Saab/Salomon's Lars Flora for a solid 3rd place.

"Everything felt great," Chamberlain said. "I was fighting for the win the whole way."

Chamberlain followed up Saturday's 3rd with a 12th place in Sunday's mass start skate race. And while Chamberlain was hoping for a much better placing, his finish does not represent the effort. There is a silver lining.

"I was right in the lead pack for the entire first half of the race," Chamberlain said via phone on Monday. "But the course was so narrow that there really was no room for passing whatsoever. Every time the course widened, everyone tried to move forward. Just after the first lap, Colin Rogers and Garrot Kuzzy got tangled up in front of me. Someone else hit me from behind, and I went right into them. We just had to stand there and get sorted out. By the time I got going again, I was all the way to the back of the pack."

Chamberlain fought his way into the top ten and was passing steadily again, when a similar tangle took him back to 17th place with less than 1km to go. His 12th place finish seems to represent the ability to medal on the national level in skate as well as classic. Chamberlain's MWSC teammate, Nick Kline, showed that he is rapidly developing the ability to race at this level as well. Kline earned a season best 15th place in Sunday's skate race, just 34 seconds back of winner Leif Zimmerman (USST).

Up next for the MWSC XC Team is a stop at Black Mountain of Maine for a SuperTour Classic Sprint.

Canmore, Alberta - In another difficult day on the range, Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) managed again to strike down her targets. Entering prone with one of the top first lap times, Boutot rapidly nailed all five shots. Back on course she maintained her skiing position entering the range once again with gusting winds, but hitting all but one target. On her final lap, Boutot managed to climb up the list to land in 9th place. After the race she commented, "I knew I had to be more aggressive today. The Individual is definitely a shooters race and the Sprint is a skier's race. I'm pretty happy with the way things went today and am in a good position for tomorrow's Pursuit."

MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander commented, "This was a solid race by Grace today. Last year she was 55th in this race, so 9th is a great improvement. Her shooting times today were great, not much over a minute for the two stages combined and her skiing was solid."

U.S. teammate Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) led the team with a 6th place finish. Byrne like Boutot missed just one shot to finish 29.8 seconds behind co-Champions Olga Galich or Russia and Yan Zhang of China who recorded the same time of 19:31.4.

Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) struggled in prone, missing 4 of 5, but came back to hit 4 of 5 in standing finishing 39th. Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) showed good patience in the range hitting 7 of 10 to finish 43rd in the Youth Men's race.

Canmore, Alberta, Canada, January 29, 2009. Grace Boutot (Fort Kent, ME) won the Silver medal in the Youth Women 10K Individual competition today.

Boutot finished 1:03.9 behind Yan Zhang of China. Both Boutot and Zhang had one penalty. Third went to local favorite Yolaine Oddou of Canada, 1:35.9 back. Oddou had one penalty in each of the first two stages, but cleaned the final two stages.

The 17-year-old Zhang carried a substantial lead of two minutes throughout the competition, while shooting clean in the first three stages. In the final standing stage, she faltered briefly, missing one shot, but recovered to hit the remaining four targets. With this single one-minute penalty, she crossed the finish line in 35:13.7.

Silver medalist Grace Boutot also was surprised by her medal as much as the Chinese Gold medalist was. "My goal was to get a top 10 finish here, and I certainly achieved that. I have overachieved." She missed her first shot of the competition, but knocked down the final 19 targets. She explained what happened with that first shot, "I was trying to calm down my breathing and take the first shot. My finger got on the trigger a little too fast and I jerked it, hitting the white box below the target."

Boutot, like the other 39 youth women in the field battled a strong wind that crossed the shooting range from left to right all morning. At times, it gusted up to 50 kilometers per hour, making the shooting conditions extremely tough. With a medal on the line, Boutot faced a huge gust in her final standing stage. She explained, "The last standing was really hard as it was very windy. I waited to take the final shots. I knew it was better to wait for 10 or 20 seconds than to take a one-minute penalty for a miss."

For Boutot, the support of her teammates, her coach and her mother who was in the stands helped her through the final stages of the competition. "Our whole team was here today. They are very supportive and they were cheering me on." She continued, "The last loop was pretty intense. I did know how I was doing until then. I had no idea. The Vlad (Cervenka) was screaming that I was second. There was a Swiss girl right next to me and we were fighting the entire loop."

Glowing as she left the podium and the mandatory photo sessions, she added, "Winning a medal has been a great experience."

Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) finished 14th, with five penalties, 5:06.5 back, while Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield, ME) finished 30th, with seven penalties, 7:54.3 back.

There are no competitions scheduled for Friday. The Sprint competitions are on Saturday, followed by the Pursuit on Sunday.

Find the complete event schedule and and result links. Click on "Watch us live on the web" link at www.USBiathlon.com to watch live streaming video (select races only) and the live results data stream (all races).

Junior / Youth World Championships - Canmore Alberta
27 Jan - 3 Feb, 2009
Jan-28-09 Youth Men's 12.5km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-28-09 Junior Men's 15km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Youth Women's 10km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Junior Women's 12.5km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Men's 10km Sprint [08:50]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Men's 7.5km Sprint [11:05]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Women's 7.5km Sprint [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Women's 6km Sprint [15:25]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Men's 10km Pursuit [10:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Men's 12.5km Pursuit [11:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Women's 7.5km Pursuit [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Women's 10km Pursuit [14:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Men's 4x7.5km Relay [08:50]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Men's 3x7.5km Relay [11:05]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Women's 3x6km Relay [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Women's 3x6km Relay [15:35]: Start List/Results

FLASH RELEASE - Canmore, Alberta, Canada, January 29, 2009 — Grace Boutot wins the Silver Medal finish at the Individual Competition Youth Biathlon World Championships being held in Canmore Alberta today.

Grace is one of the best biathlon shooters in the USA and did a terrific job today hitting 19 for 20. The one miss she had in the first prone shooting seems to have been fired into the dirt by accident during her set up. She finished 1:03 behind the winner Yan Zhang of China (who also had just one miss) and 32 seconds ahead of a girl from Canada.

This is a historic first in the history of Women's Youth World Championships for the USA!!!

Congratulations Grace and to all the Boutot's who supported her in making all this possible.

Junior / Youth World Championships - Canmore Alberta
27 Jan - 3 Feb, 2009
Jan-29-09 Youth Women's 10km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results

More information will be released as it become available at www.USBiathlon.com. Find the complete event schedule and and result links. Click on "Watch us live on the web" link at www.USBiathlon.com to watch live streaming video (select races only) and the live results data stream (all races).

Canmore, Alberta, Canada, January 28, 2009. Racing in his first international competition, Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) finished 41st in a time of 46:08 at the Biathlon Youth World Championships today. Michaud started out with a conservative pace knowing every hit in today's race was worth so much more having 1-minute penalties added to the final time for every missed shot. Cleaning his first stage Michaud left in 10th place. Arriving for his first standing, normally his stronger shooting position, he had 2 penalties dropping him back to 23rd place. In his second prone stage, Michaud again cleaned and moved back up to 17th place. But 4 penalties in his final shooting dropped him back once again.

After the race Michaud commented, "I was so tired my 4th loop that my body just wanted to lie down on the mat during my final shooting stage." MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander also commented, "This is a strong start for Nick. He arrived just three days ago and usually the third day is the toughest day at altitude. Today was a shooter's race and he was right in there through three stages; I think he'll recover over the next two days and come back strong for the Sprint race."

Ethan Dreisigacker (Morrisville, VT) finished 26th with 5 penalties in a time of 42:25, Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) finished 40th with 8 penalties in a time of 46:07, and Preston Butler (Marion, MA) finished 51st with 10 penalties in a time of 48:59.

Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) and Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) compete tomorrow in the Youth Women's Individual race.

Find the complete event schedule and and result links. Click on "Watch us live on the web" link at www.USBiathlon.com to watch live streaming video (select races only) and the live results data stream (all races).

Junior / Youth World Championships - Canmore Alberta
27 Jan - 3 Feb, 2009
Jan-28-09 Youth Men's 12.5km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-28-09 Junior Men's 15km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Youth Women's 10km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Junior Women's 12.5km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Men's 10km Sprint [08:50]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Men's 7.5km Sprint [11:05]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Women's 7.5km Sprint [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Women's 6km Sprint [15:25]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Men's 10km Pursuit [10:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Men's 12.5km Pursuit [11:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Women's 7.5km Pursuit [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Women's 10km Pursuit [14:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Men's 4x7.5km Relay [08:50]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Men's 3x7.5km Relay [11:05]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Women's 3x6km Relay [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Women's 3x6km Relay [15:35]: Start List/Results

Canmore, Alberta, Canada, January 27, 2009. The American Team is both well prepared and acclimated according to Coach Vladimir Cervenka. Most of the athletes have been here for 5-6 days. Cervenka said that the two top Junior men, Leif Nordgren (Marine-on-St. Croix, MN) and Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) were feeling ready. Cervenka commented. "We missed some planned workouts due to the extreme cold over the weekend (minus 32 Celsius), so the guys felt a bit sluggish on Monday. Now, especially in the warmer (minus 8 Celsius), they felt a lot better. The key for them as well as the Youth Men tomorrow is the shooting. This can be a tricky range when it is windy."

The US will have four starters in the Youth Individual competition. Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) was the top Youth finisher in the World Championships last year. Cervenka feels he is much stronger this year. Along with Dreissigacker, the US will start Preston Butler (Marion, MA), Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN), and Nick Michaud (Fort Kent, ME).

Find the complete event schedule and and result links. Click on "Watch us live on the web" link at www.USBiathlon.com to watch live streaming video (select races only) and the live results data stream (all races).

Junior / Youth World Championships - Canmore Alberta
27 Jan - 3 Feb, 2009
Jan-28-09 Youth Men's 12.5km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-28-09 Junior Men's 15km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Youth Women's 10km Individual [10:00]: Start List/Results
Jan-29-09 Junior Women's 12.5km Individual [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Men's 10km Sprint [08:50]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Men's 7.5km Sprint [11:05]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Junior Women's 7.5km Sprint [13:30]: Start List/Results
Jan-31-09 Youth Women's 6km Sprint [15:25]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Men's 10km Pursuit [10:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Men's 12.5km Pursuit [11:00]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Youth Women's 7.5km Pursuit [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-01-09 Junior Women's 10km Pursuit [14:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Men's 4x7.5km Relay [08:50]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Men's 3x7.5km Relay [11:05]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Junior Women's 3x6km Relay [13:30]: Start List/Results
Feb-03-09 Youth Women's 3x6km Relay [15:35]: Start List/Results

Four Seasons Trail Association Names 2009 Executive Directors

Madawaska, ME - 01.27.09 —The newly-elected executive directors for the Four Seasons Trail Association (FSTA) in Madawaska are pictured left to right: First-term Executive President Doug Cyr replaced outgoing president Ross Dubois, who had served in that capacity since the creation of the board in 2004. Executive Secretary Cecilia Guerrette returns for a second term. Ross Dubois enters his first term as the Executive Treasurer. Mark Dionne is the first-term Executive Vice President, and John Ezzy enters the new office of Executive Director, overseeing the business portion of the organization. For more information about this public venue, visit us on the web at: www.fourseasonstrail.org.

Coleraine, MN - January 23, 2009 — David Chamberlain used a week at home and a grueling Eastern Cup victory as a springboard to his first SuperTour victory since the 2004 season. Racing in the same sub-zero temps that have plagued him for most of the season, Chamberlain earned a win over CXC Elite Team member Brian Cook in Saturday's 10km Classic. The victory marks a steady return to form that Chamberlain has been working toward all season.

"It was hard, but I felt solid the whole way," Chamberlain said Sunday. "The cold never really got to me like it has."

Fellow MWSC Elite Teamer Nick Kline earned his best ever SuperTour finish with a 15th place in the Saturday event. In Sunday's, even colder, 10km skate race, Chamberlain struggled with the cold and finished 11th. Kline, meanwhile, toughed it out for a 16th place.

"It's great to see Nick coming along like this. He's worked very hard to find a great balance, and it's paying off. Both races this weekend put him at the front of the pack for freshmen on the SuperTour circuit," said MWSC XC Coach Will Sweetser.

The MWSC XC athletes next head to Telemark, WI, where they will contest a sprint and two distance events.

Antholz, Italy, January 23, 2009. Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) greeted the course in Antholz, Italy like an old friend as he posted one of the fastest ski times of the day. "This is an awesome course for me," said Burke after the race. "And the best part is that it is a lot like the Olympic course in Vancouver." Biathletes use different techniques depending on the terrain they are covering, steep hills require a technique called V1 while more gradual climbs can be tackled with V2. Burke is a V2 specialist. "This course, like the one in Vancouver, is almost all V2, I think I did maybe five V1s out there today. This course was made for me."

Burke took his time on the shooting range today and escaped prone shooting clean in 32 seconds, leaving the range in 7th place. Over the next loop he logged the 3rd best time only 0.6 seconds behind the eventual winner Emil Svendsen of Norway. Back on the range for standing shooting he missed the last two shots - splitting one bullet at three oclock. His 50 seconds on the penalty loop and a little longer than normal range times left him in 16th place leaving the range but he managed to make up time on the last loop and finished 15th, 59 seconds behind the overall World Cup leader from Norway Emil Svendsen.

"The distance to a medal was two shots today," said US Development Coach James Upham who was supporting the team on the range in Antholz, Italy. "Tim has a really nice start position for the Pursuit tomorrow and his skiing is there." Start positions in 12.5 km Pursuit are based on the time back from the winner in 10 km Sprint so Burke will go out in 15th place just under a minute behind the leader.

Complete Results | Photo Gallery

Live streaming video coverage of the race begins Saturday at 8:45 AM Eastern time and is available by clicking on the "Watch us live on the web" link above the News box at www.USBiathlon.org.

The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo on our homepage to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

Fort Kent Voyageur Loppet Postponed!
January 25, 2008 - This Sunday's marathon at the 10th Mountain Center has been rescheduled due to forecasted high temperatures below zero. The new date of the event is Sunday, February 1. Please forward this to any other skiers that you know that may have been interested in attending.

Rumford, Maine, January 18, 2009. Amid falling snow and on equally strong performances by both their Men's and Women's Teams, Colby College took the third annual Maine College Ski Championships today at Historic Black Mountain in Rumford.

Teams from 5 Maine Colleges took to the tough trails of Black Mountain to see who would take home the crystal trophy and have bragging rights to being the top nordic ski team in the State.

Colby's Lucy Gerrec took the top honors in the women's 10 kilometer race in a time of 36:28.8, followed by Kathleen Maynard (Colby), 37:27.8, and Natalie Ruppertsberger (Bates) 37:53.4.

Colby also took the top spot in the Men's 15 kilometer race with Matt Briggs crossing the line in 47:13.9. Sylvan Ellefson (Bates) was second with a time of 47:47.4, followed by Wyatt Fereday (Colby) 48:14.1.

Final Score:
Colby: 260
Bates: 250
Bowdoin: 226
UMaine Orono: 140
UMaine PI: 105

Event is co-sponsored by the Maine chapter of the 10th Mountain Division veterans Association and Maine Winter Sports Center. The Championships honors the role the 10th Mountain Division played in the development of the modern ski industry in the United States.
Rumford, Maine - 01.18.09 - Heavy snow and cold temperatures made an already difficult Black Mountain course even more challenging as Maine's top 19 and under skiers looked to capture the title of Maine's top Junior. Adele Espy (Freeport), a senior at Waynflete High School, defended her title from last year and took the 10th Mountain Championships with a time of 36:24.8. Lucy Garrec (Freeport), a freshman at Colby College was 4.0 seconds back in second place. Sam Tarling (Cumberland), attending Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, took the Men's title in the grueling 15 kilometer race with a time of 50:24.1. Welly Ramsey (Farmington), a senior at Mt Blue High School, was runner-up, 6.7 seconds back.

Espy is having a breakout season, returning from races in West Yellowstone, Montana and at US National Championships earlier this month in Anchorage, at which she named to the US Junior National Team. She will compete at Junior World Championships in Praz de Lys, France later this month.

Tarling is one of the top young skiers in the east, placing 5th at last years JO Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.

The 10th Mountain Championships are co-sponsored by the 10th Mountain Division Veterans Association of Maine and the Maine Winter Sports Center. The 10th Mountain Championships honor the role the division played in creating the modern ski industry when they returned, as the most heavily decorated division in World War II.

HISTORY OF THE 10th MOUNTAIN DIVISION

The Origin and Training of the 10th Mountain Division

Anticipation of world conflict was in the air in 1940. The spirited Finnish defense against the Russian invasion of their country, conducted by ski troops on cross-country skis, demonstrated that the ski had military applications, and that troops who were unprepared to move, fight, and live in winter conditions were terribly vulnerable to those who were. Among those in the U.S. who took notice was National Ski Patrol founder C. Minot (Minnie) Dole. Dole and members of the American Alpine Club (AAC) introduced the concept of US ski troops to friends in the War Department, including the new Secretary of War Henry Stimson, an AAC member.

There was resistance to the idea in the Army until the fall of 1941, when news came from the Balkan front that Yugoslav troops under General Tito, unprepared for the new forms of winter warfare, had suffered catastrophic casualties against the Germans. The events of the Balkan Campaign made the need for specially trained mountain troops clear and the Army announced the activation of the 1st Battalion, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment at Ft. Lewis, Washington soon after.

The National Ski Patrol was asked to handle the recruiting for the new mountain regiment and so became the first civilian agency to ever recruit for the US Army. Before acceptance into the mountain troops, recruits were required to complete a questionnaire detailing their ski experience and provide three letters of recommendation.

The 87th spent several months training on skis and snowshoes at Paradise and Tatoosh Lodges in Mt. Rainier National Park, though they were hampered by the National Park Service rule that forbade the use of firearms in the park. By the spring of 1942 plans were made to expand the mountain troops into a division-sized force, and a larger training camp was established in a flat, wide valley at 9500 feet of elevation in the Colorado Rockies.

Training at Camp Hale, Colorado began in December 1942, and a second regiment, the 86th, was activated. Largely filled with National Ski Patrol recruits, the 86th quickly became a hard-driving, high-morale unit and earned the respect of the regular army. The early summer of 1943 saw a third regiment, the 85th, activated. The 10th would continue its rigorous ski and mountaineering training regimen at Camp Hale until the summer of 1944, and was reputed to have undergone some of the most intense training of any division in the US Army. In the fall of 1944, the unit was officially designated the 10th Mountain Division and received a new commander, Brigadier General George P. Hays.

The 10th in Combat

In November and December of 1944 the 10th embarked by sea for Naples, Italy. They moved north to the Apennine Mountains, where stubborn German resistance in the high ground had stalled the advance of the US Fifth Army.

Riva Ridge, the 10th's first combat objective, was steep enough that German mountain troops holding it believed it was unclimbable. With the Germans using the mountaintop to pinpoint artillery fire on any Allied advance, the position was a critical objective in the push up Monte Belvidere ridge. On the night of February 18-19, 1945, with orders to use only grenades and bayonets on the attack, about 900 men of the 86th ascended four routes onto the summits of Riva Ridge and successfully drove off the surprised German defenders. The division's opening action, a night climb up steep cliffs followed by night attacks on well dug-in mountain positions, was a most impressive baptism by fire.

The remaining units of the 10th advanced onto the Monte Belvidere-Monte della Torraccia range under the cover of darkness, and had the terrain under control by February 24. Casualties were heavy, but the objectives were taken days earlier than had been planned.

By the beginning of March the initial objectives were in hand and there was a lull in the action for the 10th. On April 14, 1945 the Allied spring offensive commenced, with the 10th chosen to spearhead the assault all along the Italian line. The division suffered terrible casualties as it fought its way north through the Apennine foothills. Well out in front of the rest of the Fifth Army, with the enemy in front and on both flanks, the 10th advanced rapidly to the Po River. The Germans were kept off-guard and unable to organize an effective defense. Once the 10th was across the river, many German positions became untenable, and masses of the enemy began to surrender. Racing north toward the Brenner Pass into Austria, hoping to trap the Germans in Italy, the 10th had moved again into mountain country at Lake Garda when word came on May 2, 1945 that all German troops in Italy had surrendered.

In 114 days of combat the 10th had suffered 992 killed and 4,154 wounded. In fact the 10th suffered the highest casualty rate and was the most highly decorated division in the war.

The Legacy of the Mountain Troops

Was there a military significance to the unique recruitment and mountain training of the 10th Mountain Division? In the end, their specialized training was used in combat only once, at Riva Ridge. A 1982 study asserted that the unique nature of the 10th and the caliber of its soldiers allowed its commander to alter the character of the division almost daily. The above-average intelligence and fitness of its soldiers, combined with the emphasis in training on individual initiative and aggressive tactics produced a division whose aggressiveness and mobility led to great battlefield accomplishments.

The effect members of the 10th Mountain Division had on the postwar sport of skiing in the U.S. is clearer. Hundreds of ski resorts and businesses felt the influence of 10th veterans who returned from the war and set out to enjoy, and perhaps earn a living in, their demobilized sport. The first effects were felt in Colorado, at Aspen and Arapaho Basin, then Vail - all resorts started by men who had toured through the high country around Camp Hale in their days in the 10th. Consider the roster of 10th Mountain Division veterans with notable impacts on the sport of skiing:

Wendall Broomhall, nordic competitor and official
Walter Prager, Dartmouth Ski coach
Monty Atwater, pioneer in avalanche control
Gerry Cunningham, founder of Gerry Equipment
Bill Healy, founder of Mt. Bachelor, Oregon
John Jay, skiing filmmaker
Larry Jump, founder of Arapaho Basin, Colorado
Ed Link, founder of Crystal Mountain, Washington
George Nelson, founder of Lutsen, Minnesota
Robert Nordhaus, founder of Santa Fe Ski Basin, New Mexico
Friedl Pfeifer, co-founder of Aspen, Colorado
Pete Seibert, founder of Vail, Colorado

Hundreds of other 10th Mountain veterans exercised a broad influence on skiing over the postwar decades as they taught lessons, patrolled the slopes, managed resorts, staffed organizations and provided the backbone of the sport.

Many veterans remained active in the National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, attending reunions, organizing activities, telling stories, and recalling missing comrades. Many spoke fondly of the extraordinary friendships forged in the rigors of training in alpine Colorado and in the intense days of bitter fighting in Italy. Some never mentioned their days in the 10th. All were shaped by them.

Ruhpolding, Germany, January 16, 2009. With the American men showing great speed in the relay it's a great oportunity to watch them in the Sprint and Pursuit competition this weekend. The schedule is below and you can watch by visiting www.USBiathlon.org and clicking on the "Watch us live on the web" navigation link just above the News.

Biathlon World Cup Ruhpolding, Germany 14-18 January 2009
01-17-09 Men's 10km Sprint [8:15]: Start List/Results
01-18-09 Women's 10km Pursuit [6:15]: Start List/Results
01-18-09 Men's 12.5km Pursuit [9:00]: Start List/Results

Watch live results and streaming video of all competitions at www.USBiathlon.com.
The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo on our homepage to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic - Site of last season's European Biathlon Championships and already this season's Tour de Ski the venue of Nove Mesto na Morave has been putting on high level competitions for some years now. This weekend is no different as the IBU Cup rolled into town. With over 3km of manmade snow along with some recently new fallen snow the tracks were in perfect condition. Coach James Upham commented, "I've been here three years in a row now and this is the best I've seen it. This course is one of the toughest around, so we'll get a good look at who has good fitness right now."

In the Women's race Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) hit 8 of 10 targets to lead the US women with a 25th placing in a time of 25:02. Studebaker rapids cleaned her prone stage after take a correction for the wind. Suffering her two misses in standing, Studebaker quickly skied her penalty loops and charged back on course trying to gain every second for a better placing in tomorrow's Pursuit race. 12 seconds back of Studebaker was teammate Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) who hit 7 of 10 to gain 29th place in a time of 25:14. Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) was one hit shy of cleaning her race today. After a clean prone stage, Barnes just missed the edge of her 3rd shot giving her 1 penalty on the day to place 31st with a time of 25:22. Carolyn Bramante (Duluth, MN) finished 36th with 4 penalties in a time of 25:56 and Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) hit 6 of 10 to finish 40th. All five women qualified for Saturday's Pursuit race. "This was a solid day for our ladies," commented Coach Gary Colliander. "They all showed great poise on the range with the varying wind conditions and over the radio I could hear that they were attacking the uphills." Austria's Iris Vladhuber won with clean shooting in a time of 22:25, 2nd place went to Germany's Romy Beer with 1 penalty and 2 seconds back, 3rd went to Natalia Sokolova or Russia with 3 penalties and 22 seconds back.

In the Men's race Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) led the US Men with a 34th place. Currier turned in the 24th fastest ski time in a field of 120 racers. Missing two targets in prone, Currier went back to work on the course attacking the very difficult Men's course. The Men's course is one of the toughest on the biathlon and cross-country circuit; just a couple weeks ago two races for the Tour de Ski were held here. During his standing stage, Currier rapidly fired down 4 shots before missing just wide on his final shot. With 3 penalties on the day Currier finished in a time of 28:58. Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN) hit 8 of 10 targets to finish 54th and Zach Hall (Nikiska, AK) like Johnson hit 8 of 10 to finish 61st. Currier and Johnson will race in the Pursuit race on Saturday; Hall just missed out as the top 60 qualify for the Pursuit. "Again the Men performed well, but we all agree we can get better and eventually a lot closer to the top," Colliander commented. This is one of the toughest fields the IBU Cup circuit has seen in a long time. Our guys are showing they've made good progress this year, but we still have more work to do. I'm excited to see their enthusiasm already to take on this challenge." Hans Martain Gjerdrem of Norway won in a time of 26:04 with 1 penalty followed by the German duo of Christoph Knie and Daniel Graf. Knie hit all 10 targets and Graf suffered 1 penalty in the standing stage leaving them 14.5 and 14.9 seconds off of Gjerdrem.

See the World Cup schedule above to watch online.

MWSC alumni post historic relay result
Ruhpolding, Germany, January 14, 2009. The US Relay team made up of three Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) alumni: Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK), combined with Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), to post the best US relay result in 20 years tonight with a 5th place finish in the 4 x 7.5K Relay.

With a crowd of 17,800 fans in the stadium, the US quartet had their personal best result, topping their seventh place here in 2007. Former MWSC biathlon coach and current US National Team Coach Per Nilsson was brimming with pride at the finish line. Having trouble finding the right words, he commented, "It was unbelievable! It was close to a medal, which is what we are aiming for in the future. The difference was the shooting. The zero penalties plus only nine spare rounds is our best in these three years. The difference now is a couple of spare rounds. Everyone did their game plan today and that is very important."

The "game plan" according to Nilsson is for each athlete to not be caught up in the moment and concentrate on his individual race. That was the case this evening as the US finished 2:05.9 behind Norway who won in 1:24:54. Germany finished 1:20.2 back in second, with Austria 1:43.1 back. Italy stayed just ahead of the US by 1.8 seconds to take fourth.

From the outset, the US men were in the heat of the battle for a top finish. Lowell Bailey shot clean on prone and needed just one spare round in the first leg. He passed to Jay Hakkinen in eighth position. Hakkinen skied conservatively and stayed calm in the shooting range, despite needing all three spare rounds to clean prone. In standing, he shot fast, using just one spare. He moved the US up to sixth position. Burke took over from Hakkinen, and needed one spare round to clean prone. Burke could have moved the team up but had problems with his spare round. He explained," I had a jam and could not get it out to put in the spare round. My fingers were cold, but I stayed calm. I got out of there with one extra. It was damage control at that point." He used an additional spare round to clean standing. At this point, Burke turned on the afterburners and moved the US up to fourth position as he passed to Teela. "Burke showed he is back in form," said Executive Director Max Cobb. "His time on the last loop was the fastest of anyone in the third leg and fourth fastest of the day overall, just 5 second behind World Champion and the fastest biathlete this year Emil Svendsen of Norway. This is a good measure of his ski form which has been getting better with each race this month."

Teela, the US anchor had a chance to bring the US a podium position and came through with flying colors. He shot slowly on prone but cleaned. In standing, he again maintained his cool and cleaned with two spare rounds. He left in a close sixth position, with the strong Russian team in hot pursuit. Teela, managed to pass France and close on Italy for the fifth place finish. At the finish, he said, "I do not know how I did it. All I could hear was the voices of my teammates in my mind. My legs felt horrible, but somehow I did it. I was really concerned about the Russians behind me. The important thing is that we got our best result." Teela also had the fastest time on the last lap in his leg of the relay.

Ruhpolding MWSC team01

Burke added, "It feels great to have my form back, and especially great to have this kind of a performance here in front of this crowd. Everyone knows we have great potential in the relay and it was awesome to finally put it together. We really have momentum now, as a team and individually."

This is the final relay competition before the World Championships in Pyeong Chang Korea in mid-February.

The Women's 7.5K Sprint is on Friday, followed by the Men's 10K Sprint on Saturday. Former MWSC athletes, Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, NY) and Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) are the US entrants in the Women's Sprint.

Watch live results and streaming video of all competitions at www.USBiathlon.com.

Altenberg, Germany - Clear skies and wind flags hanging still were clear signs of perfect shooting conditions today. Working out the nerves and travel through yesterday's Individual race the U.S. Team was ready to attack the course and improve on their performances.

Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) again came through with another strong performance today in the Sprint race at the IBU Cup. Barnes who spent Christmas with relatives in Germany so she could compete in front of 51,000 screaming fans at the Biathlon Grand Prix in the German soccer stadium for the Schalke 04 Team has been riding a high with her confidence as of late. Cleaning her prone with 5 solid hits Barnes' only mistake would come in her standing stage. National Team Coach Gary Colliander commented, "Lanny had another strong race today. Former German National Team member Katja Beer was announcing the past two days and she was happy to announce Lanny was in 5th place after her prone stage today." Barnes finished 1 minute 32 seconds behind winner Juliane Doll of Germany who also had 1 penalty and a winning time of 22:01. Natalia Sokolova of Russia was 2nd with 2 penalties, 26.2 seconds back and Latvia's Madara Liduma was 3rd with 2 penalties, 26.7 seconds back. Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) made a strong jump today hitting 8 of 10 targets to claim 28th place. She was followed by Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) in 30th with 3 penalties, Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) in 36th with 2 penalties, Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) in 38th with 3 penalties, and Carolyn Bramante (Duluth, MN) in 39th with 2 penalties.

In the Men's race Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) led the U.S. squad with strong skiing to place 45th. Currier hit 8 of 10 to finish in a time of 26:03, 2 minutes 24 seconds behind winner Artem Gusev of Russia who hit all 10 targets. Mattia Cola of Italy like Gusev also hit all 10 targets finishing 32 seconds back. A strong performance by Germany's Florian Graf, who is still a Junior (under the age of 21) placed 3rd with 1 penalty, 41 seconds back. Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN) placed 54th with 2 penalties and Zach Hall (Nikiska, AK) placed 61st also with 2 penalties. "I'm happy with the overall efforts by everyone today," commented Colliander. "Everyone left the start gate today looking for that extra gear and whether or not they found it they tried to find it and that's a good sign. Shooting conditions today were perfect with no wind so that kept the results very tight. Good signs for us as we head to Nove Mesto, Czech Republic next week."

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The U.S. Biathlon Association supports the U.S. Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

Full results available at www.biathlonworld.com

Altenberg, Germany - The weather forecast called for another beautiful day for the Sachsen region of Northeast Germany. What the weatherman forgot to mention was the morning snowfall and the afternoon fog. Mother Nature brought out a few tricks of her own keeping the athletes, staff and organizing committee guessing all day.

Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN) led the U.S. Men hitting 16 of 20 targets to place 48th in a time of 1:03:12. Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) turned in a very fast ski time, but 8 penalties left him in 54th place in a time of 1:04:01. Zach Hall (Nikiska, AK) in his first international competition finished 79th with 7 penalties. Another large field started today's race with 125 men on the start list. Norway's Frode Andresen missed just one shot in his first stage, but was perfect after that on his way to claiming the gold in a time of 53:39. Sergey Balandin of Russia was 2nd with 1 penalty, 1 minute and 22 seconds back followed by Germany's Norbert Schiller 2 minutes 19 seconds back with 2 penalties.

In the Women's Individual, Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) led the U.S. Women with an 18th place finish despite 3 penalties in gusting wind. With only 1 penalty after her second shooting bout, the announcers had Barnes in 3rd place. Carolyn Bramante (Duluth, MN) took some time off from Medical School to join the Team and finished in 32nd place with 5 penalties. Bramante cleaned both prone stages taking all of her misses in standing. Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) finished 40th with 8 penalties, followed by Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) in 42nd also with 8 penalties, Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) in 43 with 7 penalties, and Laura Spector (Lenox, MA) with 10 penalties. "Shooting conditions were tough today. Lanny put a good race together and Susan had a good showing considering this was her first international competition. I think she was just a little nervous last night," commented National Team Coach Gary Colliander with a smile. Germany took the top two spots with local hometown girls Romy Beer and Anne Preussler. Winning in a time of 46:56 Beer won by 22 seconds over Preussler, each having 3 penalties. Lyudmyla Pysarenko of Ukraine was 3rd with 1 penalty, 29 seconds back.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The U.S. Biathlon Association supports the U.S. Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

Full results available at www.biathlonworld.com or www.biathlon.usoc.org

Anchorage, Alaska - The cold snap that has much of Alaska in a strangle hold let up just enough today to allow the national classic sprint championship to go off. On a windy -2F course, U.S. Team members Kris Freeman and Kikkan Randall ran away with the titles. But the cinderella story of the day was Alaska natives Amy Glenn and Mike Hinckley. With opportunities to make World Junior and World U23 Championships on the line, it was put up or shut up. Glenn qualified 2nd in the women's field to put herself on the World Junior Team, and Hinckley finished the day in 2nd place overall to leap onto the U23 squad.

Maine Winter Sports Center was paced by David Chamberlain qualifying 18th. In his quarter final round, he came up just short of Lars Flora for a chance to move on. Nick Kline finished 14th among U23s. Joey Bard was 13th for Juniors.

While all of the MWSC squad came away from this frigid nationals with some unmet goals, the team shows significant improvement overall. Nick Michaud, Joey Bard and Nick Kline all came away from the week with a top 15 age-group finish, while Fred Bailey and Sarah Dominick both finished with placements 20-30 spots higher than last year.

The MWSC Cross-Country Team will head next to Rumford, ME for the NENSA Eastern Cup on January 17th.

Anchorage, AK--Fort Kent's Nicholas Michaud was named to the U.S. Junior 1 Team at Kincaid Park yesterday. Michaud, who last week earned a berth on the U.S. squad to Biathlon World Junior/Youth Championships, was one of six young men chosen to represent the U.S. during the Scandinavian Youth Cross-Country Championships in Norway. As the two championships conflict, Michaud has elected to compete at the Biathlon World Junior/Youth Champs.

Michaud was the youngest competitor named to the U.S. Junior 1 Team. Additionally, he was the only skier to qualify for both a biathlon and cross-country championship team this season. Last year, Minnesota's Lief Nordgren qualified for same two teams Michaud has. Nordgren went on to place 3rd at Biathlon World Youth Champs.

Anchorage, Alaska - The cold snap that moved in to Anchorage over Christmas is still in place, and with no end to sub-zero temperatures in sight, it is possible that we've seen the only race that will be held at U.S. Cross-Country Ski Nationals this year. The FIS has a strict temperature limit of -20C, over the first 5 days of scheduled racing, the Kincaid Park Nordic area has seen temps above that limit for a total of less than 5 hours. If the cold remains in place as forecast, racing could be done for the week.

The U.S. Ski Team uses Nationals as qualifying races for World Junior Championships, U23 World Championships and for the FIS World Cup in Vancouver, BC next week. For anyone whose specialty is not a 5km/10km skate race, they may not have a chance to prove their mettle here in Anchorage. This could be especially devastating for the country's sprinters, who have not yet had a qualification race this season due to poor snow conditions in the West.

Today's sprint race at Kincaid Park seems in question, already at 6 a.m., as temperatures overnight plummeted to -28C. If today's race is canceled, tomorrow's scheduled distance classic race will be replaced with a classic sprint. However, the forecast for tomorrow looks no different than the past week's worth of sub-zero days.

Anchorage, Alaska - After two days of cancellations, the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Nationals got under way with 5km and 10km skate races. On a day that was significantly warmer than the previous week, but still dangerously cold, the races were shortened from their original distances and the interval start between racers was compressed in order to get the races done quickly.

In the women's race, Caitlyn Compton returned from her year-long hiatus with the U.S. Biathlon Team and demonstrated her strength in storming to the win. Compton was chased to the line by the U.S. Ski Team's Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen. On the men's side, it was the Bird show--Kris Freeman demolished the competition on his way to winning by nearly a full minute. The U.S. Ski Team's Lief Zimmerman glided to second, while CXC's Matt Leibsch turned in what was likely the best personal race of the day to earn last spot on the podium.

The Maine Winter Sports squad had some excellent performances from Nick Michaud and Nick Kline who finished as 8th J1 and 14th U23(10th American U23), respectively.

"Nick (Michaud) has really taken a step up," said MWSC XC Coach Will Sweetser. "Last week he made the US Biathlon squad to World Juniors. Today, he's showing that he is right at that level in cross-country as well."

Team leader David Chamberlain had an excellent start before struggling with the cold between kilometers 5 and 8. However, when the train of skiers including the U.S. Ski Team's Garrott Kuzzy caught Chamberlain he held on and actually recovered. Over the final kilometer of the race, he put nearly 20 seconds back on the entire group he was skiing with and clawed his way back up to 18th.

"David showed some real mettle out there," said Sweetser. "With the exception of a couple of kilometers, he had a solid top 8 race going. We are just on the edge of where he needs to be."

Anchorage, Alaska - Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent), Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield), and Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) were named today to the Youth Biathlon World Championship Team. More to come!

Anchorage, Alaska - On the final day of competition, Mother Nature didn't let up on her promise for another sub-zero morning. Athletes, coaches and organizers were welcomed with a temperature of -6 degrees prompting the Competition Jury to postpone the races by one hour. Despite the pain felt from the day before from the cold, humid weather, the athletes were bundled up and ready to go for the ever exciting Mass Start race.

In the Youth Women's race Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) continued her dominance entering the range at the front of the pack. Hitting all 5 targets in rapid succession, Boutot distanced herself from and never had to look back. Each taking a penalty in prone Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) and Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) left in 2nd and 3rd place followed by Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) who cleaned prone and leapfrogged up to 4th. Re-entering the range for the standing stage, Boutot shot solo on point number one hitting the first 4 rhythmically and then paused before nailing the final target making it the first clean race, 10 for 10, of her career. The fight for 2nd and 3rd like in the previous Pursuit race came down to the final stage between McNamee and Byrne. Byrne gained a small advantage leaving the range ahead and that was all she needed to claim 2nd place. Andrea Mayo again hit all 5 of her shots to avoid the penalty loop and maintain 4th place. Kaitylin Bernard finished in 6th with 4 penalties, Jess Caron (Ft. Kent) finished 9th with 1 penalty and Molly Susla (Freeport) finished 10th with 3 penalties.

After his strong performance in the Pursuit race Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) was back in the Mass Start jumping to an early lead on the first loop. Having focused a good portion of the season on improving his upper body strength and double pole technique, Michaud easily won the double start to lead the pack up the first hill. Entering the range with the pack Michaud hit only 2 of his first 5 leaving him with 3 extra rounds to finish off the 3 missed targets or head to the penalty loop. One by one they went down and he was off chasing eventual winner Ethan Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT). Re-entering the range for their standing Michaud again was with the main pack of contenders and little did they know that this would be the deciding factor for gaining a spot on the Youth World Championship Team. Dreissigacker hit all 5 and left ahead of the pack, Michaud and Sprint winner Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, MN) both struggled early and ended up taking 2 penalties. Preston Butler (Marion, MA) took one less penalty, but left the penalty loop chasing Michaud. Butler, a member of the Youth Team last year was one of the athletes needing a strong performance to boost him on to the Team. Michaud held off a hard charging Butler to claim 2nd place while Butler settle for 3rd just 10 seconds back. In the Boy's race Sam Humphries (North Yarmouth) won for the 3rd straight day with clean shooting. The Boy's and Girl's categories is not recognized by the International Biathlon Union at the World Championship level, but are an integral piece in Biathlon Development.

Team Naming: Grace Boutot and Hilary McNamee return for their 2nd and 3rd time to the Youth World Championships. Nick Michaud qualifies for his first ever Youth World Championships. The 2009 Youth and Jr. World Championships will be held in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, sight of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. The Championships begin January 28 and run through February 3.

Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Anchorage, Alaska - With temperatures hovering right around the legal racing limit of minus 4 degrees Farenheight racers took to the course in rapid succession in today's Pursuit Format. Departing every 10 seconds each competitor could see at least one other racer the entire loop before entering the range making for some head to head shooting and eventually skiing.

In the Youth Women's race Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) entered the range with teammate Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield), McNamee already eating up the 10 second differential. McNamee struck first with a hit followed by Boutot, each of the athletes going back and forth until McNamee missed her third shot and then two more. Boutot cleaned and quickly distanced herself from the field as other competitors entered the range and suffered penalties as well. Boutot would clean again and wouldn't suffer a miss until her first standing stage where she missed two and then one more in her final stage for a total of just 3 misses. McNamee missed just 1 target in her middle two stages, but 2 in her final stage relegated her to 3rd place behind Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN) who tallied just 6 penalties on the day to finish 1 minute 37 seconds behind Boutot who won for the second time in a time of 33:24. Kaitlyn Bernard (Ft. Kent) struggled in two of her stages today, but finished with a clean shooting in her final shooting to claim 4th. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) like Bernard had two difficult and two strong stages leaving her in 6th followed by Jessica Caron (Ft. Kent) with 7 penalties in 7th and Molly Susla (Freeport) in 9th with 12 misses.

Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) climbed up from 7th to finish 2nd in the Youth Men's race. Missing 2 in his first stage Michaud moved up two spots and then into 3rd after a rough second stage for the top 6. Hitting 6 of his final 10 shots including a final stage duel against yesterday's winner Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) where Michaud pulled into 2nd and held it all the way to the finish. Distancing himself early Ethan Dreissigacker ( Craftsbury, VT) hit 15 of 20 to claim his first victory of the trials series. Despite missing his start while trying to stay warm by keeping his warm up on as long as he could, Sam Humphries (North Yarmouth) won the Boys race for the second day in a row hitting 12 of 20 targets.

Tomorrow concludes the Youth and Junior Biathlon Trials with the Mass Start Relay Format competition. The US Biathlon Youth and Junior Teams will be announced at 8pm EST. Results posted at www.anchoragenordicski.com.

Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Anchorage, Alaska - Cold temperatures and wind appear to be the calling card of a biathlon race this season. One week ago the biathletes raced in frigid conditions in Minnesota and today even with a noon time start to ensure enough daylight, athletes were covered head to toe to prevent frostbite. Despite the difficult conditions, the MWSC Biathletes came ready to race.

Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) hit 7 of 10 targets to win the first race of the Youth World Championship trials and to lead a MWSC sweep of the top 4 places. Teammate Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield) managed 3 hits per stage to finish 2nd, 33 seconds back of Boutot. With the top shooting of the day, Molly Susla took an early lead after cleaning her first shooting stage, but 2 misses in standing dropped her back just behind McNamee. Kaitlyn Bernard (Ft. Kent) like McNamee hit 6 of 10 targets to finish 4th. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond) hit 6 of 10 to finish 6th and Jessica Caron (Ft. Kent) finished 8th with 4 penalties. "The shooting today wasn't our best, but we were on par with the rest of the field," commented MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander. "The cold and wind make it tough shooting conditions, but tomorrow we're hoping to improve our shooting scores."

In the Youth Men's race Nick Michaud (Ft. Kent) left the range after prone tied for 3rd. Skiing strong Michaud entered the range, but missed all 5 drooping him back to finish 7th in a time of 36:35. Raleigh Goessling (Esko, MN) won with 5 misses in a time of 34:20. In the Boys race, Sam Humphries (North Yarmouth) skied very strong winning in a time of22:38.

Tomorrow is the Pursuit race. Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Dec 28: This Sunday's Aroostook Cup kick-off event has been postponed. A new date (most likely Jan 11 or Jan 18) will be announced shortly. Please forward this to any other skiers that you know that may have been interested in attending.

Coleraine, MN // 12.21.08 - Cold temperatures, high winds and falling snow. A familiar picture since nearly all of the Biathlon NorAm competitions this week were run under these conditions. Nevertheless, the athletes suited up after a two-hour delay as they waited for the thermometer to rise to the legal racing limits.

BethAnn Chamberlain of Caribou, ME pulled her best competition together on the final day hitting 15 of 20 targets and skiing away from the field to win in a time of 52:19. Struggling to find her rhythm all week in the shooting range, Chamberlain saved the best for last besting the field with the top shooting. Chamberlain's husband David won the 10km Skate competition at the Eastern Cup in Stowe, VT making it a Chamberlain sweep for the day. Placing 2nd with 9 penalties was Susan Dunklee of Lake Placid, NY and in 3rd was Sara Studebaker of Boise, ID with 7 penalties. Racing up in the Sr. Women's field was Hilary McNamee of Ft. Fairfield, ME who struggled with her shooting after a strong week. McNamee hit 10 of 20 to finish 7th.

Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Coleraine, MN // 12.20.08 - Mother Nature let up today as the sun came out giving athletes and race organizers a rare look at double digit temperatures. Starting in 5 second intervals in the order of finish from Thursday's competition the true test today would come in the range as athletes battled their own nerves and psychological whisperings.

After a strong showing in the Sprint race hitting 10 of 10, Hilary McNamee was out to see if she could reach another goal of hers, cleaning a four-stage race. Starting out first and being the one to be chased may have seemed to ruffle McNamee's feathers a bit as she suffered 2 misses in her first stage, but subsequent penalties by her followers gave her enough room to ski the next loop without much pressure. Another miss in her second prone stage and eventually her two standing stages was enough to give McNamee her second win in as many races in the Jr. Women's field. Addie Byrne of Bovey, MN finished 2nd with 8 misses and Andrea Mayo of Soldier Pond, ME rounded out the top 3.

BethAnn Chamberlain moved up one spot in today's race hitting 12 of 20 targets. Using her strong skiing Chamberlain was able to stay near the front pack, but 3 misses in her final stages kept her off the podium.

Tomorrow concludes with the Mass Start.

Val Martello, Italy - Competing in the Pursuit competition at the IBU Cup, Russell Currier of Stockholm, ME hit 13 of 20 targets to finish 41st.

Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Coleraine, MN - Hilary McNamee of Ft. Fairfield, ME had a career first hitting 10 for 10 to win the Jr. Women's Competition in the NorAm Sprint race. McNamee shot confidently hitting all five prone targets in 33 seconds and all five standing targets in 27 seconds. Coach Kathy Mayo smiled after McNamee hit her final shot and commented, "that was World Class shooting". Andrea Mayo of Soldier Pond struggled through prone missing 3 of 5 targets, but kept her composure to hit 4 of 5 standing targets finishing 3rd. Addie Byrne of Bovey, MN finished 2nd with 3 penalties. In the Sr. Women's competition, BethAnn Chamberlain of Caribou, ME finished 5th with 5 penalties.

NorAm competitions continue Saturday and Sunday with the Pursuit and Mass Start events.

Val Martello, Italy - Returning to the sight of the 2007 Youth/Junior World Championships, Russell Currier of Stockholm, ME skied to a 32nd place finish in a time of 28:10. Currier hit 4 of 5 in both of his shooting stages. Currier finishes his pre-Christmas race trip with the Pursuit competition tomorrow before coming home. MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander commented, "This is a solid race for Russell. He's struggled to bring both his shooting and skiing together, but today was a good step for him. Look for Russell to have a strong January and February."
*Photo credit: International Biathlon Union

Follow the MWSC Biathlon Team at www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com.

Coleraine, MN - The National Weather Service staff called it from five days out, yet they missed by just a few hours. Calling for 20-30mph winds, snow up to 12" in accumulation and temperatures topping out at 12 degrees and starting to plummet at race time the only part the weather experts missed was the timing of the snowfall.

The snow seemed to turn almost to a freezing rain as the Women's field headed out on course. Skiing through the weather with sleet bombarding them in the face the ladies found their way back to the range where they all seemed to realize the opportunity that lie waiting for them. Hitting 4 or 5 would give them an advantage over the field in the present conditions. As they all knew of this opportunity they all seemed to fall into the same trap of not being able fulfill this goal. Nearly every competitor hit 3 for 5 keeping the race close heading back on to the course. In the second and final shooting stage 2006 Olympian Carolyn Bramante Minneapolis, MN) distanced herself from the field hitting all 5 targets in rapid succession to take the win in a time of 32:22 with two penalties. First year biathlete Susan Dunklee (Lake Placid, NY) finished 2nd with 3 penalties and Sara Studebaker (Lake Placid) 3rd with 4 penalties. MWSC biathlete BethAnn Chamberlain (Caribou, ME) finished 5th with 5 penalties on the day.

In the Youth Women's race Hilary McNamee (Ft. Fairfield, ME) hit 4 of 5 as the her competitors managed only 3 hits. Grace Boutot (Ft. Kent) skiing strong kept within striking distance to McNamee and ahead of local favorite Addie Byrne (Bovey, MN). As the girls arrived at the standing points Byrne seized the day hitting 4 of 5 as both Boutot and McNamee struggled and only managed 1 hit each. Byrne finished in a time of 29:03, Boutot arrived 1 minute 14 seconds later with 3 more misses to take 2nd, and McNamee another 19 seconds back to take 3rd. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond, ME) finished 4th with 6 penalties.

By the time the Men's field headed out the Women were on their final lap and the snow really began to fall accumulating at a rate of 4-5" per hour. Motoring through the tough conditions Zach Hall (Lake Placid, NY) hit 8 of 10 including a clean standing stage to claim victory in a time of 34:35 over Jesse Downs (Jericho, VT). Downs had one additional penalty and finished 21 seconds back. Rounding out the top 3 was Sam Morse (Jericho, VT) also with 3 misses and just 5 seconds off of Downs.

MWSC Biathlon Coach Gary Colliander commented, "Overall I'm pleased with the day. There were a lot of things that could go wrong today, but the athletes handled themselves very professionally. We would all like to see a few more targets fall, we definitely need to work more in the wind to gain this confidence. This is just the opening of the season and the athletes need a lot more time on snow and racing before they really find their stride, but we have time as the biggest races are in January for us."

Racing resumes Thursday, December 17 with another Sprint Competition.

Stay updated with the MWSC Biathlon Team by going to www.mainewsc.org or mwscbiathlon.blogspot.com

12.8.2008
Silver Star, BC--In his first post-collegiate sprint race, Nick Kline surprised the field, and himself, with a 4th place qualification. The fact that this was his inaugural outing at the NorAm level made it even more stunning. Starting far behind the top seeded athletes, Kline showed that he understands speed by besting all but two Canadian National Team athletes and Anders Haugen of the APU squad. Following qualification, the buzz around the stadium was definitely: "Who is Nick Kline?"

Kline's MWSC teammates David Chamberlain and Joey Bard fared nearly as well, with a 13th place qualification and a 9th place junior qualification, respectively. While Kline's raw speed earned him some excellent FIS points, his inexperience got him into a tangle in the quarter finals, quickly ending his day. Meanwhile, Chamberlain's race saavy earned him a spot in the B finals and a 10th place final finish, second amongst Americans. Joey Bard also earned a B final spot in the Junior ranks and finished the day in 11th, also 2nd amongst Americans. Kline finished the day in 26th place--but it will not be long before he is earning spots in the final!

The MWSC squad had a tougher day in Sunday's 15km skate race. Chamberlain held on to a tough pack to finish 21st in the Open category, 7th American. Nick Kline earned 41st place in the Open category. Both Joey Bard and Fred Bailey suffered through the course without ever finding a real racing gear.

Master's racer Sarah Dominick joins the squad this week as the group faces three races in three days this Thursday, Friday and Saturday here in Silver Star. Dominick and Bailey are signed up for Thursday's mass start skate and Saturday night's individual start classic races. Chamberlain, Kline and Bard will contest Friday's classic sprint and Saturday's night classic race.

U.S. News & World Report last week placed the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone at number 12 in its latest ranking of the country's best high schools.

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics, which was founded in 1994 by the state Legislature, is a public magnet school that teaches advanced math and science to 125 sophomores, juniors and seniors from across the state. U.S. News & World Report analyzed academic and enrollment data from more than 21,000 public high schools to create its list of the best high schools in the country.

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics has struggled with funding problems since its founding. Read more about the school in the April 2007 Mainebiz story, "Solid B average."

Mainebiz - December 8, 2008

Ostersund, Sweden, December 3, 2008.Amid the falling snow and under the bright lights of the biathlon stadium in Ostersund, Lowell Bailey, former Maine Winter Sports Center athlete, started the season with his second best World Cup finish ever.

Showing great confidence on the shooting range Lowell hit 19 of 20 targets in 20 km Individual competition today. The skiing however was more challenging. With all the new snow on course and a relatively early start number (25 out of 120), he suffered what was a very long 20 km for all the competitors. But after his last shooting stage he found the energy to make up five places in the last four km - moving from 20th to 15th.

"It felt really good to be able to bring the successful shooting I have had in training to the first competition of the season," Lowell reflected after the race. "I am really looking forward to the next race on Saturday."

Teammates Jay Hakkinen, Jeremy Teela and Russell Currier all suffered tough days on the shooting range finishing 62nd, 102nd, and 109th respectively. Tim Burke sat out the race recovering from a cold but plans to start on Saturday. Full Results

"Lowell continues to be an outstanding role model for Maine's aspiring Olympians and I am very proud to have him associated with our program,"said Andy Shepard, President of the MWSC. "He always brings such a great energy to everything he does, I'm sure this is a sign of more great things to come."

Thursday is the womens turn to open the season in the 15 km Individual. Starting for the US Team are Lanny Barnes, Tracy Barnes, Haley Johnson, and Laura Spector. Visit www.Biathlonworld.com to watch the live video and data stream at 11:15 AM Eastern Time.

The US Biathlon website has an RSS feed, available by clicking the RSS logo on our homepage to get the address and all of the latest biathlon news.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. adidas®, Stewart Filmscreen®, Lapua, and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.

November 28, 2009 (Toronto, ON) - With the Nordic ski season unfolding race fans around the world can now test their knowledge and skills in the excitingSkiTraxFantasy Tour de Ski 2008.09 Contest launching Dec. 5, and be eligible to win great prizes valued at approximately $7,500. Here's how it works.

Select your fantasy Tour de Ski (TdS) team of four (4) men, and four (4) women, plus one "Outlaw" skier (male or female) not in the top 25 of the FIS World Cup overall rankings after Dusseldorf, Dec.20, and register along with your team name by our deadline at 6 pm on Dec. 26 - the day before the TdS begins. We will have all official FIS skiers registered for the TdS on our site for team selections. You can register your team any time between between Dec. 5 -26 and be able to make changes up until the final cut off.

Points will be awarded based on each skier's performance and published daily so you can follow your team's progress after each stage and see how you compare to other players. There will be points awarded during all stages and for the final standing as well along with adjustments i.e. bonus points for any skier that wins three (3) or more stages, or you can lose points for doping, abandons etc. - complete contest rules and details will be announced on Dec. 5.

Prizes will be awarded to the top ten points winners following the TdS including Rest Day prizes on Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. We have some great prizes already - from companies such as Rossignol and Fischer - and may expand the winners list between now and launch day. TheSkiTraxFantasy TdS 2008.09 contest is open to everyone, but prizes currently will only be awarded to North American residents (subject to change).

Who will win the Tour de Ski this year? And who will winSkiTraxFantasy Tour de Ski 2008.09 Contest - don't miss this fabulous opportunity to test your knowledge of the sport against your friends and other contestants. Start planning your team today and stay tuned to skitrax.com for more contest details.

Carey has shown outstanding leadership, community building and coaching skills in her tenure at Center
Caribou, Maine - The Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC) announced today that Eileen Carey has been named Vice President.

"Eileen was given a lot of responsibility when John Farra left to take over the US Ski Team in March," said Andy Shepard, President of the Maine Winter Sports Center. "She has done an extraordinary job leading the MWSC staff over the past eight months and in the process has gained the respect of the staff, the board and the people of Maine."

Carey's responsibilities include; helping develop the strategic direction of the Maine Winter Sports Center, the execution of that strategy as the leader of the staff, and liaison with the 10th Mountain and Nordic Heritage Center steering committees. She will also continue with her many coaching responsibilities.

"Eileen has distinguished herself in every chapter of her young life; as a four-time Maine ski champion at Leavitt High School, as a captain and academic All-American on her Dartmouth College Ski Team and as a teacher at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, Colorado," says Brian Hamel, Chairman of the MWSC Board. "Now she is bringing that same commitment to excellence to the MWSC."

November 26, 2008 - A wet 8 inches of snow fell at the 10th Mountain Center in Fort Kent, ME last night, and today Maine Winter Sports Center skiers enjoyed their first ski on groomed trails this season. Although 3km of skate tracks are in place, more trails will likely be opened in the next day or two. Precipitation is expected to continue through tonight. It looks like winter outside, and we are excited to share it with everyone!

November 25, 2008 - Ski season has started at the 10th Mountain Center. We received 5 inches of snow overnight with more expected today. We are going to hit 3k's today with a roller. See you on the trails.

West Yellowstone, MT - The Maine Winter Sports Center's Cross-Country Team opened the ski season yesterday with solid training on the South Plateau outside of town. Despite poor snow conditions in town, the plateau provided ample snow cover and classically good grooming. The team completed two training sessions alongside members of the U.S. Ski Team, CXC Team, Minnesota Biathlon Team and Saab Factory Team.

With the U.S. SuperTour slated to open here in just one week, the MWSC squad is putting in hours on snow to get the ski touch back. The team plans to complete a solid block of training leading up to the 15km classic race on November 28th.

"Our goal is to get on snow and continue with the training plan that has brought us excellent progress through this fall," said XC Development Director Will Sweetser. "November is still pretty early to gear up too much for racing. This block is a mix of training and racing."

Following the SuperTour in West Yellowstone, the team plans to head to Bozeman, MT for a SuperTour Sprint.

October 28, 2008 - The Maine Winter Sports Center coaching staff will offer an afternoon clinic aimed at middle school and high school Nordic ski coaches Sunday, November 9, from 1p.m. to 4 p.m. at the 10th Mountain Center in Fort Kent. Topics for discussion include: technique training for classic and skating, tactical training, team support and age appropriate intensity training.

A $5 fee for the coaches' clinic will include lunch and U.S. Ski Team materials. Please reserve your spot at the clinic by November 3. Space is limited to 25 participants.

For those who are interested, the MWSC athletes will be hosting a skate sprint time trial from 10 a.m. to noon at the 10th Mountain Center. Opportunities to participate, view the time trial or assist with video and timing are available to any and all.

Contact Will Sweetser for more information and for reservations: will@mainewsc.org or 207.227.3322.

October 25, 2008 - Story by Bowdoin Student Nat Herz

North Haven, Maine - Before most races, cross-country skiers spend their time keeping warm inside a lodge or a van. This was not the case on Saturday, when the 68 competitors in the second annual Lobster Roll spent part of their pre-race routine staving off a stiff sea breeze aboard a ferry bound for the coastal Maine island of North Haven.

Organized by the Maine Winter Sports Center (MWSC), the Lobster Roll is a 15 km freestyle rollerski race that serves as Maine's collegiate championship. Participating teams included Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, and the University of Maine at Orono and Presque Isle, as well as MWSC's elite team.

This year, MWSC's Nick Kline took the overall victory in the men's race, while Tom Cook of Bowdoin was the first collegiate finisher in third, successfully defending his championship from last year. Sarah Dominick, another MWSC athlete, took the women's title, while Bates's Ingrid Knowles was the collegiate winner.

MWSC's mission is to create "a model for the sustainability of rural communities through a skiing lifestyle," which was reflected in the day's schedule. After lunch, as part of the day's program, MWSC President Andy Shepard had enlisted North Haven State Representative and House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree to talk to us athletes about island life and lobstering. Pingree told us about her life growing up on North Haven, and discussed some of the challenges facing its residents, especially those in the lobster industry. Shepard finished the talk picking up where Pingree left off--asking us to think about how to revitalize the economy of Maine's islands and rural communities using the skills we've acquired at college.

Before the return trip, most teams opted for one last quick ski or jog on the island's roads. Athletes and coaches returned home on the ferry, no doubt already looking forward to next year's race, and knowing we had a unique and unforgettable experience.

For further information contact: Andy Shepard (207)232-3304

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