The New York State Nordic Champion-ships were held at Mt. Van Hovenberg in Lake Placid on Saturday, March 7. The Championships, hosted by Hudson United Racing Team (HURT), featured races in biathlon, cross country skiing and ski orienteering.
Due to the busy March schedule of our Polar Bear Ski Club biathletes, only three members were able to compete at this year’s NYS Biathlon Champion-ships: Tyler Rudolph in the Boy Class; Henry Uzdavinis in Youth Male Class; and Lesley Leach in Grand Master Women’s Class.
These athletes excelled in their classes and earned gold medals.
Each class had to race a designated distance as outlined by the US Biathlon regulations.
The three courses that were used were 2 km, 2.5 km, and 3.3 km.
Each competitor in the race had to race three laps and shoot twice. The weather conditions for the day were overcast with swirling winds.
Both Leach and Rudolph skied the same course, 2 km, which was basically an uphill-downhill route with a short gradual climb into the shooting range.
Uzdavinis’ course was the same with an extra set of hills added to make it a half-kilometer longer.
This competition capped our winter racing season for another year.
Our complete team of biathletes included: Tyler Rudolph and Megan Greene – Boy/Girl Class; Henry Uzdavinis and Connor Hrynuk – Youth Male Class; Lesley Leach – Grand Master Women’s Class. Due to coaching conflicts throughout the season, Janine Phaneuf was unable to participate this year.
In the future, we are looking forward to the addition of several young biathletes joining our ranks from the Bill Koch Ski League.
Presently we have Julie Brosemer entering the ranks of biathlon, and possibly Emily Rudolph. Time will tell what the team will look like in another year.
In closing, I would like to commend our biathletes on their growth throughout the year, their dedication in attending our range sessions and being able to fit biathlon into their busy schedules.
It has been a great season with equally as good results.
Stay tuned for our summer program which consists of range time, shooting challenges and, of course, two summer biathlon running races. There is more to come in the future!