by Carl Klossner, Guest Contributor
It was a beautiful day at McCauley Mountain on New Year’s Day for a sprint race hosted by the Polar Bear Biathlon Ski Club. Temperatures were mild—in the high teens—and the snow that fell before and after Christmas provided for the most usable conditions we have seen in three years.
The biathlon began at 10 a.m. with all racers skiing 7.5 km and shooting twice during the race. The snow was fast and well groomed.
Of the eleven racers kicking off their seaon at McCauley, four were from the Old Forge area.
Biathlete Maddie Phaneuf. Photos by Wende Carr
Among them was Maddie Phaneuf, who had returned two days earlier from the Junior/Youth Biathlon World Team trials in Minnesota where she placed fifth.
Also competing were Lesley Leach, who had moved from the sport class to the competition class for the first time; Henry Uzdavinis who raced in the sport class; and first-time racer, Tor Ruud, an exchange student who is living with the Phaneuf family this school year.
Before I report the results, allow me to offer a refresher on the biathlon classes.
Competitors in the sport class do not carry a gun. They shoot twice at large targets in the prone position.
Those in the competition class carry their rifles, shoot at small targets in the prone position and large targets in the standing position.
For each miss on the range the racer has to ski a penalty lap.
Biathlon Coach Carl Klossner
The results for the race were as follows: Youth Women – 1st place, Maddie Phaneuf; Master’s Women – 1st, Jill Hamilton; Grandmaster Women – 1st, Lesley Leach.
Boy class – 1st, Henry Uzdavinis; Novice Junior Men – 1st, Tor Ruud; Novice Men – 1st, Kevin Walter; Open Men – 1st, Douglas Diehl; Open Men – 2nd, Eric Seyse; Masters Men – 1st, Nate Kozio.
In Grandmasters Men, Nick Gretzinger took 1st place; Darwin Roosa was 2nd, Thomas Hay was 3rd; Robert Dadekian was 4th; and Eric Hamilton placed 5th.
The next home biathlon race will be held at McCauley on Sunday, February 3 at 10 a.m. It will be another sprint race, however the distances will be longer: 7. 5 km, 10 km and 12.5 km.
We hope we will have more Polar Bear Biathletes competing: Megan Greene, Allyson Brosemer, Emily Greene, Tyler Rudolph and Charlie Uzdavinis.
I hope to see you on the third of February!
