March Biathlon Race Schedule
Sunday the 14th of March- Mt Itasca—10:00 zero [Saturday’s event is cancelled for that weekend]
This was supposed to be the last Midwest Regional Race of season covering both Saturday and Sunday. But the MN State meet got scheduled about a month late onto both Thursday and Fri just before.
If you plan to attend this event, please let Vlad Cervenka and me know by the 11th of March.
US Biathlon Nationals—24th-28th of March- West Yellowstone, MT
The actual races will be Fri the 26th, Saturday and Sunday. More information will be available shortly. Jeff Bosek will be our MN Biathlon Trip Leader. The latest information we have is the races will be held, and details were being worked out with USBA for final approval.
In addition, we have received word that US Biathlon Nationals in West Yellowstone has been approved by USBA with some additional Covid protocols that are still getting sorted out. The first race is Friday the 26th with a Sprint, Saturday will be a Pursuit and Sunday a Super Sprint. We have some planning to attend and the trip will be lead by Jeff Bosek. Please let Jeff and me know if you plan to attend. Some are staying at the Day’s Inn in West Y, but call directly to the hotel for the best rates. The online booking services are charging a lot for their service.
One last note: if you sign up for the races in West per the Invitation attached, you should sign up for the Youth, Junior, Senior or Masters categories. So an under 17 athlete should sign up as a Youth. Remember, the venue is at 6700 feet of elevation, so arriving a day or two ahead for acclimation is advised!
If you plan to attend this event, please let Jeff Bosek and me know by the 20th of March at the latest. Jeff is working on which hotel we might all focus on. The venue is at 6700 feet of elevation so it is recommended that you try to arrive a few days before the first race to acclimize. Normally there will be an ‘informal practice day’ 2 days before and a ‘formal’ practice day the day prior to the first race. More information as it becomes available.
Currently, we have two from MN at the YJWCH in Austria, Sam Stertz and Vasek Cervenka. Sam raced this am in the Youth Men’s Individual 12.5km – missed 8 and finished 65th. Top US was Cale Woods, Bozeman MT, with 7 misses in 58th, 5:59 behind the winner from Russia. Top US Youth Woman in the 10 km was Sidney Bennion from Midway, UT with 9 misses in 64th place, 9:15 behind the winner from France. The time penalty for misses was 45 sec per penalty.
Vasek races tomorrow am at 6:30 CST. You can follow him on the IBU webpage live under ‘datacenter’ with all the same split and range information they have on all the competitors. The electronic scoreboards at this level are incredible!!
Some of the races will normally be available on TV or at least the highlights, normally just the Juniors.
For those entering the MN Sections week: Good Luck in your races!!
Enjoy the Journey—its not over yet!!
Bill Meyer, Coach
MNBiathlon