Craftsbury Juniors and GRP Biathletes Compete at U.S. Biathlon National Championships in Fort Kent, Maine

Mike Gibson shoots standing at U.S. Biathlon National Championships (photo: Pete Freeman)

Marika Massey-Bierman racing at U.S. Biathlon National Championships (photo: Pete Freeman)

Last Updated: 27.Mar.2016

This past week the Craftsbury juniors and GRP biathletes wrapped up their season in Fort Kent, Maine at U.S. Biathlon National Championships. The three-day event consisted of a sprint, a pursuit, and a mass start race.

Clare started the championship event with a strong performance winning the women's race with only one prone miss. She shared the podium with Hannah Dreissigacker who finished 3rd with one standing miss. Emily Dreissigacker finished 9th. Unfortunately, Susan Dunklee succumbed to a heavy cold following the final World Cup in Russia and was unable to race. For the men, Casey Smith had the top-GRP result with a solid 4th place finish. He had one standing miss. Alex Howe was the next GRP finisher in 7th, followed by Ethan Dreissigacker in 11th, and Mike Gibson in 13th. Representing the Craftsbury junior biathlon squad, Bjorn Westervelt and Marika Massey-Bierman both placed 2nd in their respective age categories. 

Clare extended her winning streak in the following day's pursuit race with another first place finish. She was followed by Emily in 5th and Hannah in 6th. On the men's side, Ethan had a strong race moving up from 11th to 5th. He cleaned both prone stages and missed three in standing. He was followed by Casey in 8th, Alex in 11th, and Mike in 12th. For the juniors, Bjorn and Marika both maintained their start positions, once again finishing second in their respective age categories.

The championship event wrapped up on Saturday with a mass start competition. Emily raced her way onto the podium with a strong 3rd place finish. She had only two misses. Hannah was the next GRP woman across the line in 4th and Clare finished 5th. For the men, Ethan had the top-GRP result in 7th place with three misses. He was followed by Alex in 10th, Casey in 11th, and Mike in 12th. For the juniors, Bjorn wrapped up the championship event with another strong 2nd place finish in the senior boys' category. He was only 11 seconds behind race winner Timothy Cobb. Marika finished 4th in the youth women's category.

Results can be found here.

The biathletes will take some time off before training resumes again mid-spring. Thanks for following!