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Quesnel biathletes shot through the weather

Biathlon BC championships had CSTC athletes on podium
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The Cariboo Ski Touring Club (CSTC) had athletes and coaches out on the snow at the biathlon provincials held in Prince George at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club.

The Odlum Brown Biathlon BC Championships were held on Feb. 24-26 under heavy snows the first day of official racing and blowing wind the second day.

Hayden Booth came 8th out of 14 competitors in the Junior Boys (13-14) division. He put up a time of 26:48.4 compared to the 1st place finish of Nathanael Dean of the host Caledonia club with a mark of 20:07.5.

Laura Balkwill made the podium in the Youth Women (16-18) division, scoring a 36:12.5, good for 3rd place behind Sophie Firth of Sea To Sky Nordics at 31:09.7 and 2nd place finisher Sophia Ledingham of the Vancouver Island Biathlon Club at 34:47.2.

Savannah Robinson was competing in the Junior Women (19-21) division but hit a routing snag and wasn’t given an official time, although unofficially she scored a 34:30.0.

In the Masters Men (50+) division, Chris Elden took the silver medal with a time of 32:45.6, second only to Vancouver Island’s Glenn Rupertus at 30:43.1.

Three CSTC athletes took part in the U13 Recreation division which allows athletes to go through their skiing and shooting motions, but the scores are not officially documented. Those were Max Kovach, Abbey MacKay, Elek Kovach, Neil MacKay and Gisela Hamelin.

The Pursuit event the next day is scored differently, using a series of shooting scores and lap times. Final placings had Booth coming 11th in the Junior Boys category, Balkwill 4th in the Youth Women, Savannah Robinson successfully complete the course as the only Junior Women competitor, and Elden took bronze in the Masters Men 50+ category.

Read more: Regional biathlon races on home snow at Quesnel’s Hallis Lake

Read more: Hallis is Quesnel’s outdoor palace



Frank Peebles

About the Author: Frank Peebles

I started my career with Black Press Media fresh out of BCIT in 1994, as part of the startup of the Prince George Free Press, then editor of the Lakes District News.
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