Bitter temperatures do little to cool NorAm enthusiasm

Andrew Birden

21 January 2012

FORT KENT, Maine - With temperature at -3 degrees Fahrenheit, which is barely 1 degree above the minimum allowable temperature for a biathlon event, 44 biathletes from across the United States and Canada competed in the first day of the Biathlon NorAm Cup No. 3 contest.

A WARM ATTITUDE - Stephan Hamel keeps up the good spirits while facing a bitterly cold challenge. - Birden image

The bitter cold forced race organizers to delay the start of the senior men sprint competition by one hour.

Competition Director Nancy Thibodeau said, "It went really well." The feedback from the athletes, said Thibodeau, was enthusiastic. She said, "It was a great race, nice course and great organization."

Marc-Andre Bedard of Quebec took first place in senior men sprint contest, moving up three positions from the starting to also be the first to cross the finish line in 29:59.4. Vincent Blais, also of Quebec, came in 2:45 later to take second place. Michael Gibson of Vermont came in third.

TARGET AUDIENCE - The volunteers that man the shooting range wait for the signal to head out. - Birden image

Max Davies of Alberta took first place in the junior men sprint, followed 1:03 later by Andrew Chisholm. The Maine Winter Sports Center's own Ben Greenwald came in third.

Carsen Campbell of Prince Edward Island took the top spot in the youth men sprint. Fellow athlete Menno Arendz of PEI came in second, followed by Bernard Wierzchoslawski of New Brunswick.

Krzysztof Wierzchoslawski, Bernard's father, came in third at the masters men sprint. Will Sweetser came in first with a time of 33:24. Jim Ketterling of New Brunswick placed second, coming in 8 minutes and 43 seconds behind Sweetser.

THE STANCE - The distincive posture of a biathlete would repeat itself several times on Saturday. - Birden image

The senior women sprint went to Claude Godbout of Quebec with a quick 27:10.5 time. Beth Ann Chamberlain of the MWSC came in second a little over two minutes behind Godbout. Kathryn Stone of Alberta placed third.

For the junior women, the sprint went to Audrey Vaillancourt of Quebec. Emma Lodge of Alberta took second, and Tara Geraghyty-Moats placed third.

Gina Heppell was the only competitor in the youth women sprint, finishing in 31:34.2.

Zachary Boissonnault of New Brunswick placed first in the senior boys sprint, followed by Kamran Husain of the MWSC in Fort Kent less than a minute later. Cody Johnson, also of the local biathlon program in Fort Kent, placed third.

RACK-O-GUNS

Gabrielle Landry of New Brunswick was the only senior girl competing, and she finished in 12:49:30.

For the junior boys sprint, Jason Bartlay took top honors with Caleb Willet following 3:23 later and Lance McKinney coming in third. All three racers were from the Maine Winter Sports Center.

Gentile Prescott, also of Fort Kent, competed in the junior girls sprint.

Continue scrolling down to see more images from Saturday's competition.