U.S. Biathlon Association
COLERAINE, Minnesota – Brian Olsen of Bloomington, MN and Brynden Manbeck of Grand Rapids, MN became the first double winners at the Youth and Junior World Championship Trials today at the Mt. Itasca Biathlon Center.
Olsen, who had a 27 second margin in the 10K Sprint yesterday, won by a mere 14 seconds today in the 12.5K Pursuit Format competition. Olsen and second placer Adam Van Straten (Duluth, MN) each had six penalties in the 20 shot event. With his victory, Olsen secured his spot on the 2004 World Championships Team.
In an earlier interview, Olsen said he hoped to have a top 10 finish at World Juniors this season and he now is guaranteed that opportunity. After today's competition, he added, "Today like yesterday, the trails were in great condition, so skiing is good. My shooting is a little bit better now. I was a bit
nervous yesterday. This course has the big uphill and then a long downhill to the range, with some tight turns. You work so hard on the uphill that you really do not recover on the downhill. After five loops today, my legs were pretty shaky. Also, with the turns, you have to continually pay attention, so it has been a real challenge. Now that I have qualified, I can relax a bit."
Van Straten, who is member of the Junior National Team and also competes for the National Guard, moved into contention for a team berth with his strong showing today. He had finished fourth in the 10K Sprint. As in the sprint, the junior men's field was closely packed; third place Kurt Farchmin (Duluth, MN), had four penalties, 23 seconds back, while fourth place went to Nathan Erlandson (Grand Rapids, MN), with five penalties, 47 seconds back.
The Junior Women's 10K saw a new victor as Emilia DeMarchis of Burlington, VT moved up from third to first with the best shooting of the day, only three penalties. She topped yesterday's winner, Sonne Nordgren (Marine on St. Croix, MN) by 2:34. Nordgren was skiing fast, but her 12 penalties relegated her to the second spot. Annilies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) dropped to third today, with seven penalties, 2:56 back. Fourth went to Julie Warneke (Elk River, MN) who was 4:53 back despite a solid shooting performance of four penalties.
In the overall results, two youth women finished ahead of third place junior Annilies Cook. Brynden Manbeck, with a second victory in the Youth Women's category, like Olsen, guaranteed her ticket to France. She toured the 10K course in 40:52, barely holding of Katie Zupan (Grand Rapids) by 4
seconds. Manbeck had six penalties to Zupan's five. Kari Lunemann (Grand Rapids) who National Coach Cervenka feels has great potential showed her inexperience as she missed 11 targets, but still finished only 1:34 behind Manbeck. Fourth place went to Britt Salmela (Duluth, MN) with 10 penalties, 4:04 back.
Cervenka commented on the overall shooting performances today, " It was not a particularly bad day for shooting, just a little windy, but not tricky. A lot of people are feeling the pressure and did not respond well. Others, like Emilia DeMarchis had a very good day. Russell Currier skied very well today. I am quite excited about Brynden's (Manbeck) results. She did not shoot as well today but her skiing is good. "
The Youth Men's 10K saw a new winner. Russell Currier of Fort Kent, ME moved into team contention by defeating Ben Byrne (Bovey, MN). Byrne, who soundly topped Currier in the 7.5k Sprint, saw the tables turned as Currier edged the local athlete by 26 seconds. Currier had only seven penalties to Byrne's nine. Tyler Gerling (Cohasset, MN) finished third as he had in the sprint, missing six targets, and finishing 53 seconds back. Fourth place went to Brandan Ostroot (Columbia Heights, MN), also with six penalties, 59 seconds back.
With a few people now assured a trip to the World Junior Championships, the field of 60 biathletes will take a rest and training day on Friday. The final sprint competitions will begin at 10 AM on Saturday. By 2:30 that day, the final positions on the 2004 Youth and Junior World Championship Team will be decided and fifteen young biathletes will be headed to Haute Maurienne, France for the January 24-31 competitions.
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