FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Osthus, Cook stand on podium with best in Sweden
Soleftea, Sweden -- On the first day of competition at the Swedish Biathlon
Nationals, all eyes were on Sweden's most famous female athlete Magdalena
Forsberg. A young American team would however turn heads as they pushed for
gold. Teams from Norway and Finland joined the U.S. in attending these races
creating a very competitive international field.
In the Women's 18 group (ages 16-17) the ladies would shoot three times
skiing a combination of 2.5k and 2k loops. Leaving the range after their
first shooting, Colchester, Vermont native Emilia Demarchis would leave in
3rd place with clean shooting. Annelies Cook of Saranac Lake, NY would have
one penalty loop to ski putting her in 7th place leaving the stadium with
teammate Syverine Abrahmason of Homer, AK just two spots back. Demarchis
would hold on to 3rd place after her second shooting with one penalty, while
both Cook and Abrahamson would leave with two penalties. The leader board
would have some changes after the final shooting, which included Demarchis
missing 4 of 5 shots to drop her to 5th place, while Cook would only have
miss one and leave in 3rd place. Abrahamson would also have one miss leaving
the range in 7th place right behind 6th, whom she would overtake in the final
downhill with 150m to the finish. Sonne Nordgren of Stillwater, MN impressed
many with some of the fastest skiing of the day, but too many mistakes in the
range would hold her to an 8th place finish.
In the Men 18 category, Evan Ray of St. Paul, MN would begin the race like
Demarchis leaving the range in 3rd place just 16 seconds out of first. Steve
Scott of St. Paul, MN and Kurt Farchmin of Duluth, MN would leave with three
and two penalties each putting them in the middle of the third pack. Ray
with a very quick range time would only miss one shot, while the those in
front would have 2 and 3 penalties each putting Ray in the lead by 25
seconds. Scott and Farchmin would both move up with 2 and 1 penalties each.
In the final shooting, it would not fall in Ray's favor as he missed 4 of his
last 5 shots putting him in 3rd leaving the stadium. Scott would miss only
one, while Farchmin would miss 2. Ray would be passed by two charging Swedes
dropping him to 5th. Scott would come from 9th place to give Ray a run for
his money as he moved up to 6th place, while Farchmin would make a strong
charge himself, moving from 10th to 8th place. "I came in too easy on my
last shooting...my heart was pounding so hard, that it shook my body," said
Ray after his race.
In the Men's 20 category (ages 18-19), Anders Osthus had a plan to start easy
and finish strong. Osthus entered his first shooting in 7th place just
behind a pack of 4 who dropped the main group within the first kilometer.
Osthus would leave in 9th place with 2 penalties, but would quickly make up
the time entering the range in 6th place for his second prone shooting where
he would hit all 5 bringing him up to 2nd just 5 seconds off the lead. As
Osthus came around the stadium on his third loop the announcer yelled out
that Osthus had overtaken first place and had put a gap of 6 seconds on
second place all within 1 kilometer. Over aggressive skiing would prove to
be too much as Osthus would miss 4 in his first standing shooting dropping
him back to 3rd place. However, with his teammates spread around the course
cheering him on, Osthus would not disappoint, as he would move up to finish
in second place.
Men 14 -15 Sprint 4km
Name Town penalties time
1. David Persson Sundsvall, SWEDEN 0 12:50
2. Leif Soderberg Torsby, SWEDEN 1 12:58
3. Espen Ovreberg NORWAY 1 13:03
20. Benjamin Byrne Grand Rapids, MN 4 14:44
Women 16-17 Mass Start 8km :
Name Town p - p - s time
1. Mervi Markkanen FINLAND 0 - 1 - 3 33:09
2. Anna Maria Nisson Jamtland, SWEDEN 3 - 0 - 2 33:25
3. Annelis Cook Saranac Lake, NY 1 - 2 - 1 33:45
5. Emilia Demarchis Burlington, VT 0 - 1 - 4 35:05
6. Syverine Abrahamson Homer, AK 2 - 2 - 1 35:31
9. Sonne Nordgren Marine, MN 4 - 2 - 3 36:41
12. Melissa Gadacz Elk River, MN 2 - 3 - 1 38:11
14. Jana Eidem Bloomington, MN 2 - 2 - 5 38:50
Men 16-17 Mass Start 8km
Name Town p - p - s time
1. Johan Jakobsson Torsby, SWEDEN 1 - 1 - 0 29:16
2. Tapio Pukki FINLAND 2 - 2 - 2 30:13
3. Henrik Lovgren Lulea, SWEDEN 2 - 0 - 0 30:14
4. Evan Ray St. Paul, MN 0 - 1 - 4 30:29
5. Steve Scott St. Paul, MN 3 - 2 - 1 30:40
8. Kurt Farchmin Duluth, MN 2 - 1 - 2 31:03
12. Bjorn Baaken Duluth, MN 2 - 1 - 3 31:17
22. Tom Secord New Brighton, MN 1 - 1 - 4 32:58
Men 18-19 Mass Start 12.5km
Name Town p - p - s - s time
1. Erik Hansson Soleftea, SWEDEN 4 - 1 - 0 - 1 43:49
2. Anders Osthus Duluth, MN 2 - 0 - 4 - 2 44:15
3. Tommie Andersson Torsby, SWEDEN 0 - 0 - 2 - 1 44:42
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