FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Piotr Bednarski
Minnesota Biathlon
Community Olympic Development Program
[email protected]
January 30, 2002
Great Start at Ridnaun: Evan Ray Places 7th at World Juniors
Evan Ray, St Paul, MN, skiied a conservative first loop in the 7.5km Sprint,
coming into the first shooting in 29th place. After 1 miss in prone, he
proceeded to move up through the field, coming to the standing stage in 19th,
and after clean and fast shooting standing, moved into 7th place.
Evan will be 19 seconds out of first place going into
tomorrow/s 10km Pursuit event (4 shooting stages). Poor shooting hampered
good skiing efforts by Nathan Erlandson, Grand Rapids, MN (55th place), Ben
Byrne, Bovey, MN (60th), and Kurt Farchmin, Duluth, MN (67th).
The other big story of the day was in the Men's Older Junior category (18-19
years), Walt Sheppard of Yarmouth, ME, hitting 9 for 9 targets and then
missing his last shot. Cursing the biathlon gods, Walt skiied a fantastic
last loop to finish 14th. Sheppard is a very savvy competitior in the range,
and has a good chance to move up in the more shooting intensive and pressure
filled Pursuit race that will take place on Thursday. Finishing 59 seconds
out of first place still gives Sheppard a chance at the top 5 in that event.
Tim Burke of Paul Smith's, NY finished in 16th, with fantastic skiing but
only 70% shooting. Plagued by poor shooting, Anders Osthus of Duluth, MN
finished 48th, good enough to start the Thursday pursuit which is limited to
the top 50 finishers.
Annalies Cook of Saranac Lake, NY was the bright spot on the U.S. Junior
Women's J1 (16-17 years old) side. Cook shot 70% in the 6km Sprint and
finished 15th. Emilia Demarchis of Burlington, VT finished 31st with 60%
shooting. Toni Slaughter of Maple Plain, MN did not start due to illness.
The Sprint event was a big disappointment for the Older Junior US Women
(18-19 years). The US women were favored to be one of the top teams at World
Juniors after numerous top 10 finishes at Europa Cup races in Czeck Republic.
A victory by Lanny Barnes at the US Olympic Trials 15km event has also
increased expectations of this group of women. Tracy Barnes of Durange, CO
shot 70% finish in 24th place, followed by Carolyn Treacy, Duluth, MN in
32nd, Lanny Barnes, Durango, CO in 37th , and Beth Ann Ellingson, Grand
Rapids, MN in 47th. Always upbeat, Head Coach Cory Salmela commented "Well,
our women are still in decent position for the pursuit. They need to shake
off this shooting performance and come out focused and confident for
tomorrow." The US women's team has been looking forward to the World Junior
Relay (Feb 3) all year and they will likely be a force in that event. For
complete results go to www.ibu.at
Youth Men (J1 16-17years)- 7.5km Sprint
1 LORENZ M. GER 02 21:25.9
2 FOURCADE S. FRA 00 +9.7
3 MORAVEC O. CZE 31 +12.7
7 RAY E. USA 10 +19.6
55 ERLANDSON N. USA 31 +3:03.1
60 BRYNE B. USA 42 +3:32.9
67 FARCHMIN K. USA 13 +4:04.3
Junior Men (OJ 16-17years) 10km Sprint
1 NILSSON M. SWE 11 26:31.4
2 WICK R. GER 01 +2.2
3 SLESINGR M. CZE 02 +8.7
14 SHEPARD W. USA 01 +57.7
16 BURKE T. USA 21 +1:12.6
48 OSTHUS A. USA 13 +2:25.1
Youth Women (J1 16-17years) Sprint 6km
1 DONG X. CHN 11 18:45.5
2 BOULYGINA A. RUS 21 +7.3
3 DUDCHENKO O. KAZ 11 +21.3
15 COOK A. USA 12 +1:40.8
31 DEMARCHIS E. USA 13 +2:40.4
Junior Women (OJ 18-19years) Sprint 7.5km
1 PFISTERER K. GER 10 23:24.5
2 ADLER J. GER 01 +4.2
3 ANANKO L. BLR 00 +19.1
24 BARNES T. USA 21 +1:55.8
32 TREACY C. USA 13 +2:28.9
37 BARNES L. USA 13 +2:43.4
47 ELLINGSON B. USA 13 +3:19.2
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