Canadian biathlon prospect Emma Lunder enters each race with one goal in mind: to beat her boyfriend.
After watching her beau Nathan Smith claim silver on the IBU Cup tour Saturday (Nov. 23, see story on page 59), she did just that when she shot clean and skied like the wind to capture gold in the NorAm/Calforex Cup race Sunday at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
“I was trying to beat him and get gold. My first thought when I missed a shot (on Saturday) is dang it, Nathan’s faster than me again,” Lunder joked.
Lunder finished the 7.5 kilometre sprint in a time of 22:48.4, 30 seconds ahead of American Katrina Howe. Colorado biathlete Tracy Barnes finished third, while Canmore’s Emma Lodge was fourth.
“It was a perfect day on the range. I tried not to think too much, but I tried to shoot quicker today. I knew I had a lot of time to make up. There are girls skiing really fast here today,” Lunder said. “I definitely feel like I have more fight in me.”
She had plenty of inspiration after watching Smith crush the competition overseas.
After a long talk with Rocky Mountain Racers head coach John Jaques, Lunder made huge strides over the summer. Training with purpose and focus, she improved her ski speed by 16 per cent and Sunday’s race was only the second time in her career she’s shot clean in a race.
“I did more uphill training this year and more volume with the team. I upped my training and my ski speed is better. All around, I feel like I have more strength and can push for longer,” Lunder said.
She wants to be ready for December trials and reach the IBU Cup tour in the new year.
“The IBU Cup is more of a focus for me, and I want to be more competitive,” Lunder said.
Lunder won a silver medal on Saturday behind Tracy Barnes. Lodge took the bronze.
Americans dominated Sunday’s men’s race, as Russell Currier and Casey Smith finished first and second. Rocky Mountain Racer Matthew Neumann was the fastest Canadian, missing three targets and finishing 46 seconds back of the leader. Robin Clegg was the second fastest Canadian.
It was a strong weekend for Neumann, who took silver on Saturday. Even after missing three targets, he was only six seconds behind Casey Smith. Neumann also wants to have a strong Olympic trials race and knows he’ll have to be on his game in December.
“I need to be able to push myself 100 per cent plus to be able to compete at trials. (Watching the overseas results) it brought it home that you have to have 100 per cent to compete with the best in Canada,” Neumann said.
Sunday’s junior men’s race was hotly contested, as Stuart Harden grabbed the top spot with a 10 second lead over Biathlon Alberta Training Centre’s Brett Davie. Carsen Campbell was third. Sarah Beaudry won the junior women’s race by 51 seconds. Rose-Marie Cote was second and Kelsey Dickinson was third.
On Saturday, Campbell won gold in the junior men’s category, followed by Menno Arendz and Matthew Hudec. Anna Kubek won Saturday’s junior women’s race, followed by Beaudry and Erin Yungblut.
The biathletes will compete in the second NorAm of the season on Saturday (Nov. 30) and Sunday (Dec. 1).
