Top Canadian biathlon prospects Julia Ransom and Macx Davies scored gold medals in their last NorAm race on home soil in 2014, providing a great confidence boost before heading overseas to represent their country.
Nearly 300 biathletes from across North America raced in the three-day event at the Canmore Nordic Centre from Dec. 5-7, which also served as qualifiers for the World Junior Championships and Canada Winter Games.
For Ransom and Davies, it was a chance to prove they’re ready for stiffer competition. The team was scheduled to compete in its first IBU Cup in Italy, however, that race was cancelled and the team will compete on the Alpine Cup instead.
Davies shot 8/10 in the sprint to finish 19 seconds ahead of Christian Gow. Matt Neumann finished third.
“I was skiing well and enjoyed the modified course and I am relieved to finally be shooting well – especially to have a clean shooting bout standing, which in the past has been my greatest weakness,” Davies said. “To have a little confidence boost right before we leave was perfect to get me ready for the upcoming races, with bigger fields and harder competition.”
Davies will join Christian Gow, Scott Gow (who was disqualified from the race) and Carsen Campbell to represent Canada on the IBU Cup, the development series for the world cup.
Ransom had extra motivation to race fast, stopping the clock at 23:14. Shooting 8/10 helped carry her to a 38-second win over American Claire Egan in the 7.5 kilometre race. Canmore’s Emma Lunder finished third.
“My dad was out to watch the race, so it was nice to show him that I am training hard. I’ve noticed that my racing becomes sharper as soon as we hit December and this year is no different,” Ransom said.
Ransom and Lunder will be the lone Canadian women on the first IBU Cup stop. Sarah Beaudry was expected to join them, but she was called up to the world cup after strong results early in the season.
Beaudry won Saturday’s junior women’s sprint in a time of 22:50, finishing ahead of American Maddie Phaneuf. Leilani Tam Von Burg from the Biathlon Alberta Training Centre (BATC) finished third.
Alexandre Dupuis shot clean to win the junior men 10 km sprint on Sunday, 11 seconds ahead of Rocky Mountain Racers’ Stuart Harden, who was returning from injury. Campbell finished third, 14.7 seconds off the pace.
Canada’s IBU athletes skipped Sunday’s mass start race, opening the door for the next wave of skiers striving to earn a shot at the world juniors in Belarus and Canada Winter Games.
Harden was strong in the junior men’s category, shooting 17/20 to finish in 28:27. BATC athlete Matt Strum hit 15/20 en route to a second-place finish (29:37.6), while his teammate Matthew Hudec was third (29:48.5). The win should earn him a trip to world juniors, however, the team won’t be officially announced until Friday (Dec. 12).
“I was definitely looking forward to the mass start the most,” Harden said. “My shooting was OK all weekend … I’m definitely expecting more.”
Phaneuf won the junior women’s race in 29:30.7, followed by Tam Von Burg and Alexandria Hynds of Chelsea Nordiq.
Sean Doherty, another American, won gold in the men’s category by shooting 15/20 and crossing the line in 40:52.6, edging out countryman Casey Smith by three seconds. Guillaume Bertrand was the top Canadian, finishing third, 32 seconds off the pace after shooting 17/20. It was his first podium as a senior.
Egan and Katrina Howe of Maine grabbed the top two spots in the women’s mass start, while Erin Yungblut was the top Canadian, finishing third.
