Five Yukon biathletes were in Whistler, B.C., for the Canadian and North American Biathlon Championships at Whistler Olympic Park from March 27 to 31.
Athletes competed in sprints on March 27, individual competition on March 28, pursuit on March 30 and relays on March 31.
In the women 7.5-kilometre sprint, Whitehorse’s Nadia Moser finished fourth with a time of 20 minutes and 35.4 seconds. First place went to British Columbia’s Sarah Beaudry with Albertans Emma Lunder and Megan Bankes finishing second and third.
Ontario’s Zachary Connelly won the youth men 7.5-km sprint after finishing in 19 minutes and 16.2 seconds, with Manitoba’s Lucas Smith second and Alberta’s Reid Lovstrom third. Yukoner Jake Draper was 13th with a time of 22 minutes flat.
Rounding out results from the first session of competition for the Yukoners were Bronwyn Goodwin-Williams and Amelie Latour who finished 24th and 25th in the youth women six-km sprint. Winning the competition was Pascale Paradis of Alberta, with Shilo Rousseau of Ontario and Jenna Sherrington of Alberta finishing second and third.
The next session started the afternoon of March 27 and two more Yukon biathletes cracked the top 25.
In the senior girls six-km sprint, Quebec’s Pauline Grandbois won with a time of 23 minutes and 47.2 seconds. Danika Burke of Alberta and Kira Friesen of British Columbia finished second and third, while Whitehorse’s Veronica Porter was 18th with a time of 30 minutes and 50.7 seconds.
British Columbia’s Ethan Algra finished first in the senior boys six-km sprint with a time of 20 minutes and 3.1 seconds. Joining him on the podium were Quebecers Frédéric Hamel and William Moineau in second and third.
The Yukon’s Aidan Hupe finished 24th with a time of 24 minutes and 31.1 seconds.
On March 28, the biathletes were back on the course for individual competition.
Moser won the lone gold medal for the Yukon in the women 12.5-km individual with a time of 35 minutes and 16.1 seconds. Albertans Bankes and Lunder finished second and third, each more than two minutes behind Moser.
In the youth men 12.5-km individual, Draper finished in second place with a time of 36 minutes and 41.4 seconds — just 24 seconds behind winner Cole Bender from British Columbia, who finished in 36 minutes and 17.4 seconds. Zachary Connelly of Ontario was third.
Top spot in the youth women 10-km individual went to Alberta’s Paradis with a time of 33 minutes and 22.3 seconds. In second spot was British Columbia Benita Peiffer and in third spot was Jenna Sherrington from Alberta.
Goodwin-Williams and Latour finished 24th and 25th.
Later that day in the senior girls 7.5-km individual, Porter finished just outside the top 10 in 12th position with a time of 41 minutes and 17.6 seconds. Getting the win was Quebec’s Grandbois in a time of 34 minutes and 40.8 seconds. Also on the podium were Friesen in second and Ema Chlepkova of Alberta in third.
The final Yukon result on the second day was Hupe finishing 12th in the senior boys 7.5-km individual. Hupe’s time was 34 minutes and 33.7 seconds — a little more than five minutes behind Algra’s winning time of 29 minutes and 3.3 seconds. Alberta’s Sam Moses finished second in 30 minutes and 35.2 seconds, and Hamel was third in 30 minutes and 47.9 seconds.
After a day off, biathletes raced in pursuit competition on March 30.
The winner of the women 10-km pursuit was Beaudry with a time of 27 minutes and 5.1 seconds. Next to finish was Bankes, 59.5 seconds behind, followed by Lunder who was one minute and 52.2 seconds behind. Moser was fourth, finishing two minutes and 44.6 seconds behind the winner.
Top spot in the youth men 10-km pursuit went to Smith with a time of 27 minutes and 45.1 seconds. Alberta’s Finn Berg was second — one minute and 10.7 seconds behind Smith — and Saskatchewan’s Logan Pletz was third — one minute and 34.7 seconds behind Smith. Draper finished 12th, crossing the line five minutes and 16.2 seconds behind the leader.
In the youth women 7.5-km pursuit, Rousseau finished first with a time of 27 minutes and 20.4 seconds. Paradis was very close behind — just 0.7 seconds — in second place followed by Albertan Naomi Walch 48.5 seconds behind in third. Latour finished 21st, 17 minutes and 18.3 seconds behind, and Goodwin-Williams did not finish.
Algra won the senior boys 7.5-km pursuit with a time of 27 minutes and 13.3 seconds, followed by Oliver Brindle of Alberta in second and William Tang from British Columbia in third. Representing the Yukon, Hupe finished 30th with a time of eight minutes and 28.7 seconds behind Algra.
The winner of the senior girls 7.5-km pursuit was British Columbia’s Friesen with a time of 31 minutes and 21.7 seconds. In second place was Clair Nguyen-Cao and in third place was Chlepkova. Porter finished 14th — seven minutes and 32.7 seconds behind the winner.
Last up for the Yukon biathletes was single mixed relay competition on March 31.
In the junior men and junior women six- and 7.5-km relay, the team of Moser and Draper finished third behind winners Paradis and Adam Runnalls of Alberta and second-place finishers Emily Dickson and Ryan Elden of B.C.
In the unofficial mixed open relay, Goodwin-Williams and Porter combined to finish with a time of 57 minutes and 45.4 seconds.
Albertans finished first and second in the youth men and youth women single mixed relay, with Sherrington and Berg combining for a winning time of one hour, 43 minutes and 18.6 seconds, and Walch and Reid Lovstrom finishing second just 30 seconds behind. Yukoners Latour and Hupe finished 16th with a time of one hour, 56 minutes and 24.5 seconds.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com