RobtheAggie

Jake Brown was awesome today! He has quietly become steady for the US as Sean Doherty has not had a good season at all. If the US men will ever crack the 10 ten, to get that 5th start spot, Brown will need to continue his rise. All 4 US biathletes only missed 7 shots, but 4 were for Doherty. He has just been off this season. I would love to see all 4 US women in the Pursuit. That would be awesome!

It is great to see some new locations on this list: IBU Junior Cup 06 Feb - 12 Feb Haanja (EST) 13 Feb - 19 Feb JOECH Madona (LAT) 04 Mar - 12 Mar YJWCH Schuchinsk (KAZ) IBU Junior Cup 23/24 15 Jan - 21 Jan Notschrei (GER)* 22 Jan – 28 Jan JOECH Jakuszyce (POL) I think that the two stops in North America for the World Championships are a good idea, but the timing could be a challenge, or could be perfect. Post World Championships, as most of you have mentioned, there will be some who choose not to attend. This could be great for the Canadian and US biathletes. They would have a better chance to do well with some of the big names out of the picture. I often thought that a North American swing of the IBU Cup would work well. Most Americans and Canadians do not know the difference between the WC and IBU Cup. I see the two stops in Canmore next season. You could have three events, Lake Placid (Host of World University Games in 2023), Presque Isle and Ft. Kent, Maine and no one would really care that there were not 50k fans at the event.

I think there are a few alternatives with Sweden, Poland or Switzerland at the top. Obertilliach is hosting the World Juniors. That could also be an option.

US 12th with only 8 misses, they were slow today. I think that the way Jake Brown has been skiing, he is not a bad replacement for Nordgren, but Reid for Dunklee gave us some ski speed. Possibly kept them in the race shooting though, Dunklee can be erratic. Haecki back up to her wild form. People were wondering about Selina Gasparin instead of one of her sisters, but she shot clean while Hecki went 1+6. Ouch. Congrats to Austria for the silver.

I think in track, the mixed 4x400 relay is run in whatever order you want. If the distances were the same, that would be really cool to see.

US going with Egan and Reid on the women's leg's instead of Dunklee. Interesting development. Dunklee traditionally has done very well in the relay's.

@justonyAny word if Bauer and Fak retire after the World Championships? Or will they hold on until the Olympics next year?

27 Teams for the Mixed Relay, any idea what is the over/under for those that will finish. I bet 6 get lapped. Also interesting to note that Russia is officially RBU for the Russian Biathlon Union.

Alpine Cup Highlights - Forni Avoltri - Lots of snow. I do not speak Italian, but it is still nice to see.

Their current coach at Auburn is Brian Halligan, a former US Youth and Junior biathlete who never quite made it to the full National Team. One thing that impresses me about the list is variety. Instead of all from Vermont or New Hampshire, of the 16 athletes, there are 9 states represented. That is great for the health of biathlon in the United States. This is even without Wyoming, Idaho, Wisconsin or New Hampshire who often are represented. I think the hiring of Tim Burke as the Youth/Junior Development Director has really allowed the Youth/Junior section of USBA to develop in ways it previously had not.

US announces their team: Junior Women Sarah Beaulieu (Fort Fairfield, Maine/Sugar Bowl Academy) Helen Wilson (Eagle River, Alaska/Anchorage Biathlon Club) Jackie Garso (Lake Clear, N.Y./Auburn Ski Club) Ariana Woods (Bozeman, Mont./Crosscut Mountain Sports) Junior Men Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, Utah/Crosscut Mountain Sports) Vaclav Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn./National Guard Biathlon/Mt. Itasca) Lars Hammernes Leopold (Truckee, Calif./Asker Ski Club) Bjorn Westervelt (Stowe, Vt./Craftsbury Biathlon Club/UVM) Youth Women Sidney Bennion (Midway, Utah/Team Soldier Hollow/PCSS) Maja Lapkass (Anchorage, Alaska/Anchorage Biathlon Club/APU) Lexie Madigan (Truckee, Calif./Auburn Ski Club) Eva Weymuller (Winthrop, Wash./Methow Valley Biathlon) Youth Men Etienne Bordes (Tahoe City, Calif./Auburn Ski Club) Wes Campbell (Park City, Utah/Team Soldier Hollow/PCSS) Sam Stertz (Grand Rapids, Minn./Mt. Itasca Biathlon Club) Cale Woods (Bozeman, Mont./Crosscut Mountain Sports)

Swiss Team: Women : Aita Gasparin Elisa Gasparin Irene Cadurisch Lena Häcki Selina Gasparin Men : Benjamin Weger Jeremy Finello Martin Jäger Niklas Hartweg Serafin Wiestner

The US Announced their team for the last two IBU Cup races: Women: Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.) Hallie Grossman (Craftsbury, Vt.) Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, Wash.) Lucy Hochschartner (Lake Placid, N.Y.) Mikayla Maier (Bozeman, Mont.) Mens: Raleigh Goessling (Duluth, Minn.) Vasek Cervenka (Grand Rapids, Minn.) Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, Utah) Luke Brown (Saint Paul, Minn.) Carsen Campbell (Bozeman, Mont.) Campbell and Maier are new to the IBU Cup. While Luke Brown is the brother of Jake Brown.

A few final thoughts: Congrats to Latvia, two golds is a great thing. The depth was not there for the relay's, but Rastorgujves gets his first win since the 17/18 season. Bendika with her first International level win. Congrats to Poland, not only two golds, but they ran a great event. Norway with lots of medals, but lots of misses on the range. They are a deep team, no question, but some shooting issues. Russia similar to Norway, not as many medals, but still showed their depth.

US announces team for World Championships Susan Dunklee (Barton, Vt.) Clare Egan (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, Colo.) Chloe Levins (Rutland, Vt.) Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis.) Leif Nordgren (Hinesburg, Vt.) Sean Doherty (Center Conway, N.H.) Jake Brown (Saint Paul, Minn.) Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis.) Max Durtschi (Ketchum, Idaho) No real surprise here. Durtschi is quite a bit slower than Schommer. Levins listed above Irwin on the roster is interesting. Levins, is good, but young. Irwin is quite a bit faster than her. I thought #5 would have been Maddie Phaneuf, who has been skiing and shooting well in the IBU Cup races.

Good to see, and they did not finish last. Bosnia had a terrible first shooting, 3 penalty loops, ouch. E. Claude had a monster last lap on Garanichev to finish in 2nd. US pretty decent in 9th. Maddie Phaneuf and Lars Leopold did well. Phaneuf handed off in 3rd place at the last exchange. Leopold is only 21, and I was afraid he might become undone on the range, but he did well. Norway seemed to be unable to really get going.

@rybak It was nice to see the course today. It looks like at least on the women's side they entered the range quite quick. I like the short steep hill after the longer downhill.

I hear Enron is going to make it big. Also there is this car, the Edsel, can't miss.

That did not age well, and it tells me to never bet. Congrats to Pryma.

Krcmar or Pryma for the win. I bet Krchmar,

Lots of misses among the leaders shuffle things up after shoot 3.

In the men's 14 are still clean after shoot #2.

Yeah Zuk! She moved up 17 spots, and they were the hard spots to move up. Great job for her. Magnussen moved up 18 spots from 24th to 6th. Bekh moved up 20 spots from 29th to 9th. Hoegburg moved up 21 spots from 34th to 13th. Deigentiesch moved up 25 spots from 40th to 15th. Lind moved up 25 spots from 53rd to 18th. Gwizdon was the fell the most positions as she started in 15th, and ended in 50th, 35 spots. She missed 7 shots. Kruchinkina dropped of places from 9th to 39th, 30 spots. She had 7 misses. Todorova also lost 30 places from 11th to 41st, she had 5 misses. Three went clean including Zuk, Bekh and Schmidt. Both Americans improved their places, in her first Senior level pursuit, Chloe Levins moved up two spots, shot 17 for 20, and finished in 42nd. Maddie Phaneuf gained 13 spots in 16 for 20 shooting to finish in 44th place.

20 nations for the men will be represented in the Pursuit.

21 different nations represented in the women's pursuit. That is a lot of representation. 7 from Sweden, 6 from France, 6 from Germany, 5 from Norway lead the way.