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 Hannah (top) and Ethan Dreissigacker on their way to podium finishes in the pursuit race today.
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CNSC Tops Field at Biathlon Cup08.Aug.2010 Four different Craftsbury athletes hit the podium this weekend in Jericho, Vermont, at the North American Rollerski Biathlon Cup. The haul included two victories and two third-place finishes. Non-biathlon GRP athletes and coach Pepa Miloucheva helped on the range and with timing at the race - but we swear we didn't let any misses by Craftsbury athletes go uncounted! Saturday's race was a sprint competition, an individual start format with one prone and one standing shooting stage. In her first biathlon race, CNSC junior standout Tara Garaghty-Moates won the youth women's race by 30 seconds over Anna Kubek of Mount Itasca, even though she missed eight targets to Kubek's three. Congratulations to Tara, who obviously has a bright future in biathlon! In the senior women's division, competition was tight at the top of the ten-woman field. Tracy and Lanny Barnes of Durango, Colorado, finished first and second, having both shot clean through two stages. The Barnes sisters are talented skiers, and especially known for their clean shooting and incredibly fast range times. Hannah Dreissigacker of the Green Racing Project was Craftsbury's top finisher in 5th place, with 5 penalties; she was 2 minutes behind the leader and only seven seconds out of 4th. GRP teammates Susan Dunklee and Lauren Jacobs finished 7th and 10th with 7 and 9 penalties, respectively. In the junior men's division, Mike Gibson led the CNSC with a third-place finish. Despite a frustrating shooting day - Gibson racked up 5 penalties - he was only 40 seconds behind winner David Gregoire of Quebec, who only missed one shot. Ethan Dreissigacker was 17 seconds behind in 5th place, matching his sister's result. Ethan also had trouble on the range, with 5 penalties as well. Sunday's race doubled the stakes with 4 shooting stages. The format was individual start, with start order determined by Saturday's results. Ethan Dreissigacker improved both his skiing and his shooting to take the win in the junior men's category. Ethan squeaked out a three-second victory over Gregoire, with both skiers accumulating 5 penalties over the 4 shooting stages. Gibson's shooting troubles continued; he missed 12 shots and finished in 7th place, just under two minutes behind Ethan. The senior women's race was especially exciting, with Laura Spector holding the lead until the last shooting, where she missed three shots. That was all Hannah Dreissigacker needed to jump onto the podium, finishing third behind the Barnes sisters. Hannah improved her shooting, missing only 6 shots - only the Lanny and Tracy Barnes and Sara Studebaker shot better - and finishing a minute and a half off of Tracy's winning time. Susan Dunklee's shooting trouble continued; she missed 11 shots and repeated her 7th-place finish. Lauren Jacobs, on the other hand, improved her shooting immensely, hitting 11 shots. Lauren finished 9th, thanks to a 2 minute penalty assessed to BethAnn Chamberlain for missing a penalty loop, which lowered her to the last spot on the results sheet. Keeping track of penalty laps can be tough! Congratulations to all the Craftsbury athletes on their efforts! Links: Results from Ethan Allen Biathlon Club |