Craftsbury (and Hosmer Point) hosted a successful kids' biathlon camp this past weekend, June 12-14th, the 4th annual "USBA Intro to Biathlon" camp for ages 9-12. The weekend activities were led by COC Biathlon coach Miro Segrt, with plenty of help from Algis Shalna and GRP athletes Mike Gibson, Caitlin Patterson, Hallie Grossman, and Susan Dunklee.

The biathlon campers and GRP-athlete "counselors" stayed in cabins at Hosmer Point, biking to-and-from the COC shooting range for biathlon practice. Outside of biathlon practice times, they were able to enjoy a variety of fun activities at Hosmer Point, including canoeing, swimming, broomball, four-square, playing cards and guessing games, making friendship bracelets, and watching the FIFA Women's World Cup!

The weekend of camp finished off on Sunday morning with a series of biathlon races. Additional juniors from the Craftsbury area with biathlon experience were invited to join the five campers for a sprint race (interval start, individual race with two shooting stages), and then a 3-person team relay race. The biathletes shot two stages of prone for each race, using blocks or cuffs depending on shooting experience, and ran an approximately 1 kilometer "race loop" in addition to penalty loops as needed.

After the races, the kids were able to show what they learned by coaching their parents through a brief shooting lesson. Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan provided USBA clothing and hats for post-race awards, and all of the racers left looking great in their new USBA gear.

Racers and coaches gathered for a group picture before the start

Here are the results from the two races at the camp, with number of misses and total race times listed:

Sprint

Bjorn Westervelt, 0+2, 7:23
Camille Bolduc, 1+2, 7:32
Quincy Massey-Bierman, 2+2, 7:49
Lucy Glueck, 1+0, 8:03
Adrian Crytzer, 1+1, 8:29
Jack Young, 0+4, 8:32
Adrienne Remick, 3+2, 8:34
David Moody, 3+2, 9:32
Mary-Jane McKenzie, 4+3, 11:08

1. Relay C: 22:07
Quincy Massey-Bierman, 0+1
Adrienne Remick, 0+0
Adrian Crytzer, 2+1

2. Relay B: 24:14
David Moody, 3+3
Camille Bolduc, 0+2
Jack Young, 1+3

3. Relay A: 25:26
Bjorn Westervelt, 0+3
Mary-Jane McKenzie, 0+3
Lucy Glueck, 3+1*

Notes from Miro: *Lucy fell in the penalty loop after first shooting and Mary-Jane (youngest participant) wanted to substitute her - she was allowed to do so, so she ran penalty loops and continued racing for her team, despite being tired from her part of relay, had only 1 miss for the next shooting and finished third lap in style.

Best shooter in sprint: Lucy Glueck (1+0 misses).

Best shooter in relay: Adrienne Remick (0+0 misses).

Miro helps the racers zero before the start

Adrienne focuses on the targets — she hit 10 for 10 during the relay!

Ready to start, first leg of the relay. Parents and spectators were enjoying the sunny day.

Racers admiring the collection of USBA gear for prizes, and chatting with Olympian Susan Dunklee

Mary-Jane and Hallie enjoy an evening at Hosmer Point

Camille, Quincy, and Mary Jane look at me skeptically, while Camille is trying to guess what person or object is written on her forehead with yes-or-no questions

While the first evening of camp found us sprinting from the dining hall to the cabins in the pouring rain, Saturday night was beautiful

June Intro to Biathlon Camp