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Biathlon Summer Training Update

By Chuck Lirette

We are back from our summer break and are winding things up for another biathlon season.  Here is an update and a few pics to share.

 

Six our our biathletes just returned from Alberta Biathlon's Summer Development Camp at Augustana University in Camrose, Alberta.  There were 46 biathletes from across Western Canada at the camp. I have attached an 'action shot' of each of the kids from the roller ski race (these replace the skis that the kids normally use on snow - they use their ski poles with special tips for use on asphalt and their regular ski boots attach to the roller skis).  In order of pictures, the kids are Kim Ring, Andrew Lirette, Angeline Magtibay, Colton Glaicar, Joseph Lirette and Christopher Lirette.  There are also a couple of group shots of the kids taken in Camrose as well.

The camp consists of roller ski and shooting training sessions, classroom sessions on gun maintenance and race preparation, and concludes with three competitions - shooting, roller skiing and a summer baithlon race.  There is also lots of social activities planned and the chance to experience life as a university student as the kids all stayed in the residences on campus.

In the shooting competition, Joseph was actually the top gun (highest score of all competitors) at the camp and placed first in his division.  The junior division had four of the Hay River kids together, with Colton finishing 3rd, Christopher 4th, Kim 8th and Angeline 9th out of 12 competitors.  This group of kids have the big challenge of competing and shooting in the standing position for the first time this year, so that will be one of the focuses of the training and shooting that we do here in Hay River.  In the youngest division, Andrew finished 5th out of 10 in the shooting competion.

In the roller ski race, they lumped all Junior and Senior competitors into one big division with 22 biathletes in total.  Final results were Joseph in 2nd, Christopher 7th, Angeline 12th, Colton 13th, and Kim 20th.  Andrew was 10th of 12 competitors in the younger division.  The course is a challenge in Camrose, very hilly with sharp corners, and more than one biathlete took home scrapes (Andrew and Kim had some whoppers) from falls while on the trails!

Finally, in the Shoot to Win Summer Biathlon Race, we had some very good Hay River results as well.  In the Junior Boys, Andrew was 6th of 12.  In the Senior Girls, Angeline was 1st and Kim was 2nd of 7 competitors for a Hay River sweep.  In the Senior Boys, Christopher finished 10th of 14 and Colton was a DNS due to sickness.  Joseph was 1st in the Youth Men category as well.   

We have started our practice sessions for the new season as well.  The kids have been working with former biathlete Amy MacDonald, and have already completed 3-4 shooting sessions at the Gun Range as well as 3 roller skis along the Pine Point highway in preparation for this camp.  We will be continuing with these sessions as we start our season......if there are youth or parents interested in getting involved in biathlon, they can contact Chuck Lirette, April Glaicar or Larry Ring for more information.

Another challenge we have as a club and group of parents is that of fundraising - we are throwing around the idea of a ski-a-thon in which the kids would roller ski 120 km from the town to the Alberta-NWT border. The kids would collect pledges for each kilometre skiied - funds would be used for equipment (we are considering the purchase of heart monitors for the kids to use as part of their training) and travel costs later in the winter.  We will let you know more details as we figure them out.

 

                     

                                                   

 

                                                          

 Camp Result Data:

Precision Test Scores

Roller Ski Race

Shoot to Win Race Results

Brendan Green Joins JP Leguellec and Zina Kocher as Canada's Pre-Selected Biathletes to Compete on this Year's World Cup Circuit.  The Hay River Ski Club Sends Congratulations and Best Wishes to Brendan and the Team.

Press Release

NWT Ski Division Site Announcement

Photo Below Shows Brendan Training With NWT Biathletes in Hay River this June.

Congratulations Pat Bobinski, national biathlon award winner for a lifetime's work to build the sport of biathlon in Canada and the north.  Click here for press release

              

 

                          Happy Canada Day 2010

       

 

Biathlon Season Comes Full Circle:  Brendan Green & Hay River Biathletes Gather for Training Camp After A Year to Remember 

      Outstanding Hay River Biathlon Team Recognized at Sport North Awards 

                             

Hi everyone - Here are a few pics of the Award's Banquet from YK. Congratulations to Christopher and Angeline on being named male and female athlete of the year respectively, Pat for receiving the Contributor to Sport award and Larry for receiving the Corporate Contributor to Sport Award! Angeline received her award from Comissioner Tuccaro, Christopher from Minister McLeod and Pat from Angela Inch (daughter of the late Judy Inch of YK). Both Christopher and Angeline thanked the members and volunteers of the Hay RIver Ski Club, and Pat, Doug, April, Ellie, Bob and Marek were all specifically named. Pat also extended his thanks to everyone involved and went on to most humbly describe how easy it was for him to look good when he is surrounded by such dedicated people! I was privileged to accept Larry's award on his behalf and to read his acceptance speech in which he too acknowledged and thanked the committed group of volunteers from the Ski and Biathlon Club. Also being acknowledged at the banquet were Shiela Hachey, Belinda Whitford, Joseph Lirette, Doug Swallow and the NWT Cadet Biathlon Team (Kim, Angeline, Alicia, Colton, Christopher and Brandon) as all had been nominated by NWT biathlon for various other awards that were presented during the evening. On another note, Brendan Green is in town this week for T&F and is willing to do one or two sessions with the biathletes - tentative plan is for a roller ski on Friday evening and then a shooting clinic on Saturday. Stay tuned for more specifics as we get them. Thanks everyone! Chuck

                      

                                              PTUB Ski Races 2010  The family ski event of the year! 

                          

            Angeline Magtibay and Mary Buckland Share in a Doubly Golden Sunday Medal Presentation at PTUB 2010

 

Saturday PTUB  Classic Ski Event Results: Click Here

Sunday PTUB Free Technique Ski Event Results:  Click Here

                           Welcome to PTUB 2010

Thank You Pat B for the great trails, Gary H for the road ploughing, Doug S for registrations, Belinda W and Doug S for stats. Checkpointing team, DJSS Dry Grad Canteen Team, Execubroil, Starters, Timers, Dana A on the bibs, Ptarmigan Inn, Hub Newspaper, Curtis and the Rowe Family, Chris B and the Hub Family, Chuck Davidge our Honorary Lifetime Ski Club Member with very few benefits ;o),  Coaches, Athletes, Recreational skiers, Juneva Green for good behaviour on the course.... and .... more to follow.... :o)

                 

                                 

Arctic Winter Games.... Grrrrrrrrreat skiing, ski biathlon & snowshoe biathlon!

                                          

                            Breanne Glaicar has the honour of carrying the NWT flag in to the Arctic Winter Games opening.

                

               Arctic Winter Games relay teams on podium.

          

Click here to see Arctic Winter Games highlight photos

Hay River Goes Green!

Yellowknife Backs Brendan!

Canada's Relay Team Stands Tall, Placing Top 10 in the Olympic Relay  

Rain, sleet and blinding snow swept in off the Pacific to set the scene for today's men's olympic biathlon relay.  Going into the event, the Canadians would not rule out a possibility of making the podium.  

The team's veteran, Robin Clegg, opened up with a sensational 0 - 0+1 first leg, placing team Canada in the top six, only seconds out of first.  Shortly into Marc Andre Bedard's second leg, he took over first place!  In his first prone shooting Marc Andre shot 0+1 keeping the host country's team in the mix.  Canadian flags waved and the home crowd cheered them on.

The second time through, Bedard kept pace with another 0+1 round in the standing position.  Both lead skiers had held their own in the shooting as race conditions deteriorated.  Brendan Green took over with some fast skiing, coming into the range in the top ten.  Wet snow threw a blanket over the range where Green had to use two extra bullets in the prone position.  Meanwhile, all the teams encountered trouble in the range, as they battled the changing conditions.  

Green used his quickness on the skis to battle back from an eleventh place position and arrive in the range with a group of athletes looking to pull their teams close for the last leg.  Brendan cleaned the first four targets in short order, missed the fifth, but took only one extra bullet to clear the range.  Brendan battled it out in on the last 2.5 Km of the course through very tough conditions to make the pass, with team Canada a fraction of a second ahead, in tenth spot.

JP Leguellec, Canada's outstanding anchor, took over from there and brought the team home with 0 - 0+1 shooting to move Canada into the 10 th position, well clear of the rest of the field.  Only Russia and the Ukraine shot better than Canada, who ended up tying Norway and Germany with only 7 extra bullets used on the day.  The vaunted US squad had to resort to twelve extra bullets and four penalty laps, given the stormy conditions in the range and on the trails.  Tim Burke, the American star who skied third for the Americans against Canada's Green, used three extra bullets, along with an additional two penalty laps.

This result stands as the best Canadian olympic relay result ever.  The Canadian team is by far the youngest on the world cup circuit.  It looks like this confident squad has made a statement at these Olympic games that they'll be a force to reckon with both for the rest of this season and on into the foreseeable future.  What fun for biathlon fans in Canada, the world ..... Hay River ;o)

Final Results: Men's 4 x 7.5 Km Olympic Biathlon Relay

Winter Olympics 2010: 

Going into the 4 x 7.5 Km Biathlon Relay, the Vancouver Sun Writes: The Boys are Back in Town

 

   Hay River Biathletes Shine in Hinton at Western Canadian Championships

     Click here for photos and story :o)

                 

Jean Philippe Leguellec Carried the Hopes of Canadian Biathlon Fans into Today's 10 K Olympic Sprint and .... He Raced to a Brilliant 6th Place, Setting Up the Possibilities of a Miracle Medal in the 12.5 K Pursuit Event Scheduled for Tuesday.

Press Release - IBU Web Site:

Leguellec Did Everything

“I feel awesome, it was an awesome race. I stayed focused on my technique and on my skiing and I had fast skis too so the skiing part went well. On shooting, I came in prone, shot clean, shot fast. I really fed of the crowd that was cheering after every target. That’s something I always hear in Ruhpolding when the people are cheering for the Germans but to have it here for me is actually really exciting and it was awesome. Being the only Canadian is frustrating and I think we should have been four here for sure, but I am happy to pull off a good race for my teammates.”

Vancouver  Opening Ceremonies Fire Up Winter Olympics 2010

Brendan Green, narrowly missing the podium again today, took 4th place in IBU Cup pursuit action for the second time in less than a week.  Results Here.  After the awards ceremonies Brendan will be returning to Canada to prepare for his relay start with the Canadian men's biathlon team on February 26.   Brendan is at the top of his game, posting the best results of his career, heading into the olympics.  Go Canada go!  Go Brendan go!  Go NWT go!

Pictured below, Hay River's Brendan Green, at the awards ceremony following his fourth place finish in Martell-Val Martello, Italy.  Brendan made three of four possible podium ceremonies in this past week's IBU cup races in France and Italy.  Brendan will return home to Canada now and prepare for his Olympic relay event on February 26.  

    

Green is Gold!

              

Brendan Green is the 10 K Sprint Champion of Italy's

Martell Val-Martello with Convincing Win Early Saturday,

Feb 12            Results

                                                         

                                         Brendan, pictured after today's 10 K sprint victory.  (See IBU story below)

Surprise in Martell Sprints

12.02.2010, Martell  / Luis Mahlknecht/JerryKokesh

Canadian takes Men’s Sprint

The first competition at IBU Cup 7 in Martell, Italy ended with a small surprise. The Men’s Sprint was won by the young Canadian Brendan Green, 44.3 seconds ahead of Germany’s Christoph Knie.

The basis for the success of the Canadian was a perfect result at the shooting range in combination with a strong performance on the tracks. Green, who comes from the Northwest Territories in Canada, had already won a bronze medal in the Relay at the IBU Youth and Junior World Championships 2007 here in Martell. “Martell obviously is a good location for me. Also, the low temperatures worked in my favor,” he commented after the competition.

 

Wow! Brendan Green 4th in IBU Cup Event in France

Brendan, the second fastest skier on the course, is posting outstanding results on the IBU circuit going into the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.  Robin Clegg joined Brendan in the top 10, with a come from behind, 7th place finish.

                                  

Hay River Ski Club Biathlete, Joseph Lirette Lights the Torch Again:

                                     Brendan's an Olympian!

                                    

Christopher Lirette, Jared LeBlanc, Colton Yee, Angeline Magtibay, Ilona Gyapay, Breanne Glaicar, Andre Leblanc, Emil Klashaugen, Joseph Lirette, Mason Hachey, Andrew Lirette, Kim Ring escorted the torch into the Don Stewart arena for Monday's giant rally which recognized Brendan Green's Canadian Olympic team selection.

Click here for more photos

                               

Welcome home to our Hay River Ski Club biathlon squad who made the great weekend journey down to Edmonton for a Califorex Cup race this past weekend. Click here for results.  Sprint Results

    

    

The odyssey south to race in Edmonton: medals were won, new challenges and conditions , team building, valuable experience gained, .... fun!  Click here for a photo montage - thanks coaches!

Wow!  Follow Brendan Green's Meteoric Rise to The Elite Level of World Cup Biathlon: Antholz Italy - January 20 to January 24.  Next event: 2010 Olympic Games, Whistler British Columbia.  Go Canada Go!  Go Brendan Go!

To review results click on the link below and check out all the men's and women's results from this week in Antholz Italy.  Canada is showing the biathlon world that they're hungry for top ten finishes going into the 2010 Olympic Games.

services.biathlonresults.com/DataCenter_IBU.aspx

            

                              Brendan Green Nominated to Olympic Team 

                              Official Announcement Scheduled for Jan. 28

 

News Release: Jan 5, 2010

 

Hay River Biathlon Celebrates Brendan Green's Very Successful Start to the 2009 - 2010 World Cup Racing Season: Brendan Anchors Biathlon Team Canada

                                                     

                                   Great Slave Lake Summer Training Session: Brendan and Hay River Biathlon Team

                                                

                                               Brendan Green: Off to a great start in this Olympic Games year!  Go, Brennie, Go!!!

    

 Arctic Winter Games Trials Hosted by the Hay River Ski Club

Thank you Doug, Theresa, Jenny, Brian Swallow and MSSLTD for all the work, planning, expertise and time that went into making this a showcase of Nordic sport.  Hay River Ski Club's trails, thanks to the determined efforts of Pat Bobinski, were outstanding throughout a weekend where we encountered wind and fresh snow variables that would challenge the best of trails crews anywhere.  

To the biathlon parents and support crew - Glaicar, Lirette, Magtibay, Ring, Hachey - congratulations on a very successful trials weekend!  Support in the range for all the out of town teams was terrific, the snacks for athletes were a big hit and your tireless example once again amazed all as you added a fundraising bingo to the weekend's schedule - wow.  

Thanks to Hay River Ski Club executive for getting behind this event, president Ellie with all the advance planning, Marek and Katka with H2O support and race timing, Leah for keeping us up to speed on the financial side of the equation, Chris Irvine and team for checkpointing the weekend's races, Al Goodzeck for manning the radios.  A tip of the hat to DJSS grads who stepped up to feed the hungry hordes of athletes over the three day event!

           

 

                  

          

          

         

         

             

           

 

                             

The Hay River Ski Club season's schedule is posted on this site.  Check out events for 2009 -2010.  This Friday, October 30, things get started with a wine and cheese social.  Details are posted below.  Come out, bring along someone who'd like to ski this season! :o)

Club president, Ellie Baxter, and her executive team, have things going full tilt already - Hallowe'en social, waxing clinic for all levels and abilities, Snow Show with tours & equipment, ski lessons for all levels and abilities and our club is showcasing an exciting weekend of skiing, snowshoeing and biathlon when Hay River hosts the Arctic Winter Games 2010 Territorial Trials on November 20, 21, 22.  

Be a part of it all this ski season at the Hay River cross country ski club!

Local Club Member Joseph Lirette takes part i the Olympic Torch Relay.  Talk to Joseph, he may let you get your photo with the torch.  He brought it home to Hay River! :o)

See Biathlon News for More info

    Doug puts a shine on the clubhouse ... Click on New Board Posts for more ..... 

September 14 2009 Biathletes raise $545.00 in the Terry Fox run. 

Athletes are lining up for the start.  See Biathlon for more info.

August, 2009  Skl North's Mike Mitchell ... Summer Cross Training 

Mike, with a team of four paddlers navigated the Dease River north to the Coppermine River.  The photo above shows that when all else fails, a map comes in handy :o).

May - 2009

Hay River Ski Club Athletes, Coaches and Parents Thank Buffalo Air and the McBryan Family for their Generous Support of Our Club Skiers Traveling to Yellowknife for a Dryland Training Camp May 23, 24, 2009.  (Click on News & Items ... for more photos) 

                                                                                 

Spring Skiing at the end of April!  Great, Great Slave Lake adventure for Hay River Ski Club team and National Biathlon Team stars, Brendan Green and Jamie Robb.  

 

In early May.... Classical Hatha Yoga in the Sivananda Tradition    We Learned the Basics of Yoga in One Weekend!  Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3, 2009    This weekend workshop organized by Ellie Baxter taught the basics of classical Hatha yoga, including:    • An introduction to yoga philosophy  • Warm-up exercises  • Pranayama (breathing exercises)  • 12 basic classical Hatha yoga postures  • Deep relaxation      Happy spring, Ellie

 

 

                                    PTUB 2009 - Pterrific!

    

    

    

       

 

                        

    

          

                                 

   

   

 

                                                       

The Hay River Nordic Centre is located 12km south of Hay River on Highway 2 Mackenzie HWY.

• Heated Lodge
• 16km of groomed trails
• 7 km of light trails for night skiing.

Trails are groomed for both skate and classic skiing. Hay River also boasts a 14 lane biathlon range.