The biathlon season came to a conclusion this weekend with an Individual Competition Saturday and a Sprint competition on Sunday. The two days of racing were a combination of the Grey Mountain Cup and the Yukon Championships.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the biathlon coaches decided in the summer of 2020 that Outside competitions for the competitive athletes would not be taking place. Since competition is important for overall athlete development, a home-grown event was created to fill the void left by the travel restrictions.

The Grey Mountain Cup had five distinct competitions – the dryland sprint (athletes ran, not skied), a sprint, a mass start, pursuit, and the individual, held this Saturday.

Held once a month, athletes learned different race formats, honed their shooting skills, and increased their speed. It is not just the biathletes who benefitted from all the competitions. It takes an army to hold such an event and the volunteers and officials grew more confident in their roles also.

It was a great weekend of competition that saw lots of action, great shooting, and sportsmanlike behaviour.

Saturday’s race, the individual, had no penalty loops – it was certainly a shooter’s race. Instead of taking a loop, athletes had 45 seconds added to their time for every miss.

Saturday results:

The Junior category, six kilometres, was won by Cheyenne Tirschmann.

Her ski time was 25:28 and her total time, after factoring in her eight misses was 31:28. Keelan Robins wasn’t far off the pace, finishing 16.5 seconds behind Tirschmann. Matthew London was third.

The Pursuit biathletes race four kilometres. It was close at the top of the leaderboard but Colin Diamond proved the winner. His ski time, 17:35.9, was slower than second-place finisher Alexander Labarge, but Diamond only had four misses at the range. His time was 20:35.9, 18.5 seconds quicker than Labarge. Ryan O’Farrell came third.

The Men/Women category had one racer, Ian Campbell, who last competed at the biathlon range in 2007 for the Canada Winter Games. He raced 15 kilometres and had a final time of 1:16:58.8.

Veronica Porter, the lone Youth Women athlete, finisher her 10 kilometre race in 45:18.7.

The Senior Boys, Girls, and Masters categories all raced 7.5 kilometres.

Alex Brown had a strong showing on the range missing only three and had a time of 32:49.5. Isidore Champagne, 34:24.7, and Noah Marnik were second and third respectively.

Isla Hupe, 37:42.2, took the Senior Girls race. Ava Irving-Staley was 3:12.2 behind.

Brian Healy, 34:29.3 was the Masters winner. Brad Heron was second and Berne Johnson was third.

Sunday’s Yukon Championships were fast and furious. Unlike Saturday where time penalties were assessed for misses, athletes had to do penalty loops.

Results:

The Masters six-kilometre race was won by Brad Heron. He missed five shots and posted a final time of 23:44.2. Daniel Dreisetl was second and Ian Campbell third.

The Junior and Pursuit biathletes raced 3.75 kilometres. However, with the penalty loops, that distance could grow depending on how many misses.

Keelan Robins was the Junior winner, in 16:53. Cheyenne Tirschmann was only 10.8 seconds behind. Matthew London placed third.

Alexander Lebarge had five misses on the range but was quick on the skis to win the Pursuit category in 18:26.7.

Johna Irving-Staley and Logan Tirschmann rounded out the top three.

Spencer Littlefair was the lone Junior Men athlete. Racing 7.5 kilometres, he finished in 30:56.8.

The Youth Women, and Senior Boys and Girls raced six kilometres.

Veronica Porter was again the flying solo in her category. She still posted an impressive 24:55.4 total time.

Noah Marnik only missed twice on the range. His strong shooting put him in first in the Senior Boys division.

Cole Germain came second followed by Isidore Champagne, only four seconds after.

Ava Irving-Staley won the senior girls race, edging out Isla Hupe by two seconds.

The future of biathlon in the Yukon was out Sunday. The Bears did a two-kilometre race. Xavier Macht took the win followed by Luca Myden. Marlow Newham-Boyd was third. Thirteen racers strapped on the skis and all of them put on impressive performances.

Grey Mountain Cup awards:

The Grey Mountain Cup came into existence because of the pandemic, but Biathlon Yukon is going to make it a mainstay in future seasons. Medals were handed out to the top three athletes in each category. As well, a trophy was made by Biathlon Yukon president Bill Curtis to remain on display at the Time Hut.

Every year, a plaque with the top male/female athlete in each category will be added to the trophy.

Listed is the top athlete in each category.

Masters Men - Brian Healy, Junior Men - Spencer Littlefair, Senior Boys - Noah Marnik, Junior Boys Matthew London, Pursuit Boys - Alex Lebarge, Masters Women - Manon Desforges, Youth Women - Veronica Porter, Senior Girls - Isla Hupe, Junior Girls - Cheyenne Tirschmann, and Pursuit Girls Niamh Hupe.