Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by John Tonin

OFF THEY GO – At the sound of the starting pistol the U14 skiers begin their two-kilometre event during the Grey Mountain Invitational Ski Race Saturday at the biathlon range.

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Photo by John Tonin

ONE LAP DOWN – Sophia Giangrande, Bella Mouchet, and Abigail Jirousek, left to right, complete one loop of their five-kilometre race.

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Photo by John Tonin

GATHERING SPEED – Caelan Pangman McLean skis down the hill leading into the biathlon range.

Cross country skiers race the biathlon trails

The biathlon range was a flurry of activity on Saturday but not with the usual sport.

By John Tonin on January 18, 2021

The biathlon range was a flurry of activity on Saturday but not with the usual sport. The rifles were stored away, instead, it was the cross country skiers who took over the trails for the Grey Mountain Invitational Ski Race hosted by Biathlon Yukon.

Sophia Marnik, with Biathlon Yukon, said the Grey Mountain Invitational Ski Race is a great opportunity for cross country athletes to compete on a different set of trails than the ones at Mount McIntyre.

It was a beautiful sunny day at the biathlon range and the temperature remained mild. This made the race “fast and furious” according to Marnik.

The race, usually an annual event, was not held last year due to the extreme cold Whitehorse experienced in January.

Everyone at the range complied with COVID-19 pandemic safety protocols. Only those skiing were un-masked.

Onlookers did not have access to any of the buildings and people stayed six feet apart.

Results:

All races were mass start format and began and ended in front of the rifle range.

This allowed the fans watching from the bleachers to cheer on their family and friends as they arrived.

The U14 male and females got the races started. They did a two-kilometre loop.

Minty Bradford was the quickest U14 female finishing the two-kilometres in 6:01.8. Coming in second was Cheyenne Tirschmann, 6:33.8, and third was Sarah Svoboda, 7:04.8.

The U14 male race was the largest division of the day with 24 participants. Nicolas Giangrande 6:01.4 beat out Jonah McConnell by only point-seventh of a second. The third-place finisher was Fin Bradford.

The U16 male and female categories along with the U18 division all competed five-kilometre races.

Constance Lapointe proved to be the fasted U16 female finishing the distance in 17:31.2. Sophia Giangrande, 17:46.5 and Abigail Jirousek, 18:14.8, placed second and third respectively.

Bruce Porter out-skied the competition, posting a time of 15:30.0 to win the U16 male race. Only seven seconds behind was Simon Connell. Ryan O’Farrell came third.

The U18 female class was taken by Veronica Porter in 17:43.8. Kate Mason and Bella Mouchet followed.

The final categories of the day all raced 7.5-kilometres.

Cole Germain took the U18 male race in 23:14.7. Isidore Champagne came second in 24:32.8 and Noah Marnik rounded out the top three.

The Open male category was won by Caelan Pangman McLean who posted the winning time of 21:59.3. John Parry, the only other competitor in the category finished in 24:19.2.

Dominic Bradford took the Masters Male race in 23:37.0. Less than a minute behind was Alain Masson with Brian Horton coming in third.

Sonjaa Schmidt was the lone U20 female athlete. She posted a quick time of 26:44.5.

The Masters Female class was taken by Kristenn Magnusson in 30:39.0. Laura Salmon, 31:44.8 and Sarah Johnson, 32:12.8, rounded out the top three.

Next Sunday the activity will continue at the Biathlon Range. Biathlon Yukon will be hosting its fourth set of time trials.

This time, it will be a pursuit format. Athletes will leave the start five seconds apart in a wave, with four bouts of shooting and five rounds of skiing.

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