GRP Snow Recap: Craftsbury Hosts Eastern Regional Biathlon Race #1
The start of Sunday’s relay (all photos by Phil Belena)
On December 6th and 7th, Craftsbury hosted the first race in the Eastern Canada and United States Regional Race Series. Over 100 athletes raced a sprint race on Saturday and a relay on Sunday. The weekend saw all ages from U13 category up to Senior Veteran Masters 70+ competing at the snowy start to winter.
Senior Women’s Podium featuring GRP athletes: Michaela Keller-Miller (left) and Jackie Garso (middle).
Saturday’s sprint race was individual racing and included three laps of skiing and two shooting rounds. GRP’s Luke Brown placed 3rd just 5 seconds behind 2nd place while teammate Tim Cobb placed 4th right behind Luke. On the women’s side, GRPerJackie Garso won with a time of 23:59.0 and fellow GRP athlete Michaela Keller-Miller placed 2nd! Sunday’s racing was quite exciting featuring a team relay of mixed ages, genders, and skill levels. There were 24 teams that participated consisting of 4 members on each team.
The Eastern Race Series will track points across 4 race weekends throughout the winter and athletes will score from their top 3 performances, requiring athletes to attend at least 2 of the race weekends. The points system will follow the IBU system: 1st place earns 90 points, 2nd place 75, 3rd place 65, and so on. To account for the different sizes of the races, a multiplier will be applied using 8 as the average field size.
The second race of the series will take place in Fort Kent, Maine on January 24th and 25th. The third race of the series is January 31st through February 2nd in La Patrie, Quebec. The last race of the series is February 21st and 22nd in Valcartier, Quebec.
