RIDNAUN, Italy – Walt Shepard of Yarmouth skied and shot his way to a 13th-place finish Wednesday in the World Junior Biathlon Championships.

Shepard, who skis for the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, hit his first nine targets and was in fifth place for much of the race. He finished 57 seconds off the pace of winner Mathias Nilsson of Sweden after missing his final target.

The finish was the best by a U.S. skier in the competition since 1997.

Shepard will race in the pursuit competition today. The pursuit race’s starting position was dictated by individual athletes’ finishes in Wednesday’s race: He’ll start 57 seconds behind Nilsson.

“I made tomorrow a lot more difficult for myself by missing the last target today, but the pursuit is my best event and I still feel like a have a chance to medal,” Shepard said.