Yarmouth’s Shepard wins national crown Event draws North America’s top biathletes

FORT KENT – Walter Shepard of Yarmouth on Thursday captured the national biathlon championship for junior men by hitting 15 of 20 targets and being 2 minutes, 24 seconds faster than his closest competitor on the ski trails.

Shepard, who trains at the Fort Kent venue of the Maine Winter Sports Center, was second in the North American Championships to Canada’s Dominic Villeneuve, who hit 18 of the 20 targets during the competition in finished in 46 minutes, .9 seconds while Shepard clocked a 47:54.4.

More than 125 athletes are competing in the biggest competitions held at the Maine Winter Sports Center venue at Fort Kent. The competitions include the U.S. National Championships and the North American championships.

Biathletes are competing in the senior division, open to anyone, the junior division for those under 19, youths for those under 17, and boys and girls for those under 15 years. Championships will be awarded in each division. Competitors in the senior divisions were the biathletes competing at Salt Lake City, Utah, during the Winter Olympics.

“These are the top biathletes in North America,” Andy Shepard, CEO of the Maine Winter Sports Center, said Thursday. “We hope this is the first of annual competitions like these in northern Maine.”

“This is the biggest event we’ve had here since we opened three years ago,” he continued. “This competition is an important milestone to help us secure the World Cup competitions here in 2004.”

“I am cautiously optimistic that we will be looked upon favorably for that,” he said.

Shepard said he was glad that Peoples Bank of Maine is sponsoring this weekend’s competition.

Tim Burke of Paul Smith’s, N.Y., won the senior men’s national championship in a surprise victory by missing only three of his 20 targets. Jacob Beste of St. Paul, Minn., was second by missing two more targets. Their racing times were even.

In the youth men’s competition, the Minnesota Biathlon Program dominated by placing seven of their boys in the top 10. Training partners Kevin Patzoldt of Grand Rapids, Minn., and Ben Boyce of Bovey, Minn., finished 1-2 with exact ski times. Patzoldt took top honors by hitting two more targets.

Russell Currier of Stockholm finished just behind Canada’s Nathan Smith, who won the title in the boys competition. Currier was top shooter with 15 targets, but he was five seconds behind Smith in the skiing.

In the women’s senior competition, Ekaterina Ivanova of the U.S. National Guard overcame three shooting penalties to beat out 2002 Olympian Rachael Steer of Anchorage, Alaska. Ivanova won by 10 seconds.

In the junior women, Marie Piere Parent of Canada beat out Stillwater, Minn.’s Jenny Ester by .37 of a second for the crown.

In the youth women’s race, Annelies Cook of Suranac Lake, N.Y., was in first place by 1.07 seconds over Emila Demarchis of Burlington, Vt. Fort Kent’s Kelsey Bouchard finished in sixth place with nine penalties.

The girls division was won by Michele Morin of Courcelette, Quebec, with an eight-second edge over Shannon Meehan.

It was a beautiful day for competitors and fans alike. Several northern Maine schools brought their children to see the competitions. They included Stockholm, New Sweden, Woodland, and Madawaska.

A bright sun kept temperatures in the 20s and winds were just brisk enough to make competitors take note.

Traffic was fast in the shooting areas as competitor after competitor came through. Volunteers handling the targets were kept busy running through from clearing lines.

Andy Shepard also made note of the 125, yellow-jacketed volunteers running around the site as one of the best networks in the country.

“While the area is relatively new to the work of biathlon, there is a lot of passion and enthusiasm and it shows in these people,” he said. “The competitions would not be what they are without them.”

Thursday’s races were the individual 20k pursuit competitions. Friday is a training day and competitions will continue Saturday and Sunday. The pursuit races are Saturday and the relay races are Sunday.