FORT KENT – Calmly hitting 15 of 20 shots, the United States’ Walt Shepard of Yarmouth overcame a 57-second deficit to win the North American championship in the Junior Men’s 12.5-kilometer Pursuit biathlon competition on Saturday.

Shepard started the competition at the Maine Winter Sports Center in second place behind Canada’s Dominic Villeneuve, but caught up with the biathlete at the third of four shooting stations where he missed one of five shots while Villeneuve missed three.

As Villeneuve began his second of three 150-meter penalty loops (one for each missed shot), Shepard had already started back out on the main course. Shepard never trailed again en route to his second U.S. and first North American championship of the International Biathlon Championships Festival.

“I knew if I stayed aggressive but conservative I could make up the time,” Shepard said. “Dominic is a very good shooter, so I knew I had to do my best.”

Shepard’s second-place finish to Villeneuve on Thursday in the Junior Men’s 15-kilometer Individual competition made the Maine Winter Sports Center team member a runner-up for the North American title in the individual competition, while making him the U.S. champion at the same time.

Athletes for the pursuit competition must wait half the amount of time that they finished behind the winner of the individual competition before beginning the pursuit. Villeneuve’s 57-second head start was half of the 1 minute, 53 seconds Shepard had trailed the Canadian on Thursday.

Villeneuve finished 1:50 behind to lead the Canadians. American Anders Osthus of Minnesota finished third at 2:38 behind Shepard.

Shepard narrowly missed another national title on Sunday when he teamed with Jeff Alden of Caribou in the Junior Men’s 15K Relay to finish second to the Minnesota team of Anders Osthus and Brian Olsen, 49:25.1 to 50:37.5.

Olympian Rachel Steer of Anchorage, Alaska, won the Women’s 10K Pursuit after hitting 19 of the 20 50-meter shots with her .22 caliber, bolt-action rifle with non-optical sights. Steer returned to action for the first time since her 31st-place finish in the Women’s 15K Individual, 60th in the Women’s 7.5K Sprint, and a did-not-finish in the Women’s 10K Pursuit in the Salt Lake City Olympics.

“This was a totally different course from the one at Soldier Hollow because this was a very technical course and in Utah it was more climbing,” Steer said.

Ekaterina Ivanova of Vermont finished second, 54.1 seconds behind Steer, after starting the race in first. American Kara Salmela, coming off her second consecutive Olympics, finished third at 1:11 behind the leader. Diana Tremblay finished ninth overall, 11:39 behind the North American champion, to lead Canada.

With three inches of fresh snow from an overnight storm and freezing rain falling during the competition, athletes were forced to make some quick adjustments with how they handled the course on Saturday.

“It was a lot slower today than it was on Thursday,” Steer said. “Today was a little more challenging in choosing the skis and wax to use.”

The change and a malfunctioning rifle dropped a national champion hopeful from Maine, 14-year-old Russell Currier of Stockholm, from a second-place start, three seconds behind the leader, to a 10th- place finish in the Boys 7.5K Pursuit.

“I had to change skis right before the race because of the conditions and I never got a chance to practice with them,” Currier said.

Currier’s rifle also jammed several times during the competition leading him to finish 6:23 behind Canada’s Real Tetrault, who captured the North American title as well as the Canadian championship.

Currier, who received his first biathlon rifle in September 2001, is confident in his future as a biathlete.

“I’m really young and I’ve got time,” he said. “I’ll come back.”

Tetrault won with a time of 27 minutes, 14 seconds. Marc Andre Bedard of Canada jumped four positions to finish 30 seconds behind Tetrault for second place, while Mark Johnson of Minnesota was 48 seconds behind to claim third place and the U.S. championship.

Tim Burke of New York beat his closest competitor by 1:23 to capture the Men’s 12.5K Pursuit for his second North American and U.S. championships of the week. Canada’s Steve Lapierre jumped from his fifth-place start to second, while 2002 U.S. Olympian Dan Campbell finished third, 2:00 behind Burke.

The win was Burke’s first while competing on the senior circuit. He had initially planned on competing in the junior competition to face off against members of the Russian junior team, but changed to the men’s race when the Russian squad withdrew from the championships.

“I had a week break and it gave me the second wind I need for the rest of the season,” Burke said. “I had no penalties for the first two stages, so I was happy with how the day went.”

American Kevin Patzoldt led a Minnesota sweep of the first six places in the Youth Men’s 10K Pursuit, winning his second national championship of the week. Teammate Ben Byrne finished 2:07 behind for second place, while Kurt Farchmin rounded out the top three, 2:53 behind Patzoldt. Francois Leboeuf led the Canadian contingent, finishing 5:32 behind in seventh.

Canada’s Marie-Pierre Parent captured the Junior Women’s 10K Pursuit North American championship. Jenny Ester of Minnesota came in second, 6:44 later, to capture the U.S. championship. Julie Warneke of Minnesota placed third, 9:58 back.

While acknowledging the importance of the North American title, 10th-year United States Junior Biathlon head coach Cory Salmela admitted that the national championship is of equal importance for many athletes.

“It’s still the championship of our nation,” he said. “The sport is growing and that is becoming more of a big deal.”

Vermont’s Emilia Demarchis claimed the North American and U.S. titles after posting her 27:16 time in the youth women’s 7.5K pursuit. Minnesota’s Annelis Cook and Antonia Slaughter followed at 1:39, and 2:24 behind, respectively.

Michele Mori of Canada grabbed the North American title in the Girls 7.5K Pursuit competition. Shannon Meehan of New York claimed second place and the U.S. championship when she finished 2:13 later.

The importance of the championships had implications far beyond winners and losers, two-time U.S. Olympian Kristina Sabasteanski of Standish said.

“Things like this can really help the younger generations get the experience they need,” she said. “Having the international competition, I think it brings you up to a higher level of competition.”

Sabasteanski finished the Women’s 10K Pursuit in fourth place, 2:52 behind teammate Steer. The Army sergeant had just completed the 2002 Conseil International du Sport Militaire in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, which began less than a week after the Salt Lake City Olympics.

First-place winners collected $1,000; second place $500; third place $300; fourth place $200; and fifth place $100 for their efforts in Fort Kent.

Athletes will reconvene in Valcartier, Quebec, Tuesday through Sunday for the Canadian Nationals and North America Cup 8 championships.