Two live, train together but will compete against each other

FORT FAIRFIELD – Youth biathlon hopefuls Hilary McNamee and Misha Lennert spend a lot of time together. They go to the same school, they train together, and they live in the same house.

But when the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships begin this weekend, they won’t be on the same team. In fact, they’re not even from the same country.

McNamee, 16, of Fort Fairfield qualified last year in Minnesota for one of four youth slots on the U.S. Junior National Biathlon Team. Seventeen-year-old Misha – who goes by that name because most people can’t pronounce her given Eskimo name Miillaaraq – hails from Sisimiut, Greenland. She will join two other youth biathletes and a junior biathlete later this week to compete at the world championships with Team Greenland.

Lennert is living in Fort Fairfield this school year as an exchange student hosted by Hilary’s parents, Tim and Lana McNamee. The rest of the team will be bunking with Eric and Elaine Hendrickson of Presque Isle for about a week during the competitions. The four team members will begin working on Thursday with Kris Cheney Seymour, a local cross country skiing lecturer and coach who will serve as their coach and team leader during the world championships.

“I think the spirit of an event like this is that it’s a competition at the highest level but also allows people from different countries and cultures to come together in unique ways,” Cheney Seymour said.

He used to serve as one of McNamee’s ski coaches and said that he would be rooting for both the U.S. and Greenland teams once competitions begin.

The championships open with sprint events on Saturday and pursuit events on Sunday. Events begin at 10:15 a.m. Training days are set Thursday and Friday.

Both girls said on Monday night, just before a family party to celebrate McNamee’s 16th birthday, that they’re a little nervous about the international competition but that they aren’t worried about competing against each other.

“It doesn’t bother me. I don’t know why,” McNamee said as she and Lennert lounged on a couch in the family living room and Lennert nodded her agreement. “We just have fun together because I help her and she helps me.”

Lennert said she has been on skis since she was 5, but didn’t pick up the sport of biathlon until September during a visit to a Maine Winter Sports Center facility. It was soon after her first encounter at a biathlon shooting range that she knew she wanted to compete.

“I like all the possibilities – I get to shoot, train, go to races, and travel,” Lennert said. And as an added bonus, she said, “I have someone to train with.”

“It’s been beneficial,” McNamee said. “The days I don’t want to get up and train, Misha wakes up and makes me go. It’s great to have that support.”

The two said they train together everywhere. They usually go to the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle, but because of a huge snowstorm during Christmas break, they also were able to ski on the roads into town (the McNamee’s live about three miles from Fort Fairfield) to train and run errands at the same time.

McNamee and Lennert will begin their world championship races on Saturday. They’re hoping to race well, maybe even placing in the top half in their field, and gain precious experience in international competition. As Tim and Lana McNamee watch the girls strive to achieve their goals, they believe both already have gained some invaluable experience.