County biathlete gets hometown cheering section

PRESQUE ISLE – During the first biathlon competition Tuesday morning at the Nordic Heritage Center, no one had more fans in the stands than U.S. youth biathlete Hilary McNamee.

The Fort Fairfield native’s parents were cheering her on from the spectator bleachers, as was her aunt and her grandmother, who was visiting from Cape Cod. But unlike many of the other racers taking part in the youth women’s 10-kilometer individual competition at the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships, McNamee also had an entire school rooting for her.

Just about every first- to fifth-grader from Fort Fairfield Elementary School was whooping it up on the stands near the race course, waving flags, screaming wildly and chanting “Hil-a-ry” every time she skied into sight.

School principal Margaret Houghton said Tuesday morning that the 210 pupils made flags of all the countries to wave throughout the races so none of the athletes would feel left out, but that the children were cheering extra loud for three specific teams. They were cheering on the U.S.; Greenland, because an exchange student and biathlete is going to school this year in Fort Fairfield; and Finland, because biathletes visited the school and talked with students.

“We want the kids to realize that this is an opportunity to see people from all over the world and that they can do this, too,” Houghton said.

Many of the Fort Fairfield students have seen a biathlon before – they attended races during the 2004 World Cup Biathlon in Fort Kent – but Houghton said that having “one of their own” in the competitions made it an extra special, entirely new experience.

“What an opportunity eight miles from our school,” she said. “We’re so fortunate.”

Fourth-grader Jordan Corley, who took turns with her classmates waving the Finland flag, said Tuesday that she was excited to be spending the day at the Nordic Heritage Center.

“The only other biathlon I saw was in Fort Kent, but this is a different level of racing,” she said. “I think it’s more interesting because the athletes are younger and we know some of these people [who are racing].”

Fourth-grader Jared Michaud, who brought his own binoculars to the event, said he was busy all morning watching the rifle shooting, looking out for bib numbers and “of course cheering Hilary every time she came by.”

“It’s cool to come and watch the biathletes race because I never saw it before,” Michaud said.

That’s the opportunity teachers from all over Aroostook County are trying to give their students. According to John Graves, the coordinator for school visits to the venue, about 2,057 Aroostook County students will visit the Nordic Heritage Center over the course of four days this week to watch races. The Maine Winter Sports Center is providing a biathlon cow bell as a cheering tool and souvenir to each elementary and middle schooler who attends the event.

Graves said Tuesday that the school visits provide an amazing opportunity for students to see a world-class event up close and that, conversely, the full stands show the local spirit for the event to the entire world.

“Having kids on site in the stadium close to the athletes must have a positive effect on the spirit and attitude of the athletes as they are racing,” Graves said. “It makes them think ‘People care, people are proud of what I’m doing.'”

Zippel Elementary School fifth-graders Amanda Bagley and Desiree Ouellette said they couldn’t wait this morning to get out and cheer, despite the cold.

“It was miserable and fun at the same time,” Bagley admitted. “We were all really cold, but seeing how they shoot and stuff was really cool.”

“I thought it was really cool that there were, like, 30 countries here in Presque Isle and that they all got to compete against each other,” Ouellette said. “It was definitely worth it that we got to be here watching the world championships.”