Fort Fairfield students serve as biathlon officials

PRESQUE ISLE – About a dozen students from Fort Fairfield High School are getting a first-class education this week in how to run an international biathlon event as they serve as Level 1 officials for the 2006 Biathlon Junior World Championships.

The students, most of whom are on the high school cross-country ski team, took a two-month course this fall for high school credit and earned their Level 1 biathlon official certification so they could handle important responsibilities at the event, Karen Saenger, an organizing committee representative, said Thursday.

The local volunteer organizing committee is hosting the championships at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle.

Last year, Saenger said, when the committee traveled to Finland for the 2005 Biathlon Junior World Championships, they gathered information on how to run the 2006 event. Saenger had a chance to meet with the headmaster of a school there that was offering a biathlon class for students. Saenger said the Finnish organizing committee members gave lectures and assignments to the students, who then were able to use the knowledge they gained to serve as volunteers at the 2005 event.

The 2006 organizing committee took that idea, modified it and came up with the biathlon course at Fort Fairfield High School.

Saenger said that Melanie Stewart, event manager for the organizing committee, approached Fort Fairfield Superintendent Jeanette Condon about the course, and both Condon and Fort Fairfield High School Principal Mark Jenkins were enthusiastic about the idea. Jenkins and Paul Lamoreau, Fort Fairfield High School cross-country ski coach, have coordinated the effort on the high school side.

The dozen students who signed up for the course learned the range and course, the philosophy behind the biathlon and how to do race scoring. With the competitions in full swing, students have been getting up at 5 a.m. every morning since last Saturday, working in the competition office, on the range, in the stadium and with the course crew.

“They’ve had the chance to meet with these international athletes,” Saenger said. “It’s been a cultural and inspirational learning experience for these students. I can’t even imagine how much learning is going on here.”

Three of the students taking a break from their duties Thursday afternoon agreed that this was the experience of a lifetime for them.

“It’s a world championship and it’s happening in Aroostook County, so it blows my mind,” Sadie Ayoob, a Fort Fairfield junior, said Thursday. “My best friend Hilary is in it [the competitions] so it’s cool to be here to support her and the other athletes.”

She and sisters Kelsey Towle, a senior, and Shannon Towle, a sophomore, said they’ve been very busy this week running around posting temperatures, provisional race results and final race results in nine places around the venue. They said they’ve also been doing a little work on the side making birthday cards and posters to support the athletes throughout the event.

“If we were in a different country and we didn’t know anyone, we’d want support from the local people, too,” Shannon Towle said.

Kelsey Towle said the experience, though tiring, has been exciting.

“It makes me want to learn more about getting a higher level of [biathlon official] certification because it was so interesting to be here,” she said.

Their coach believes the students’ experience is opening up new doors for them.

“This definitely will motivate them to ski faster and to make skiing a big part of their lives,” Lamoreau said Thursday. “And for them to see the impact of an event like this taking place in their own backyard … they see it [skiing] as part of the big picture of what can be done to improve the life of Aroostook County, whereas before it was something they did just for fun.”