Five County skiers to Worlds Maine Winter Sports Center well-represented at team trials

COLERAINE, Minn. – Five Aroostook County residents who are members of the Maine Winter Sports Center biathlon team have qualified for the 2007 Junior World Championships in Martell, Italy, this month.

The MWSC group qualified for the world championships at the team trials at Mount Itasca. The teams were finalized Sunday.

Russell Currier of Stockholm, Newt Rogers of Fort Kent and Hilary McNamee of Fort Fairfield, who were all members of the 2006 team which competed at the championships at the Nordic Heritage Ski Center in Presque Isle, are returning to the world championships.

Meagan Toussaint of Madawaska and Brandon Ostroot of Caribou, who attend and ski for UMaine-Presque Isle, are new to the team this year.

Currier, Rogers and Ostroot are on the junior men’s team. Toussaint qualified for the junior women’s team and McNamee will be on the youth women’s team.

It will be Currier’s fourth trip to the world championships.

The team selections were based on a percentage formula that takes into account the athletes’ top two finishes in three events. The top four finishers in each age group qualify for the team.

Mark Johnson of Grand Rapids, Minn., swept the junior men’s races for a 208.52 percentage. Ostroot (196.93) was second followed by Currier (196.86) and Rogers (196.46).

Bryn Manbeck, also of Grand Rapids, won the women’s juniors with a 206.36 percentage. Toussaint was fourth (194.25).

McNamee, who missed Friday’s sprint due to illness, roared back this weekend with a win in the pursuit Saturday and another victory in the mass start-relay format, in which each athlete has eight rounds of ammunition instead of the normal five to clear five targets.

Her race Sunday was a combined youth-junior race and McNamee was the first competitor to finish, which gave her a 205.46 percentage to top the youth women.

Joey Bard of Woodland (20th place) was the top MWSC finisher among the youth men.

The MWSC athletes will continue to train in Maine until they head to Italy Jan. 19. Competition at the world junior championships begins Jan. 24 and concludes Jan. 31.