Biathlon competition opens in Fort Kent ‘Computer issue’ plagues sprint events

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FORT KENT – An apparent technical glitch kept officials from announcing race results or finish times following day one of the North American Summer Biathlon Championships Thursday night.

“It’s a computer issue and I’m not going to elaborate beyond that,” Jeff Dubis, chief of competition said, as athletes and spectators stood around the timing hut waiting for information.

Twenty-eight biathletes from around the United States and Canada are in Fort Kent for three days of competition through Sunday when the 2007 North American Summer Biathlon Champion will be announced.

Thursday’s sprint race brought athletes, officials and spectators back to the 10th Mountain Ski Center for an event unlike any other held there before.

“There’s a big difference with summer biathlon,” Nathaniel “Newt” Rogers, said following the men’s 4K sprint. “A really big one for me is there is no harness on my rifle, we just carry it.”

In the winter version of the sport, athletes sling their rifles on their backs as they ski the course. In the summer event, the rifles are instead kept in a special shoot lane and the runners grab them as they enter the range, replacing them as they run back out.

“There were also a few technical rules I was not aware of,” said Rogers, who recently completed his first year at the University of Vermont.

Among those was the rule stating athletes may only carry their rifles with one hand, holding onto the muzzle only with the gun aimed straight up in the air.

“Yeah, did you get that talk, too?” Hilary McNamee, fellow Maine Winter Sports Center team member and Fort Fairfield High School senior, said to Rogers with a grin following her 3K sprint.

Both athletes compete in winter biathlon internationally.

McNamee agreed there is a big difference between summer and winter competition.

“There are no skis so you have no chance to glide on the course,” she said. “You are running all the time [and] it makes it really hard to control your heart rate.”

That difficulty, coupled with the angle of the sun were the two culprits McNamee named in some poor shooting.

“I’m usually good on the range,” Rogers said. “Today it was a real issue for me and I did a few more penalty loops than I had hoped.”

In all, Rogers said he had seven missed targets out of 10. McNamee was 50 percent on the day, hitting five targets in two rounds of shooting.

“This is the worst race I’ve ever had for shooting,” Rogers said, adding he is fighting an illness which has elevated his heart rate even during less strenuous activities.

Both athletes have participated in summer biathlon in the past on a very limited basis.

“I’ve only done this once before,” Rogers said. “It was when I first started seven years ago.”

McNamee said it’s a sport that takes some getting used to.

“I’ve not done it all that often, usually we do running combination training in the summer,” she said. “Not formal races like this.”

Thursday’s races were under sunny skies and while the range and some of the faces were familiar, there were some obvious differences like the green grass instead of snow in the finish area.

MWSC coach Gary Colliander was pleased overall with his team’s performance. Eleven of the competitors are on the Maine Winter Sports team.

“The athletes were prepared, but I sensed they lacked the experience,” Colliander said.

The coach said the team has been working pacing to control breathing.

“Our focus is on precision shooting and we want to set standards for quality of shots,” Colliander said.

Since the biathletes run the entire course, Colliander said many of them came into the shooting range with higher than normal heart rates.

“I had a talk with the women before they started and told them to back it off a bit,” he said. “There’s a nice straight stretch before they get into the range and I told them to use that to pace themselves.”

On a day when 50 percent shooting was the norm, Colliander said the MWSC team did “OK.”

McNamee and Rogers are eager for another chance Saturday.

“I just want to hit more targets,” McNamee said. “Beyond that, I’m keeping my goals to myself.”

Rogers is a bit more determined.

“I’m waiting for Saturday and I’m going to redeem myself,” he said. “Bring it on.”