COLERAINE, Minn. – More than 60 of the top youth- and junior-level biathletes in the nation are at the Mount Itasca facility as the Youth and Junior World Championship team trials open today.

Among the competitors looking for spots on the U.S. team that will travel to Ruhpolding, Germany, for the world championships are Russell Currier of Stockholm, Madawaska native Meagan Toussaint, and Fort Fairfield’s Hilary McNamee, who is a senior at Fort Fairfield High School.

The world championships will start Jan. 23.

The trials open with sprint races Friday morning, followed by a pursuit-format competition Saturday and a mass start relay format Sunday. The team will be announced Sunday afternoon.

Junior biathlete Currier will be trying for his fifth straight world championship team berth. McNamee, a youth competitor, is gunning for a spot on the U.S. team for the third year in a row. Toussaint, a junior, is in line for her second straight worlds team.

Three athletes, including Maine Winter Sports Center team member Laura Spector of Lenox, Mass., have already earned spots on the U.S. team. Spector is a junior.

The team trials were originally set for Anchorage but moved to Mount Itasca 10 days ago due to a lack of snow.