Mainers solid at Canada event

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Several Maine biathlon athletes got a first look at the course for the 2010 Olympics Thursday while competing in the Canadian National Championships at the Whistler Olympic Park.

Walt Shepard of Yarmouth finished sixth in the 20-kilometer men’s individual race, coming in 5 minutes, 26.4 seconds behind overall winner Tim Burke of Paul Smiths, N.Y. Shepard, who competes in cross-country skiing for Bowdoin College in Brunswick, had just two penalties on the shooting range.

Stockholm native Russell Currier struggled on the range in the 15K junior men’s individual with 13 penalties, but he finished in sixth place and was 5:51.4 behind winner Tyson Smith of Alberta, who had a time of 47:30.4 with five penalties.

BethAnn Chamberlain, a Fort Kent resident who competes for the Maine Winter Sports Center, had four penalties which was good for fourth place in the women’s 15K individual. Megan Imrie of Manitoba was the winner, finishing in 48:58.2 with just one penalty.

Other MWSC team members in the women’s race were Haley Johnson of Lake Placid, N.Y., who finished fifth and Laura Spector of Lenox, Mass., who was seventh.

Fort Fairfield’s Hilary McNamee had just three penalties to finish fourth in the 12.5K junior women’s competition. McNamee was 2:01.6 behind Megan Tandy of British Columbia who posted a time of 42:07 with four penalties.

The biathletes have a training day Friday. The sprint competitions will be held Saturday.