Ever since the Maine Winter Sports Center received its first grant in 1999, co-founder Max Cobb told anybody who would listen about his vision for the Fort Kent facility.

“Our dream right from the beginning was that there would be kids born and raised in Aroostook County that would make an Olympic team within the first 10 years of the program,” Cobb said on Wednesday.

That dream is one step closer to reality today, thanks in large part to the efforts of Russell Currier.

Currier, a 21-year-old from the northern Maine town of Stockholm, was recently named to the U.S. Biathlon Association’s National A Team, which is made up of the country’s top elite-level athletes in the sport.

“Russell still has a lot of work to do to make [the Olympic] team, but he’s a strong candidate to make that team,” Cobb said. “I’m sure there will be other [Aroostook County] athletes that will follow in his footsteps.”

Cobb, now the executive director of U.S. Biathlon, remembers Currier beginning to train in Fort Kent back in 2000.

That’s where Currier was introduced to the sport that combines skiing and marksmanship. In fact, he essentially started from scratch.

“That’s where he started skiing, too. He hadn’t skied at all,” Cobb said. “Most kids who are on the national team started skiing when they were three or four years old.”

It didn’t take long for Currier to begin to develop. He was a five-time state high school ski champ, and represented the U.S. in several World Junior Biathlon Championships.

Earlier this year, he made his debut among elite senior-level competitors, in a relay at the World Biathlon Championships.

Cobb said even before Currier competed at the senior level, he had likely secured his place on the A Team by virtue of his performances at the Junior World Championships. The U.S. Biathlon board of directors officially approved national team recommendations on June 7.

“[His progress from a young athlete with no background in skiing to the elite level] is a huge credit to Russell’s determination and work ethic, and those are still things that stand out about him today,” Cobb said.

Cobb said that as Currier has improved, team officials have learned a lot about him.

“He’s got a tremendous engine as well,” Cobb said. “[He has] a great physical capacity for work and the mental toughness to do the work that needs to be done.”

In endurance sports, like other sports, Cobb said, athletes need special physiological gifts in order to compete at an elite level. With those gifts and hard work, special things can be achieved.

“In basketball it’s highly related to your height. In football it’s related to bursts of quickness and pure size,” Cobb said. “In endurance sports, it’s based on cardiovascular capacity.”

And Currier’s cardiovascular capacity – the “engine” Cobb referred to earlier – is top-notch.

Currier will join six other men and women on the U.S. National A Team. Also on the roster are Tim Burke, Jay Hakkinen, Lowell Bailey, Jeremy Teela, Laura Spector and Haley Johnson. Six of the seven – all except Hakkinen – have spent time living and training in Fort Kent at the MWSC in the past.

The National B Team has several athletes from Maine or who have trained in Maine in the past. Walt Shepard of Brunswick and Meagan Toussaint of Madawaska will join MWSC products Lanny Barnes and Tracy Barnes on the roster.

And on the Junior National Team, Hillary McNamee of Fort Fairfield and Grace Boutot of Fort Kent will train hard in hopes of moving up the biathlon ladder.

In other U.S. Biathlon Association news, Patrick Coffey of St. Albans, Vt., has been hired as a full-time assistant coach of the U.S. Biathlon Team, while Gary Colliander, who works at the MWSC in Caribou, will serve as an assistant on the national B team.

Colliander will also continue to fulfill responsibilities at the MWSC. He has been an assistant coach of the National Junior Team for several years.

Kiwanis visit enjoyable

On Tuesday morning I acted on an invitation from Gary Nelson and spoke to the Kiwanis of Dover-Foxcroft.

Despite the early hour, an eager-eyed bunch greeted me and listened to a few tales from the Maine woods … and other places.

The Kiwanis does a lot of great work across the nation, and the Dover-Foxcroft club is no different.

In fact, they’ve got an auction planned that you might want to attend.

The auction will run from July 24 through July 26 at the Piscataquis County Fairgrounds in Dover-Foxcroft. Auction hours: From 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. on July 24 and 25, and from 4-9 p.m. on July 26.

The club collects donated items year-round, and will have a variety of cool goods on the block.

According to the reports I heard Tuesday, one generous donor gave the club a pickup truck to auction off. Others gave a lawnmower and an outboard motor.

I’ve never been much of an auction guy, but it seems like there will be something for everyone at this yearly event.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214