COLERAINE, Minn. – Three Aroostook County natives who compete for the Maine Winter Sports Center picked up top-three finishes in sprint competition at the U.S. Biathlon Junior World Championship trials Friday at the Mount Itasca center.

Stockholm’s Russell Currier placed second in the junior men’s sprint, followed by Newt Rogers of Fort Kent in third, while Meagan Toussaint of Madawaska was third in the junior women’s sprint.

Currier recorded five penalties and Rogers had four.

“This is OK for Newt considering he hasn’t shot that much this past fall while attending the University of Vermont,” MWSC coach Gary Colliander said in a release. “Russell’s misses were low and this has been the case all winter. His sighting has been great, really great groups, but still some misses [were] low.”

Toussaint, a UMaine-Presque Isle student, had four penalties with two misses per shooting bout (one in the prone position, one standing).

“My skiing felt pretty good today but my shooting was not my usual,” she said. “I had some bolting problems in prone and I think that threw me off a bit.”

Mark Johnson of Grand Rapids, Minn., won the junior men’s race while Brynden Manbeck, also of Grand Rapids, won the junior women’s race.

Hilary McNamee of Fort Fairfield, who was a member of the 2006 youth team, did not participate in the youth women’s race because she was suffering from food poisoning.

Rose-Mary Williams of Fort Fairfield finished sixth and Fort Kent’s Grace Boutot was seventh. Addie Byrne of Bovey, Minn., was the winner.

The trials continue today with a pursuit competition. The top four overall athletes in each age and gender group gain a berth on the world championship team.