MARTELL, Italy – The U.S. biathlon world junior championship team got off to a shaky start as competition started Wednesday with the men’s individual races.

In the junior men’s 15-kilometer race, Fort Kent native Newt Rogers placed 77th with six penalties. He was 15 minutes, 38.5 seconds behind Evgeny Abramenko of Belarus, who was a perfect 20-for-20 in shooting.

University of Maine-Presque Isle student Brandan Ostroot was 75th with four penalties. He was 15:05.1 back. Stockholm’s Russell Currier started strong, with no penalties in the first round of shooting, but had four penalties in the next two rounds. He did not finish the race.

In the youth men’s 12.5K individual, Wynn Roberts recorded the top U.S. finish. Roberts was 39th overall with eight penalties and was 7:52.6 behind winner Lukasz Szczurek of Poland.

The world juniors pick up today with youth and junior women’s individual races.