December 23, 2009 (Mt Itasca, Coleraine, MN) – Perfect corduroy greeted athletes at Mt Itasca for Day 5 of competition of the World Team Trials. BethAnn Chamberlain (Grand Rapids, MN) came out swinging and posted the only clean shooting of the day. So far, the Trial events had not gone well for Chamberlain and she needed a victory in order to qualify for the IBU Cup team. Though she now calls Presque Isle, ME home, Chamberlain grew up in Grand Rapids and is right at home at Mt Itasca. With a hometown crowd cheering for her, Chamberlain managed a 5-second victory over Laura Spector (Lenox, MA). Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) posted the fastest ski time of the day for 3rd place, 28 seconds out of first. Dunklee finished in the top 3 in all five races at Mt Itasca.

In the men’s race, the battle raged in the last skiing loop of the day. The top 4 men went into the last 5km ski loop within 10 seconds of each other. Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN), had a blazing last loop, pulling out a 3 second victory over Leif Nordgren (Marine of St Croix, MN). Nordgren had been fighting sickness at the beginning of the race series and needed a big race today. Hitting 90%, Nordgren pulled himself up in the rankings, but could not quite match his training partner, Roberts, on the ski tracks. Zach Hall (Nikiski, AK), was on the podium again for five out of five races, shooting 80% and skiing a strong last lap. Only .8 seconds behind Hall was Mark Johnson. Johnson, who grew up training and racing at Mt Itasca, tried to squeeze every last second out of the familiar terrain, but the hometown crowd and 90% shooting was not quite enough to put him on the podium.

In the Junior Men’s race, Nordgren took 1st, followed by Wayne McClure (Anchorage, AK). Michael Gibson (Burlington, VT) finished 3rd. In the Junior Women’s Sprint, Grace Boutot (Caribou, ME) won by a large margin, shooting 2 penalties. Hillary McNamee (Presque Isle, ME) was 2nd, shooting 70%. Corrine Malcolm (Hayward, WI) placed 3rd with strong skiing. This is Malcolm’s first season of biathlon competition.

The Youth Women showed some of the best shooting of the day. Andrea Mayo (Soldier Pond, ME) shot 80% for a 40 second win over 2nd place Kelly Kjorlien. Kjorlien (Grand Rapids, MN), in her second year of biathlon competition shot an impressive 90%. Rookie Afton Snyder (Grand Rapids, MN), took 3rd with two penalties.

Casey Smith (Methow Valley, WA) won the Youth Men’s with 80% shooting and impressive skiing, matching second place Raleigh Goessling on the ski tracks. Goessling (Esko, MN) finished 21 second back with 70% shooting. Also shooting 70% was Ben Greenwald (Minneapolis, MN) finishing 3rd, 58 seconds out of first.

Full results and final series points can be found Minnesota Biathlon and US Biathlon.

U.S. Biathlon Names IBU Cup Team
On Tuesday the International Competition Committee of the U.S. Biathlon Association has named the following athletes to the IBU Cup Team for January 2010. The athletes will compete at Altenberg, Germany, January 7-10, and Nove Mesto, CZE January 13-16, 2010.

Women:
– Tracy Colliander (Fort Kent, ME)
– Laura Spector (Lenox, MA)
– Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT)
– BethAnn Chamberlain (Presque Isle, ME)

Men:
– Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN)
– Walt Shepard (Yarmouth, ME)
– Zachary Hall (Nikiski, AK)
– Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN)

These athletes will be joined by Lanny Barnes (Durango CO); Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID); Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY); and Kevin Patzoldt (Grand Rapids, MN). The top three women and top two men based on three races at Altenberg will be nominated to the U.S. Olympic Team, joining Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.), Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), Haley Johnson (Lake Placid, N.Y.), and Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT) who have already met the qualification standards for the Olympic Team.

About the U.S. Biathlon Association
The U.S. Biathlon Association (USBA) is the national governing body for the sport of biathlon in the United States. USBA exists to support and encourage the development of biathlon in the United States and to prepare athletes for international competition, including the Olympic Winter Games.

Founded in 1980, USBA works with Biathlon Clubs and Regional Centers around the country to organize training and competition at the grass roots level and staffs and finances the U.S. Biathlon Team, Development Team and Junior Team.

The USBA would like to thank its sponsors and partners for their continued support: TD Bank, Stewart Filmscreen, Adidas, LaPua, Exel, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and U.S. Paralympics. The following suppliers give our athletes what they need to succeed Fischer, Alpina, Atomic, Madshus, Polar, Rossignol, United Airlines, Hilton and the Maine Winter Sports Center. For more information about USBA, please visit www.biathlon.teamusa.org, or follow the team on Twitter @USBiathlon. You can also support U.S. Biathlon, and other Olympic winter sports programs by joining the USOC’s Support-a-Sport campaign. To find out more, please visitwww.TeamUSA.org and click on the support a sport button.