LANGDORF, Germany – Russell Currier (Stockholm) scored a top 10 in Sunday’s Junior Men’s Sprint Competition hitting nine of his 10 targets to finish 1:41 behind Arnd Pfeiffer of Germany. Pfeiffer cleaned the race and finished in a time of 26:58.
Contributed photo Russell Currier, of Stockholm, competes in a recent biathlon event in Germany.
Skiing through the mashed potato-like conditions, Currier’s light ski technique matched well with the hilly course and slow conditions. His lone miss came in his standing stage.
In the women’s competition, the Maine Winter Sports Center’s Haley Johnson skied to a 24th place finish with three penalties, 2:25 behind winner Juliane Doll of Germany. Laura Spector placed 40th in a time of 25:38. Spector shot quickly in prone hitting four of five targets, but struggled in standing missing three targets.
Currier and Spector now head to the Czech Republic for a few days of training before going to Ruhpolding for the Junior World Championships beginning on Jan. 26th. The Maine Winter Sports Center’s Haley Johnson continues racing this week in Osrblie, Slovakia where she will be joined by teammate Meagan Toussaint.
Currier led the U.S. junior men’s team on Saturday in his first taste of action overseas this season.
Competing in the individual competition Currier hit 15 of his 20 targets to place 18th, 5:06 off of the first place time.
In the individual competition each athlete shoots four bouts of five shots and for each missed shot they are assessed a one-minute penalty.
Competing in the senior category, Spector placed 26th with five penalties, 8:06 out of first. Placing ahead of Spector were MWSC alumni Tracy and Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) placing 15th and 19th with one and two penalties on the day. Spector’s MWSC teammate Haley Johnson placed 36th with eight penalties, 10:49 out.
