Biathlon results

    RUHPOLDING, GERMANY – The Junior Men’s 12.5K Biathlon Pursuit took place in Ruhpolding on Sunday.
    Russell Currier, of Maine Winter Sports Center, (Stockholm) started 15th and Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, MN) 22nd; the U.S. prospects seemed good.     Nevertheless, the wind continued to play havoc with many of the competitors in the shooting range.
    In the first stage, Currier picked up three penalties, while Roberts had one.
    Currier steadied himself in the second stage with one penalty as Roberts picked up two. They had both slipped to the high 20s at this stage. The two then slipped further with three more by Roberts and two by Currier. Despite the shooting trouble, Currier recovered in the final stage, with only one penalty, which combined with aggressive skiing moved him back up to 20th place.
    The weather continued to deteriorate for the afternoon women’s competitions, as the strong wind brought in driving rain.
    In the Youth Women 7.5K Pursuit, Hilary McNamee (Fort Fairfield) finished 25th, with 10 penalties, 5:28.2 behind Janien Hammerschmidt of Germany. Hammerschmidt had six penalties, finishing in 34:41.1.
    Second went to Sophie Boilley of France, with four penalties, 20 seconds back.
    “It was like doing biathlon in the summer, getting soaked by the rain and beaten up by the wind,” was how 25th-place Laura Spector (Lenox, Mass.) described the Junior Women’s 10K Pursuit. Spector, despite seven penalties, was the top US woman, finishing 7:55.3 back.
    Meagan Toussaint (Madawaska) had just four penalties in 34th place, 9:08.1 back.