2011 Summer Biathlon US National & North American Championships
Jericho, VT, August 25-28th, 2011
US Nationals were a great event and we survived the hurricane and only had to cancel sunday's race. The Ethan Allen Biathlon Club did an absolutely FANTASTIC job putting on two top-quality races that were enjoyed by all. The weather was spectacular and courses provided a nice mix of tough uphills and flat/downhill secions.
62 men and 17 women from at least twenty states came to compete in the three-race series, which would determine the overall men’s and women’s national champions. Unfortunately, after the first two days of beautiful weather for the competitions, Hurricane Irene arrived in Vermont and forced the cancellation of the third and final race. As the national championship is a best-two-out-of-three series, the cancellation of the third race changed the dynamics of the scoring significantly.
PA athletes made a good showing at Nationals taking home many medals both in overall and age-group standings. In the Sprint race, Doug Hoover won the race, Ian Saucy took second in the Boys 14-16 division, and Scott Sick took 3rd in the Grandmaster division. For the Women, Hilary Saucy won the race, and Ann Sick took 5th. Stephanie Saucy took 3rd in the Master's division.
In the Individual race, which paid partiality to the shooter since a 30sec time penalty was assesed for every missed target, the PA Men's team didn't fair particularly well. No men were in the top 5, and only three athletes (Scott Sick, John Sims, and Doug Hoover) placed top 5 in their age group. On the Women's side things were a bit more successful with Ann Sick taking 3rd overall and Hilary Saucy finishing in 4th place overall. Stephanie Saucy won the women's Master's division.
OVERALL STANDINGS
Top 5 Men
National Champ: Robert Killian, CO National Guard
Runner up: Marc Sheppard, Altius
3rd: Doug Hoover, PA Biathlon
4th: Danny Fink
5th: Michael Gibson, VT Collegiant Biathlon
Top 5 Women
National Champ: Emily Shertzer, PA National Guard
Runner up: Hilary Saucy, PA Biathlon
3rd: Tara Geraghty-Moats, VT Biathlon/Craftsbury
4th: Ann Sick, PA Biathlon
5th: Aleksandra Zakrzewska, VT Biathlon/EABC