Tracy and Lanny, Twin Biathletes, competed in the US and North American Summer Biathlon National Championships this past weekend in Burlington, VT. Lanny took home a first and third place finish and a Summer National Championship title and Tracy boasted 2 second places finishes. The first race on Saturday was a 7.5km sprint with two shooting stages and three 2.5km loops. The athletes battled through severe heat and humidity in Vermont which left the athletes exhausted and overheated after the 7.5km. Tracy only missed one shot out of the 10 total for the day. She was on her way to battling for the win, but fell before the finish and lost valuable time and had to settle for second place. Lanny missed one shot in both of her shooting stages to finish in 3rd place. Sunday’s race was a pursuit format. The athletes started in the order they finished, but were separated by 30 seconds instead of the usual time back from the sprint race the day before. The athletes had an even bigger challenge than yesterday’s heat. Rain soaked the moss covered asphalt saturday night and into sunday morning and left the trails slick and dangerous. With hairpin downhill turns, the athletes buckled down and held on tight while making the turns and hoping not to slide off the course on their roller skis. Lanny skied a conservative race and posted only one miss out of the 20 shots for the day not only finishing in first place and taking the Pursuit Summer National Championship title, she was the best shooter on the day for men and women. Tracy struggled in the range on her first shooting stage, but battled back after that to finish second behind her sister. The races this past weekend were the first of two race series that determine who will head to Europe in November for a chance at the early season world cups. The points the twins earned this weekend put them in a great spot leading into the next set of trials in October in Utah. The best two of four races from this past weekend and the races in October will be used to determine the European Team for the winter. Check out their website for pictures and updates on the U.S. Biathlon World Cup trials and other races and competitions. The twins will now head back to Colorado for two months of hard training before the next races in Utah in October.
Tracy Barnes.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
