Two cadets from the Barrhead 526 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron (RCACS) narrowly missed the opportunity to represent their zone at the Provincial Biathlon Championships early next year.
On Oct. 29, FCpl. Mary Ann Burt, Sgt. Camille Williams, FCpl. Mason Damery and Sgt. Austin VanAert, along with their coach and squadron’s commanding officer, Capt. Susan Peters travelled to Onoway’s Imrie Park to compete in the Stage II Biathlon Zone competition, both as individuals and teams.
Burt finished in second out of 15 competitors in the senior female division, while her teammate, Williams, finished in eighth. The duo’s combined score landed them in second in the team competition. In the senior men’s division, Damery finished third out of 25, while VanAert finished in 16th. The pair’s combined effort placed them in third place out of all the teams.
To move on to the provincial championships cadets had to win their individual category. Biathlon is a sport that combines two disciplines, cross-country skiing and target shooting.
“Or in the case of Stage II zone competitions running and shooting,” Peters said, adding it is only at the later stages, at the provincial and national level that cadets actually cross-country ski.
The main reason for this is that early in the year, the weather in most areas of Canada isn’t condusive to skiing.
For the Stage II competition, athletes were asked to run one-kilometre before stopping to shoot, in a prone position with an air rifle, at five small mechanical targets 10-metres away. Competitors then repeated the process, running another one-kilometre before shooting at another set of targets. The athletes then finish the event with their last one-kilometre run.
Peters said she was pleased with how well the cadets performed, adding one mistake can make a big difference in the sport.
“It’s crazy how large of a difference a small amount of time can make in the sport,” she said, using Damery as example. Damery finished less than 30 seconds behind first place finisher, although he did have one time penalty for missing one of his shots.
