By Mike Maltais
Winthrop’s Kelsey Dickinson, a Methow Valley Nordic Team (MVNT) alumnus, finished first in all three of her races at the U.S. Biathlon National Championships at Jericho, Maine, March 14 – 16 to clinch the national title in the Junior Women’s category.
Dickinson, now competing for the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., placed first in the individual, sprint and mass start races to win her division.
In the men’s division, Winthrop’s Casey Smith placed second in the individual and sprint competitions and third in mass start.
Earlier in the month, Dickinson and Paul Everett completed at the 2014 International Biathlon Union (IBU) 2014 Youth/Junior World Biathlon Championships held in Presque Isle, Maine, Feb. 28 – March 7.
Dickinson competed in four events including a 7.5-kilometer sprint (22nd), 10K pursuit (38th), 12.5K individual (40th) and 3.6K relay (11th), the latter with U.S. teammates Tara Geraghty-Moats and Siena Ellingson.
Everett, an MVNT member, battled illness for the first half of the seven-day competition but did enter the 12.5K individual, where he finished 34th in a time of 41:14.5. Everett then joined U.S. teammates Sean Doherty and Brian Hannigan to ski the opening leg of the youth men’s 3×7.5K relay for place fifth out of 13 teams with a time of 1:01:53.1.
