Two Methow Valley biathletes recently took top honors at the 2022 U.S. Biathlon North American Rollerski Championships, held at Camp Ethan Allen near Jericho, Vermont, on Aug. 6-7.
The event was the final of the summer rollerski biathlon series. Aidan Sands (U-15 division) and Kelsey Dickinson (senior women division) each rolled and shot their way to podium finishes at the two-day event featuring both a mass start and pursuit formats. Sands brought home the top spot in his class while Dickinson placed second overall for the event in her class.
The competition featured a Saturday sprint that would set the starting order for the Sunday pursuit, with racers seeded according to their finishing placement in the sprints. Sands took the third spot in the sprint, then engaged friend and competitor Tristan Thrasher of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in a classic battle on Sunday, edging Thrasher to take the gold medal and title of national champion.
Dickinson, the Liberty Bell High School graduate who just missed earning a spot on the Women’s 2022 U.S. Olympic biathlon team, engaged U.S. biathlon teammate Deidre Irwin on both days, placing first in the 5-kilometer sprint, then placing second behind Irwin in the Sunday pursuit to take the silver medal for the weekend.
Methow Valley Youth volunteer coach and parent Colin Sands reported that Dickinson’s performance establishes her as an early favorite to earn a spot on the 2022-23 U.S. contingent to the World Cup this coming winter.
Aidan Sands is still at least a year away from being eligible for the U.S. Junior World Cup team, but is thought to be one of the two youngsters, along with Thrasher, at the top of the futures list for international skiing. “They both skied really well,” said dad Sands. “It was an epic battle on Sunday between the two of them.”
Thrasher opened the Sunday pursuit with a 20-second advantage over the 14-year-old Sands, based on Saturday’s sprint results. By the end of the first lap and turn at the range, Sands had pulled even with the leader, and the two left the range together.
Sands took off and opened up a significant lead, only to see that evaporate into the 90-degree heat and sideways breeze on the second stop at the range. Sands missed four of the five targets. With Thrasher missing just two shots, the Methow skier incurred double the penalty loops, exiting the range area again 20 seconds behind at the start of the third lap.
Sands kept the pace and closed the gap, entering the final shoot close behind his rival. Thrasher missed two shots, completing his rounds ahead of Sands, but taking an extra penalty lap as Sands missed only one shot. They exited the penalty loop together and then Sands took control. He pulled ahead, and took advantage of an uphill run to expand his lead to a final gap of 30 seconds over Thrasher.
Both Sands and Dickinson take a bit of a break from scheduled events, the next major biathlon event being a week-long training camp and race in Soldier Hollow, Utah, a lead in to the winter ski season.
It’s still summer, but…
A group of eight or so Methow Valley youth Nordic skiers are wrapping up an eight-day stay near Vancouver, British Columbia, this week, attending training ahead of the winter season. According to reports, Laura McCabe is leading the contingent of mostly high school-aged athletes on their foray across the border to the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
It won’t be too long before we see them out on the roadways around Winthrop on Wednesday afternoons, usually haunting Twin Lakes, the West and East Chewuch roads, and the roads in the Pearrygin Lake vicinity. Caution would be the operative term.
