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World Cup trials bring put best in Beaudry

Caledonia Nordic Ski Club biathlete wins senior national team qualifying race in Canmore
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Sarah Beaudry, shown in action on the World Cup circuit in this January 2016 file photo, plowed to the head of the line Tuesday in a Biathlon Canada senior team trials sprint race in Canmore, Alta. The 23-year-old Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member is vying for a spot on the four-female four-male team which will start the World Cup season Nov. 23 in Oestersund, Sweden.
Sarah Beaudry is one step closer to starting the biathlon season racing with the best in the world.
The 23-year-old Caledonia Nordic Ski Club member won the Biathlon Canada national team trials women's 7.5-kilometre sprint race Tuesday at Canmore Nordic Centre.
The race included senior team athletes from Canada and the United States and three Canadian women finished on the podium. Beaudry shot clean in two shooting rounds and crossed the finish 8.9 seconds ahead of second-place Rosanna Crawford of Canmore and 21 seconds in front of third-place Emma Lunder of Vernon. 
In other Caledonia club results in the women's race, Two-time Olympian Megan Tandy, 29, was fourth and 20-year-old Burns Lake native Emily Dickson was 10th as the second-highest finishing junior-aged Canadian.
Conditions in Canmore were cool (-6 C) with a slight wind but there was new snow on the course and Beaudry used that to her advantage.
"I'm really happy with how the race went and I'm especially happy with my shooting," said Beaudry. "My shooting, in fall time trials, has been really good. No cleans except (Tuesday) but it's been consistent."
Crawford and Julia Ransom of Kelowna, who did not race Tuesday, have pre-qualified for the World Cup women's team for the initial phase of the tour, which starts Nov. 24 in Oestersund, Sweden.  
"There's two World Cup spots and four IBU Cup spots but I'm obviously aiming for the World Cup ones," said Beaudry, who admits she had an off-year last season, losing her spot on the senior team after having represented Canada two years ago at the world championships. 
"Last year was a hard year with a lot of things going on. I just never felt good skiing and there was some family stuff with my dad (her father Pierre was diagnosed with brain cancer which required surgery in February). I just went into this season with a fresh approach - I'm really hoping for a better season and so far, so good."
Beaudry stuck close to her home in Canmore to train in the off-season, where the national team is based. Her workout routine was modified somewhat due to national team budget cutbacks and the wildfires which ravaged forests and made for smoky air quality most of the summer.
"Biathlon Canada lost a bunch of funding this last season so we didn't actually have any training camps this year but we did some really good training in Canmore with not much travel," said Beaudry. "I really enjoyed staying at home with not too much travel and really benefiting from all the mountain surroundings and good pavement we have in Canmore.
Scott Gow of Canmore is pre-qualified for Canada's four-male World Cup team, with three positions still available. Gow finished fourth overall in the men's 10-km sprint Tuesday in Canmore. Nathan Smith of Calgary and Brendan Green of Hay River, NWT were second and third respectively as the top Canadians in the sprint, won by Lowell Bailey of the U.S. Christian Gow of Canmore was fifth.
Caledonia club racer Matt Neumann, 28, who makes his home in Canmore, was the sixth-highest finishing Canadian (10th overall).
Racing resumes today in Canmore with sprint races, followed of Friday by a modified (individual start) relay. Canadians will use their top two results from the three trials races to determine their overall placings.
The Canadian Olympic team will be selected in mid-January, based on results in World Cup and IBU Cup races this and last season. For each gender Canada has four individual spots and one spare available to form the team to compete in the Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea in February.