Arthur Roots was just 16 when he competed in his first Canada Winter Games as a biathlete nearly four years ago in Halifax.
He made it into the top-12 as an individual that year and won a relay bronze medal. This time around, with four more years of training behind him, he won't settle for anything less than a medal finish in February when the Games come to his home trails at Otway Nordic Centre.
"I'd like to be on the podium, it would be good to win a race, and I think that's definitely possible -- ski fast and shoot clean, that's the goal," said Roots, 20, who teamed up with Matt Neumann and Jasper McKenzie of Kelowna in Halifax to win relay bronze.
For the past 2 1/2 years Roots has been part of the Alberta training centre team in Canmore, home of the senior national team. He sees Canada's best biathletes working out and knows he still has long way to go to make a dent on the international scene. But he's in great position to get to the top of the national heap against his age group peers when they come to Prince George in less than two months.
Roots missed nearly two months of training over the summer due a shin muscle compartment injury which required surgery and it hasn't hurt his results this season. He was the top qualifier among B.C. males at the two Nor-Am selection races in Canmore Dec. 6-7, finishing fifth in the mass start race and eighth in the sprint, after placing 16th overall in the youth/junior national team selection race Dec. 4.
"I've been having some big improvements this year, it's been a slow start to the season but I'm picking up speed," said Roots, who had to trade his skis for spike-soled shoes to run the course due to poor snow conditions at Otway for a team practice Saturday morning.
"I was pretty young for Canada Winter Games four years ago and my best result was 12th and that didn't do a whole lot for me, but definitely when you're on the podium at Canada Winter Games you get a lot more notice than you will at national championships or even the world juniors."
Just like 2011, when Roots was one of five Caledonia Nordic Ski Club biathletes on the Canada Games team along with Neumann, Sarah Beaudry, Allie Dickson and Robbie Martin, the Caledonia club will have four club members on the B.C. team for 2015. Joining Roots on the B.C. team are Emily Dickson, Claire Lapointe and Bobby Kreitz.
Biathlon will be featured during the first week of the Games, Feb. 15-20. Having lived through the Canada Games as an athlete in Halifax in 2011, Roots says the city is in for a celebration the likes of which it has never seen before.
"It's basically seven days of lots of fun, one of the funnest experiences I've ever had and I'm really looking forward to another version in my hometown," said Roots. "You have the whole multi-sport scene with the big athlete village and everyone's hanging out in the dining hall most of the day. It's a mini-Olympics with lots to do outside of just the racing. It's a whole big festival and I don't think people understand how big it's going to get."
Dickson, a 17-year-old native of Burns Lake, was the top female qualifier at the B.C. team trials. She won the NorAm youth sprint and was third in the mass start race, after placing fifth in the national team selection race.
Lapointe was 10th in the mass start and 12th in the sprint, while Kreitz placed 21st in the sprit and 30th in the mass start. Kreitz and Dickson are both 16 and had to apply for an age exemption to compete at the Games, which are geared to biathletes aged 17-20.
"It's awesome, I can't think of a better way to start the season than qualifying for Canada Winter Games - I want to be in the top 10 for every race," said Lapointe, who has been running and working out in the weight room to keep her fitness. "It's really a disadvantage to not be on snow at this point in our season and I just have my fingers crossed we get some soon.
"I've been doing well in my shooting recently and I'm shooting higher percentages than I was last year which I'm really happy about. I went to a lot of camps over the summer and picked up a lot of awesome shooting tips. "
Having her club training partners to lean on and share the experience of being Canada Games athletes adds to the thrill of making the team for Lapointe.
"I'm really amazed there are four of us from Prince George, just a small town, small club and we're taking up half of the team," said Lapointe. "It's really motivating. The coaches here have really put their hearts into it every day training us, and they've given more than expected."
In 3 1/2 years as a biathlete, Kreitz has never raced longer than a 10-kilometre distance. The men's races at the Games include 12.5 km mass start and 12.5 km pursuit events. He'll have to race up an age category going up against juniors like Roots, who was competing at the Canada Games level the year Kreitz first started the sport.
"I had a tough choice to make whether I would race or not but really it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Kreitz, a Grade 11 student at PGSS. "My shooting has really improved since last year. I've put in lots of hours of training."
• Dickson missed Saturday's biathlon practice to compete in the NorAm cross country team Canada Games selection races at Sovereign Lakes near Vernon. Dickson was 12th overall (third among B.C. skiers) in the junior women's freestyle race Saturday and???? in Sunday's ????????
• Erica Kreitz of Prince George also competed in the NorAm cross country events in Vernon and was 29th freestyle race Saturday and ????? Sunday. The B.C. cross country team will be announced later this month.
