On the same course that hosted Olympians four years ago, Emily Dickson gave a couple of golden performances.
Dickson, a member of the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club's biathlon team, was at Whistler Olympic Park in Callaghan Valley this past weekend for the first B.C. Cup event of the season. In a Saturday sprint race that covered six kilometres and featured two rounds of shooting, she finished well ahead of the rest of the pack in the youth women's category. Competing in snowy and windy conditions, Dickson posted a time of 25 minutes 34.8 seconds and missed just three of her 10 shots on the range. In the standings, she finished 4:55 ahead of runner-up Louisa Tsang.
Then, on Sunday, Dickson was equally dominant in a 7.5km mass start race. In that one, she posted a winning time of 31:13 -- more than eight minutes faster than second-place finisher Tekarra Banser. And, in four rounds of shooting (two prone, two standing, 20 shots total), Dickson had just two misses -- remarkable considering the foul weather that was working against her.
"It was great for her," said Caledonia head coach Andrew Casey. "It was an opportunity for her to show her fitness against the rest of the province. On Sunday she shot 18 out of 20. That's world-class shooting. It's very impressive that she did that. That's what you see on the World Cup."
Last season in Austria, Dickson competed in her first-ever youth/junior world championships. Her major goal this season is to advance to worlds again, Feb. 26 to March 7 in Maine. The world trials are Feb. 20-23 in Prince Edward Island.
A couple other Caledonia Nordic athletes -- Erik Hoffman and Claire Lapointe -- also put themselves on top of the podium in Whistler.
Hoffman won Saturday's midget boys 1.5km sprint in a time of 10:17.1. He went 10-for-10 on the range and beat Raphael Gasc to the finish line by 19.6 seconds. As well, Hoffman placed second in his 2km mass start race on Sunday with a clocking of 13:07. He was again deadly with the rifle, hitting 14 of 15 targets.
"For Erik, it was fantastic to see him on the podium," Casey said. "He's older in his category so he's given the chance to shine and it's a big improvement for him. Last year he really struggled. At that time in development where people are different sizes, he was competing against boys his age who were at the maturity level and size of grown men so that's kind of hard to compete against. This year, he's bigger, he's stronger and overall more mature. He's able to handle these races with that maturity and it's really starting to pay off for him."
As for Lapointe, she was the quickest competitor in the 7.5km mass start race for senior girls. She completed her Sunday race in 37:08.2, more than two minutes ahead of second-place Madison Roll. In tough shooting conditions, Lapointe had 11 misses in 20 attempts.
In her 6km sprint on Saturday, Lapointe finished second in 27:00.5. In that race, she hit seven of her 10 targets on the range.
"She had the fastest ski times in her category both days," Casey said.
Other podium finishes were posted by Peter Hoffman (junior boys sprint and mass start), Quinn Neil (midget boys sprint and mass start) and Logan Sherba (senior boys mass start). All finished third in their races.
"It was pretty good for the first race of the season and I think most were quite happy," Casey said. "Despite the wind and snow [club members] really did quite well."
The next event for the Caledonia Nordic biathlon team is a big one -- the Western Canadian championships, Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at Prince George's Otway Nordic Centre. The championships -- which will also serve as B.C. Cup No. 2 and a test event for the 2015 Canada Winter Games -- will be the first major competition to utilize Otway's new ski trails and rifle range.
"[Westerns] are always all over the place -- in Canmore and in Manitoba or Saskatchewan depending on the year -- so it's great to have them here," Casey said. "It will give our younger kids the opportunity to see higher-calibre athletes come and race in P.G. and for our older kids who will be competing it's a good opportunity to compete on home soil. And with the new range that we have, it will be great to show that off, and the new trails as well. Everyone's really excited."
