For months now, seven biathletes from the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club have had this weekend circled on their competition calendars.
The Western Canadian biathlon championships at Otway Nordic Centre are not only the largest, highest-profile biathlon event their hometown has ever hosted, but it's a chance for those athletes to qualify for the national championships.
That local group includes 16-year-olds Emily Dickson, Colton MacDougall, and Josiah Fisher, and 15-year-olds Claire Lapointe, Bobby Kreitz, Logan Sherba, and Mark Hartley. How well they fare in today's sprint races will determine if they make the grade for a trip to nationals, March 9-16 in Charlo, N.B.
Considering they've been skiing on the Otway trails since late November and have been training for this weekend since the start of May, Caledonia biathlon coach Allie Dickson figures the chances are good some of her 21 biathletes entered this weekend will use home-course knowledge to rise to the occasion.
"I think it's a huge advantage to get to train here every day," said coach Dickson. "The course is very hilly and even the kids doing the shorter courses, it's quite technical for them.
"A lot of them are going to B.C. Winter Games and all of the senior athletes are trying to qualify for nationals as well, so it will be an interesting test for them."
Allie Dickson and Erica Erasmus have been handling the biathlon coaching duties along with several other club volunteers, while club head coach Andrew Casey oversees their ski training. Dickson represented B.C. at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax. At that time Otway's biathlon program was small due to the size of its range, which allowed only 15 shooters at a time. Now there's a 30-lane range located in a prominent location near the clubhouse and the game has changed permanently as a direct result of Prince George winning the bid to host the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
"Biathlon used to be something that went on two kilometres out and you never really got to see it," said coach Dickson. "Now we're really lucky because club members can stop by any time and watch what we're doing.
"I've competed here many times and I've never seen an athlete from Alberta before at this facility. Having people from the Yukon, Alberta and Manitoba is really great to see. They want a chance to see the facility the year before the Canada Games."
