Athletes Race Through Heat and Humidity at 2024 U.S. Biathlon Summer Nationals and North American Championships in Jericho
by Sara Donatello
Jericho, VT - For the fourth consecutive year, Ethan Allen Biathlon Club and the Vermont Army National Guard played host to the annual U.S. Biathlon Summer Rollerski National Championship in Jericho, Vermont, August 2-4, 2024. The weekend also featured the third and final U.S. Biathlon Regional Summer Biathlon Championships and North American Biathlon Championships.
“The 2024 North American Rollerski Biathlon Championships were a great celebration of the sport including athletes coming from across the United States and Canada,” said Race Director John Madigan. “With 17 race categories, ranging in age as young as 12, as old as 65 years, and all the IBU classes, it is an exciting weekend of racing with a wonderful atmosphere. Racing in Vermont in August can sometimes mean high temperatures and high humidity, and this weekend was no exception. Despite the challenge of these conditions, there were many great performances from athletes who I am sure are now looking forward to the start of the winter season.”
Summer Nationals is a unique opportunity for masters, junior, and young athletes to be together with some of the best senior athletes in the country. Although Summer Nationals is not part of the World Cup or IBU Cup qualification process, a number of national team, national development group and junior national team athletes showed up and competed, making for two days of intense competition.
The hot, humid weekend saw over 120 athletes toe the line in 17 race categories: U13 boys and girls, U15 boys and girls, U17 boys and girls, youth boys and girls, junior men and women, senior men and women, masters, senior masters, veteran masters, senior veteran masters and senior veteran II masters. Racing kicked off on Saturday with a sprint race, followed by a shootout and banquet later in the afternoon. Sunday saw a mass start for senior athletes and pursuit races for all other athlete categories.
U.S. Biathlon national team member and Green Racing Project athlete Kelsey Dickinson highlighted both the senior women’s sprint and mass start. Dickinson topped the sprint podium with a time of 22:13.9 with Green Racing Project and national team teammate Margie Freed crossing the line in second, just +0.3 behind. Shilo Rousseau, racing for Chelsea Nordiq, rounded out the top three North American Championship sprint finishers. Cheresa Bouley, Minnesota Biathlon athlete and a member of U.S. Biathlon’s national development group, claimed the sprint bronze for the U.S. Biathlon Summer National Championship.
Sunday’s senior women’s mass start saw Dickinson atop the podium yet again, cleaning her four-stage race for the first time and crossing the line with a time of 38:25.8. Army World Class Athlete Program athlete and U.S. Biathlon national team member Deedra Irwin finished second, despite starting the mass start in the back due to a sprint DSQ. Rousseau snagged her second North American Championship bronze of the weekend; Freed claiming the third place finish for the U.S. Biathlon Summer National Championships.
“For me, it is a major step to go 20 for 20 in a race and to hit all those shots, and it really shows the level that I’m at right now,” said Dickinson in an interview with WCAX. “You know, we’re still in the training season, we still have a long time until we start racing on snow in November, so these races are all about checking in with yourself, seeing where things are going well and where you still need to improve and start preparing now for the World Cup season ahead.”
On the men’s side, National Guard Biathlon athlete and national team member Maxime Germain went 10 for 10 to solidify his spot on top of the podium in Saturday’s senior men’s sprint. Army World Class Athlete Program athlete and national team member Sean Doherty skied to second and Craftsbury Green Racing Project and national team member Jake Brown claimed third place. Sunday’s senior men’s mass start saw Doherty in first with a dominant race, finishing +33.1 ahead of Germain, who raced to second. Brown held his position in third place for his second podium appearance of the weekend.
All race results from the weekend can be found HERE.
Coming up, the U.S. biathlon community will head west for the 2024 U.S. Biathlon Fall Festival and International Team Trials at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway, Utah Oct. 2-5. Click HERE to view the full 2024-25 U.S. Biathlon domestic events schedule.