On a day when the favorites faltered on the shooting range, the two WCAP athletes had identical shooting performances of three penalties each. Beste’s topped the men’s field, while Teela had the second best shooting for the day, and by far the best of her short three year biathlon career.

The women started first today, under a grey and threatening sky that periodically dumped bursts of freezing rain on the competitors. This made conditions far from perfect. The shooting mats were covered with an icy glaze that made elbows slip and skis slide with each approach. Even those who were shooting well spent extra time on the range, trying to find a solid position.

Early in the competition, Teela set down the gauntlet with a clean prone stage followed by a single standing penalty. Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) stayed close, with both cleaning prone and matching the single standing penalty. At the same time, unheralded BethAnn Chamberlain (Grand Rapids, MN) shot clean on prone, and had three penalties in the first standing stage. Those three standing errors were her only penalties of the day. This combined with a faster ski time pushed her ahead of Lanny Barnes by the finish.

Teela shot clean in the second prone stage and was well ahead of everyone except Lanny Barnes at that point. In the final standing stage, she missed two shots, but crossed the line in 50:25 for the 15K distance. Chamberlain was second, 1:07.5 back, followed by Lanny Barnes, 1:20.6 back.

Standing in the shooting range, Teela’s coach James Upham of the Maine Winter Sports Center, was beaming as he commented on her performance. “Yesterday, Denise had one of the best practice days she has ever had. She was well focused. We have been working hard on the process of shooting, so that everything becomes automatic. This all paid off today. She really did an excellent job.”

Teela was equally ecstatic and commented, “I was just trying to relax each time I came to the range. I was skiing under control and just stayed focused on the range. It was a lot of fun.” Continuing, she added, “Yesterday a friend gave me a good luck charm and it must have helped.”

Her husband Jeremy, who placed sixth in the Men’s 20K today was disappointed in his own results today, but smiling when asked about Denise, he said, “We have been worrying about Denise would do in these races, and then she wins!”

Almost unnoticed today in fourth place was a junior competitor, Laura Spector (Lenox, MA), who just 10 days ago qualified for the Youth and Junior World Championships. In her first senior level competition, Spector had five penalties and was just 2:09.4 behind Teela. Sara Granroth (Yarmouth, ME), with four penalties, 2:19.6 back, rounded out the top five women.

The number one and two ranked US women, Rachel Steer (Anchorage, AK) and Jill Krause (St. Cloud, MN) were not factors in today’s competition. Both were beset with shooting woes, as Steer had 11 penalties and Krause, 13. They finished 15th and 17th, respectively.

The men started 45 minutes after the women, facing the icy mats, but no further freezing rain. The tracks were as fast for the men, as they were for the women, covered by the recent snowfall and topped with a thin glaze of ice.

Men’s winner Jacob Beste has been on the past two World Championships Teams for the US, but, like Teela, this was the biggest victory of his career. He admits that the 20K is not his best or most favorite competition. “It has been over a year since I did one of these. You just don’t know where you are compared to the rest of the field and the distance makes you hurt. I knew in the last loop that it was between me and Tim (Burke), but I did not panic or anything, I just concentrated on being steady all the way to the finish.”

Beste picked up all three of his penalties in the first two stages, with one prone and two standing misses. In the second half of the competition, he was perfect. Similarly, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) had trouble on the first two stages with three prone misses and another on standing, putting him in a deficit position. He rallied with just one more penalty in the final standing stage, ending the day with five penalties to Beste’s three. Burke commented at the finish, “I do not know what happened in the first prone. They just did not go down. The mats were a bit slick, but that wasn’t it.”

Burke’s fast skiing kept him close, despite the penalties. He left the shooting range just after Beste, for the final 4K loop, needing to gain just over a minute for the win. Burke managed to gain about 45 seconds but fell short of the win, finishing 38.5 seconds behind Beste’s 1:00:32.5 winning time. Third place went to Brian Olsen (Minneapolis, MN), also with five penalties, 54.1 seconds back.

Fourth place went to Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), who was ahead of the field going into the final standing stage. Bailey who trains at the Maine Winter Sports Center, like Burke and Olsen missed four of the final five targets, leaving him 1:49.5 back. He tersely commented, “Rookie mistake! I started thinking about it and then missed.”

Junior athlete Ben Byrne (Bovey, MN), with four penalties, placed fifth, giving Junior National Coach Vladimir Cervenka’s athletes two top five finishes on the day. Number two ranked US Biathlete Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK), with eight penalties, finished sixth, 2:49.5 back.

Overall it was a great day for the Maine Winter Sports Center in Fort Kent, as the top three women and two of the top three men all train here. Lanny Barnes summed up the group’s thoughts, “It is very exciting to do so well here. We are all very proud to be representing the Maine Winter Sports Center and the people of this community, who have been so supportive of us."

The first day of the Banknorth Festival at Fort Kent brought success to several unheralded athletes, but as the saying goes, “tomorrow is another day.” Today’s victors must prove themselves again and those with sub-par performances will need to rise to the occasion. There are three more days of competitions and everyone will break the starting beam again on Thursday in the first Sprint competitions, a 10K for men and a 7.5K for women.

The United States Biathlon Association is the National Governing Body for the sport of Biathlon in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Biathlon Union. The US Biathlon Association supports the US Biathlon Team and development of the sport on all levels within the United States.

TD Banknorth is the title sponsor of the US Biathlon Team. Lapua, adidas®, the Hilton Family of Hotels and Exel Ski Poles are supporting sponsors of the US Biathlon Team.