Brown Highlights Sjusjoen With First Top 20s of the Season

Jake Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) highlighted the IBU Cup race weekend in Sjusjoen, NOR after battling back from a broken rifle in the mixed relay to land back-to-back top 20 results, his first of the season. 

Racing in Sjusjoen began on Wednesday, February 4, with the single mixed relay. Vaclav Cervenka (Grand Rapids, MN/National Guard Biathlon) and Chloe Levins (Rutland, VT/Mansfield Nordic Pro) teamed up for a solid 13th-place finish, notably cleaning all four prone stages on the range.

After a rest day, competition resumed with back-to-back sprint races on Friday, February 6. Levins led the U.S. women, finishing 47th with one miss, followed closely by Jackie Garso (Lake Clear, NY/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) in 52nd. Both athletes qualified for Saturday’s women’s pursuit. Cheresa Bouley (Zimmerman, MN/Minnesota Biathlon) and Lina Farra (Heber City, UT/Unaffiliated) finished 86th and 88th, respectively.

The weekend was highlighted by a standout performance from Brown, who raced to his first top 15 of the season in 14th place in Friday’s men’s 10km sprint, shooting an impressive 9 for 10 on the range. Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, UT/Unaffiliated) also qualified for the pursuit with a 43rd place finish. Bjorn Westervelt (Stowe, VT/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and Luke Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) finished 67th and 93rd, respectively, falling outside of pursuit contention.

The final day of racing in Sjusjoen saw back-to-back top 20s for Brown, who finished 18th in the pursuit with three misses on the day. Bonacci, jumping 16 positions, landed 27th with just two misses in his first prone stage. 

After two full weeks of racing in Sjusjoen, first at the Open European Championships January 21-February 1, followed by IBU Cup 6 this past weekend, the IBU Cup team will now head back across the Atlantic for two weeks of training. The focus then shifts to racing on home snow, as the team prepares for back-to-back race weekends in Lake Placid, NY.