Brown Lands Seventh At Home, 11 U.S. Athletes Qualify for Pursuit

Jake Brown (St. Paul, MN/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) led the way for the U.S. team in today’s sprint races, racing to seventh, his best international race result since the 2019-20 season. The unpredictable wind made for difficulties on the range, yet the entire U.S. Biathlon Team navigated the conditions with poise.

Brown, shooting eight for ten on the day, landed +1:30 back from the victorious Sverre Dahlen Aspenes of Norway. Aspenes was joined on the podium by Danilo Riethmueller of Germany and Norwegian teammate Ole Suhrke. 

Bjorn Westervelt (Stowe, VT/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) raced to 41st with a pair of misses. Vincent Bonacci (Salt Lake City, UT/Unaffiliated), with five misses, landed 51st. Thor Sheppard (West Yellowstone, MT/Team Altius) and Logan Moore (Durango, CO/Mansfield Nordic Pro) finished 58th and 60th, respectively, both qualifying for their first IBU Cup pursuit. Vaclav Cervenka (Grand Rapids, MN/National Guard Biathlon) landed just outside the top 60 in 61st. 

Later in the day, the women’s field battled equally tough wind conditions, but the clouds parted to shine some much needed light on the venue. All six U.S. women landed in the top 60 to qualify for tomorrow’s 10km pursuit. Chloe Levins (Rutland, VT/Mansfield Nordic Pro) led the way in 35th. Kelsey Dickinson (Winthrop, WA/Craftsbury Green Racing Project), with clean shooting, finished 37th, with teammate Joanne Reid (Grand Junction, CO/Colorado Biathlon Club) right behind in 38th. Grace Castonguay (Jackson, NH/Soldier Hollow Elite) followed in 43rd, Jackie Garso (Lake Clear, NY/Craftsbury Green Racing Project) in 47th, and Lina Farra (Heber City, UT/Unaffiliated) in 58th, qualifying for her first pursuit of the season.

On deck tomorrow, the men will kick things off with the 12.5km pursuit at 10:45 ET/16:45 CET, followed by the women’s 10km pursuit at 13:30 ET/19:30 CET.