2026 Youth & Junior World Championship Week 2: 8 U.S. Athletes Race Mass Start 60s, Solid Relay Results
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by Sara Donatello
Unseasonably warm temperatures persisted through the second week of the 2026 Youth and Junior World Championships, with athletes racing in T-shirts, some in just race bibs, as they pushed through thick, slush-like snow under sunny skies in Arber.
Week two started off with four mass start 60 competitions on Friday, March 6, where eight U.S. athletes qualified to compete. Abigail Van Dorn was the lone American in the junior women’s 9km mass start 60, finishing 50th with six misses on the day. In the junior men’s 12km mass start 60, Linus Arstad led the U.S. results in 32nd with three misses, while Eric Anderson crossed the line in 48th after missing five targets.
In the youth men’s 12km mass start 60, Aidan Sands and John Lohuis represented the U.S., with Sands posting the top American result of the day in 21st despite five misses. Lohuis, even with seven penalties, maintained strong ski speed to finish 38th. The final mass start 60 of the day featured three U.S. youth women on the start line: Annelise Baird, Noor Erickson, and Reine Soule. Baird secured a second U.S. top 25 result of the day, finishing 25th with four misses. Erickson continued her streak of consistent results, placing 34th despite seven misses, while Soule rounded out the trio in 43rd with six penalties.
The final two days of racing in Arber featured the relay competitions. On Saturday, the youth men’s team of John Lohuis, Aidan Sands, and Thomas Van de Kamp finished 16th. The junior men’s quartet of Linus Arstad, Eric Anderson, Tristan Thrasher, and Taylor Carlson followed with a strong 14th place performance.
The championships concluded with the women’s relays. The U.S. youth women’s trio of Annelise Baird, Noor Erickson, and Rowan Tanguay finished 14th. In the junior women’s relay, Abigail Van Dorn, Mirra Payson, Virginia Cobb, and Seven Bowen placed 18th to wrap up the event.
The end of the 2026 Youth and Junior World Championships, marked the conclusion of the 2025-26 youth and junior international racing season. Over the past two weeks, Team USA delivered a series of promising performances, highlighted by seven different athletes earning top 40 results, eight mass start 60 qualifications, and an unmistakable sense of team spirit and momentum from the next generation of American biathlon.
