Eph sophomore Nordic skier Mark Johnson (Grand Rapids, MN)
finished second and first in the two U.S. Junior Biathlon
qualifying races December 28 and 29 in Coleraine, MN to lock up a
spot on the U.S. Junior Biathlon team headed to the World Junior
Championships in Ruhpolding, Germany January 26 – February
2nd. The famed Chiemgau Arena will host the world event.
On December 28th Johnson finished second to Wynn Roberts in the
10km sprint. Johnson's time of 30:33.1 was recorded with just one
prone penalty point. Roberts was clocked in 29:29.9.
The next day in the 12.5 km pursuit competition Johnson toped the
field with a winning time of 39:04.9, ahead of Roberts who claimed
second in 39:14.4.
Mark Johnson earned his fifth consecutive trip to the World
Championships by beating Wynn Roberts.
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| Mark Johnson '10 |
Solid shooting fueled Johnson’s victory, as he had only
four penalties to Roberts’ seven. Coach Vladimir Cervenka
commented, “Yesterday was Mark’s first biathlon
competition of the year. He is in college fulltime back east now.
But he raced very smart today and was cautious on the shooting
range.” Three extra penalties pushed Roberts into second
place, despite having a faster ski time than Johnson. Third today
went to Newt Rogers (Fort Kent, ME), with eight penalties, 2:06
back, while Travis Mann-Gow (Burlington, VT), with five penalties
was an additional 20 seconds behind Rogers.
Information supplied by USBiathlon.org
