The Canadian National Championships (Canmore, Alberta) this past week marked the end of 2010. It was also my final season as a Junior and Sunday's gold medal was a perfect way to end it. The week started Wednesday March 2nd, with the Junior Mens 10km Sprint. I won a silver medal and finished 20 seconds behind Alberta's Beau Thompson. With two mistakes prone and one standing, I was determined to shoot stronger in Thursday's Individual. With poor prone shooting, my chances of a medal became slimmer and slimmer, finally finishing in 5th place. I had the fastest ski time by over 1:30 minutes, but with no gold medals the pressure was on for the weekend. I spent the Friday (official training) in the range building up confidence for the upcoming 12.5km pursuit. Saturday's race was what I had been waiting for all year. I came into my last standing with one mistake and almost 2 minutes in the lead. I misses 3 on my final standing but finished with a strong bell lap and secured my first gold medal of the week.
The final event was Sunday's 3 X 6km Mixed Relay. Aaron Neumann started the first leg, tagging off to Emma Lunder in 3rd. Emma closed the gap to Alberta and tagged off to me in 2nd (20 seconds behind Quebec). It came down to the last standing and I pulled away on the last lap to win one of BC's 14 medals. It was an exciting way to end the season, and a good motivation for 2011. I am undecided on where I will train this season, but I have 2012 World Championships in Rupolding, Germany as my goal and I am determined to work towards that. I appreciate all the help I received this year and I couldn't have made these results with out it. I look forward to keeping you updated and thanks again for the support!
