Spending the last three weeks racing and touring on the east coast has been a great way to end the 23/24 race season! I participated in my first XC Ski Junior National Championships (JNs) in Lake Placid, New York, then made my way up through Quebec on the way to the 2024 Biathlon National Championships in Fort Kent, Maine!

The top skiers under the age of 20 in each region travel to JNs to race together and celebrate the end of the season! Lake Placid experienced temperatures up to 50° during the trip. While the course was still fun and interesting, the weather made slush and ruts which created extra challenging races. I may not have won, but I certainly added many new skillsets to my repertoire! After skiing in Lake Placid I can race anywhere!

The best part of JNs was getting to know more coaches and athletes from Alaska. Taking a trip to the other end of the country ended up bringing me closer to my nordic community at home. I am so happy to have reached my goal of making Team Alaska and to have had an opportunity to meet the cross country community nationwide!

Taking a small road trip through Montreal and Quebec was the best way to take advantage of the few days prior to the start of Biathlon Nationals! There is so much history, new food to eat, and different languages to be surrounded by.

Parliament

Old Town Quebec

We made it to Fort Kent Main with enough time to explore the trails before the races started! Even though it seems like most of the US has experienced minimal snow this winter, their trails were still in great condition! By the end of nationals we got almost two feet of fresh snow over the course of the weekend!

I love every chance I get to meet up with the rest of our biathlon community. Biathletes travel to celebrate at these races ranging all the way from Olympians to brand new competitors. The Fort Kent Nationals also brought biathletes from Canada and Norway!

I feel lucky to have made a few new friends from Norway. They shared a bit of Norwegian culture and we were excited to cheer for each other on race days!

These three weeks brought a couple of tough races, but I also had my best shooting performance in the pursuit! After an amazing season full of travel and big opportunities my body is ready to take a break! I will be excited to see where this summer of training with Alaska Winter Stars takes me once again!

After returning home from the Jr. IBU Cup in Poland, I made some different choices on my biathlon training and coaching moving forward. I had great support for zeroing and coaching from the Fort Kent Team at this last event for the 23/24 season. These races are poignant reminders that I am surrounded by a great community of many dedicated people in the sport of biathlon. They are always there for support, even if they aren’t near to home.

My next adventure will be a Volunteer Skiku trip to Utqiavik in about two weeks! I am looking forward to another culturally immersive experience and to share my passion of skiing with the new friends that I will meet.

For now, I am looking forward to Easter and rest!

Once again, thanks to all of the volunteers who made an amazing weekend of racing happen! Thanks to my partners and supporters who made my entire season of travel and racing possible!