The Biathlon in East Australia (BiEA) athletes were racing across a number of locations in Trimester 1, including Slovenia, Austria and Italy. Racing included IBU Junior Cups and Alpen Cups with Darcie Morton also joining the Australian Cross-Country team for a weekend of XC racing at St. Ulrich am Pillersee (AUT).

The athletes all showed some great improvement in combining their shooting skills and skiing which had been an identified area for improvement during 2019. 

Isabella Moon and Darcie Morton were the first to race at Alpen Cup No 1, at Obertilliach in AUT. Some steady results from both girls, with Darcie have a very pleasing sprint result for her first race of the season. Shooting (0,1), Darcie finished 30/57 starters in the Junior Girls. Isabella raced in the Youth Girls I category and finished 38/59 shooting (2,1).

Next up was IBU Junior Cup No 1, at Pokljuka in SLO, with our 3 Youth Olympians all attending. Lulu Miskin has a fabulous first up race shooting the perfect 20/20 and coming 80/103. Izzy Moon was speedy on her skis, finishing 96/103 (3,2,2,2) with Chelsey Johnson learning from her first IBU Junior Cup and finishing 98/103 (0,2,1,2).

In the 7.5km Sprint, both Izzy and Chelsey improved their results with Lulu unfortunately having a fall which injured her hand. Izzy skied and shot very well to be the best performer of the 3 girls for this event.

The girls then combined with their Victorian team-mates in the relays and while lapped, added to their experience in racing at this level.

Next step for Chelsey and Lulu was IBU Junior Cup No 2 at Martell, while Izzy went back to the BiEA training base and Darcie travelled to St. Ulrich am Pillersee (AUT) for her XC competitions. At Martell, Lulu’s injured hand prevented her from finishing the 7.5km sprint while Chelsey continued to benefit from her early racing experiences shooting (0,0) and finishing 80/94.

All in all, a very productive Trimester 1, as the girls all tested out their Australian summer training, found their snow legs and further prepared for their upcoming Youth Olympic racing and experience.

Results:

(Click here for full IBU results)

IBU Cup No 1 at Pokljuka (SLO)

Junior Women 15km Individual

Lulu Miskin 80/103 (0,0,0,0) 10mins 24.3secs behind

Isabella Moon 96/103 (3,2,2,2) 17mins 15.3ses behind

Chelsey Johnson 98/103 (0,2,1,2) 18mins 48.5secs behind

Junior Women 7.5km Sprint

Isabella Moon 89/114 (2,2) 8mins 03.7secs behind

Lulu Miskin 95/114 (0,3) 8mins 44.1secs behind

Chelsey Johnson 103/114 (0,1) 10mins 28secs behind

IBU Junior Cup No 2 at Martell (ITA)

Junior Women 7.5km Sprint

Chelsey Johnson 80/94 (0,0) 10mins 25.3secs behind

Lulu Miskin DNF (0,3)