163rd Guardsmen represent state in National Biathlon Published March 5, 2007 By Maj. Brenda Hendricksen 163rd RW Public Affairs MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, Calif. -- Guardsmen from the 163rd Reconnaissance Wing represented the California National Guard Feb. 17 - 25 competing against teams from 18 states at the 2007 National Guard Bureau Biathlon Championships held at Ethan Allen Firing Range, Jericho, Vt. "If the snow is good, it's always a good competition," said Team Captain Maj. Mike Johnson, 224th Sustainment Brigade. Besides Maj. Johnson, who works out of Long Beach and is an 18 year National Guard Biathlon veteran, the rest of the team was composed of members from the 163rd. They included Lt. Col. Scott Tilley and Maj. Brad Herrick of the 196th Reconnaissance Squadron, first time biathlon competitor Maj. Brenda Hendricksen from the wing public affairs office and first time team coach Senior Airman Diane Ducat from the communications flight. "The team performed great considering their experience level. It was obvious everyone gave it their all," said Lt. Col. Tilley. Sixty-one guardsmen competed in the seven day event consisting of four races; two individual and two team. Men individually competed in a 10 and 20 kilometer race while the females battled it out in a 7.5 and 15 kilometer race. The team events were a 15 kilometer patrol race where all team mates are required to finish within 30 seconds of each other and a 7.5 kilometer relay race. This sport tests an athlete's endurance and precision with the combination of Nordic skate skiing and target shooting with a .22 caliber rifle. Competitors complete numerous loops of the course and shoot at the range several times, the number of loops and shooting times varying by event. At the range, competitors shoot at five targets from either a standing or prone position. Performance is measured by time and accuracy of shooting, and each miss of a target adds a penalty that differs according to the event. States win the competition with the best combined patrol and relay race time. The top competitors from the race series will become part of the All Guard Team and compete in national and international competitions. This can lead to, as it has in the past, a guardsman earning a spot on the Olympic Biathlon team. "I'm extremely excited that California came to this event with an extremely competitive team," said Lt. Col. Zelko, National Guard Sports Coordinator. "The program is the greatest DOD wide on getting guardsmen onto the U.S. Biathlon team. The guard has had members on the Olympic team since 1987." A major contributor on organizing the team this season was Lt. Col. Tilley, who competed in the national competition seven years ago. When he inquired about the California team for the current season, he realized that he and Johnson were the only competitors for California. Four are needed for a team. "I began recruiting. Two novice biathletes expressed a desire to compete (Herrick and Hendricksen)," said Tilley. "In the past few years the state team has been small because of deployments," said Maj. Johnson. Some team members competed in the Western regional trials in West Yellowstone, Mont. The Eastern and Central trials were cancelled due to lack of snow. "I had just forgotten how painful the last race (regionals) was, but I got reminded all over again," said Maj. Herrick. "Pushing yourself to these types of limits changes you in a way that makes you a stronger person." The regional competitions started in 2003 because states were sending people to the national competitions who couldn't meet the cutoff times. "This gave states a chance to give their novice competitors a chance to practice before attending the national competition," said Maj. Johnson, who placed third at West Yellowstone in the individual 10 kilometer race. The race series switches each year between Camp Ripley, Minn. and Ethan Allen Firing Range, Jericho, Vt. Next year, it moves to Ripley. "I'm thinking about competing next year. The national competition was the first time I was exposed to the sport of biathlon," said Senior Airman Ducat. "I was fortunate to get a behind the scenes perspective on how the races are run. As a first time coach, the support and help I received from other state teams was awesome." "The competition in Vermont was my first experience with biathlon racing. I was scheduled to attend one of the cancelled regional competitions," said Maj. Hendricksen. "I had little experience going into the event, but as you finish each race it's a steep learning curve. As the days went on I felt more and more confident. Ask me in about six months if I want to do it again next year." The race series ended with Vermont, Utah, Minnesota and Montana cleaning up most of the awards. Seven males and two females made the All Guard Team.