Big Pine Gun Club hosts youth biathlon

WILLIMANTIC — On March 19 the Big Pine Gun Club hosted its second annual youth biathlon competition. With the snowfall being light this winter, the athletes were forced to run instead of snowshoe as they did the previous year.

Photo courtesy of Big Pine Gun Club

YOUTH BIATHLON — David Armstrong was among the competitors in the Big Pine Gun Club’s second annual youth biathlon on March 19.

To enter the biathlon, each participant had to have passed a rifle safety course. There were two age groups, 10-14 and 15-18. Each bout of the biathlon consisted of a half mile course followed by the shooting of five targets from a prone position and then five targets standing. The younger participants shot targets that were 50 feet away. The older group’s targets were set at 100 feet. The event was timed and every miss at the firing line added one minute to each contestant’s score. Each participant ran four bouts, receiving their total time upon finishing the last one.

The overall winner and winner of the 15-18 class was John C. Armstrong with a time of 21 minutes, 3 seconds. Sean Kimball won the 10-14 class with a time of 23:04.

The Big Pine Gun Club would like to thank the event sponsors. Without this support, the event would not have been possible. The club is trying to grow its youth programming. Currently it offers .22 rifle shooting in the winter and skeet shooting in the spring and summer, and of course the biathlon. Club members with children inte 10-18 age bracket interested in these programs should checkout the gun club’s website www.bigpinegunclub.org for names and numbers to call.

Photo courtesy of Big Pine Gun Club

PRONE POSITION — Garrett Kimball gets ready to fire during the Big Pine Gun Club youth biathlon, which featured competitors in 10-15 and 15-18 age groups.