Paul Smith’s College student athletes Dolcie Tanguay, Kaisa Bosek and Nathan Livingood have been named to U.S. Biathlon team after competing in three days of trials hosted by the Alaska Biathlon Association in Anchorage, Alaska.
Making the team qualifies the student athletes for international competition.
Tanguay will be racing for U.S. Biathlon team in the upcoming Winter World University Games in Lake Placid, the IBU Junior Open European Championships in Latvia and the IBU Junior World Championships in Kazakhstan.
“I’ve been working towards qualifying to represent the U.S. internationally for a few years, and now that it has finally happened, it feels a little unreal,” Tanguay said. “I was feeling focused and prepared for the trial races in Anchorage and with constant encouragement from family and friends was able to put together some races that I am really happy with. I’m honored to have the opportunity to represent the U.S. alongside my incredible teammates and have some fun racing in Europe.”
Bosek will race for the U.S. Biathlon team at the upcoming IBU Junior Open European Championships in Latvia. Livingood will compete at the Winter World University Games and the IBU Youth/Junior World Championships.
Tanguay and Livingood will join Paul Smith’s students Aidan Ripp and Timothy Ziegler, who will represent the United States in the Nordic combined event at the World University Games.
“We are thrilled to see Dolcie, Kaisa and Nathan qualify for the U.S. Biathlon Team,” said Tim Burke, U.S. Biathlon director of athlete development. “Making it onto the international stage takes an incredible amount of commitment, focus and talent, and this accomplishment speaks to their dedication, as well as the quality of this young biathlon program at Paul Smith’s College.
“The college has been a great partner for U.S. Biathlon, and our organization, the athletes and the sport are very lucky to have an educational institution so committed to biathlon,” he added. “(Coach Matt Dougherty’s) leadership has been instrumental to the progress of the program and these athletes, and we are excited he will be part of the coaching team for the Winter World University Games.”
Paul Smith’s was represented by seven biathletes in the trials which consisted of three races over four days.
“Today’s announcement is another source of pride for the Paul Smith’s College community because of Dolcie, Kaisa and Nathan’s accomplishment of making the U.S. Biathlon Team,” said Dan Kelting, interim president at Paul Smith’s College. “We’re excited to root our students on as they compete for the United States at the upcoming Winter World University Games and IBU Championships.”
Paul Smith’s Diego Schillaci, Logan Jensen, Brady Miller and Saylor Landrum all performed well at the trials.
“I am incredibly proud of the entire team this week, every single one showed up at trials and competed to their best ability — that is all a coach can ask for,” said Dougherty. “Three years ago when we started our biathlon program, we only hoped we could help offer the opportunity for athletes to not only get a world-class education but to also do it while continue in the sport of biathlon and have the opportunity to compete for the U.S. internationally.”
College Athletic Director Zack Luzzi said the college’s Nordic and biathlon athletes “have worked so hard over these last few years, and it is incredibly rewarding to see their hard work pay off.”
“It is incredibly exciting to see Paul Smith’s student athletes be able to compete on the world stage,” he said. “For a small school in the Adirondacks to be able to place student athletes on their respective national teams is quite a feat. We wish them the best of luck as they embark on their competitive journeys.”
Source : AdirondrakDailyEnterfes
