The three-man Missouri National Guard biathlon team, which includes a citizen-soldier from Trenton, recently competed at the National Guard Bureau Central Regional Biathlon races qualifying them to compete at the national championships in late February.
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The team placed fifth overall and two team members brought home individual bronze medals, as well.
Chief Warrant Officer Mitch Simpson, of Jefferson City, Staff Sgt. Tim Glavin, of Jefferson City, Sgt. Wayne Still, of Trenton and their coach, retired Lt. Col. Pete Bergstrom, of Crocker, competed Jan. 25-29 in Grand Rapids, MN.
Glavin and Still won bronze medals in the 10 km sprint and 12.5 km pursuit races in the novice category. Simpson, the team captain, placed fifth in the sprint and eighth in the pursuit, competing in the senior men’s category.
Glavin and Still competed as novices. Though both were experienced marksmen and ran in the Army 10-Miler, the very first time either had ever put on skis was this past December at the training session in Montana.
The team now advances to the national level at Camp Ripley, MN and will compete in a field of over 200 athletes nationwide, including Army and Air Guard biathletes, as well as many civilian competitors.
“All three of our Missouri soldiers beat over 50 competitors from the northern ‘snow’ states who normally dominate these events,” said Bergstrom. “This team worked hard to get there.”
Biathlon is an incredibly strenuous competition that combines the power and endurance needed for cross-country skiing, with the controlled sight alignment, breathing and heart rate of rifle marksmanship. When athletes get to the firing range they must immediately slow down their breathing and be more controlled in order to shoot accurately.
“They are pretty conflicting events when you think about it,” said Bergstrom. “Everything is based on time. You want to shoot fast, but you want to shoot accurately.”
Bergstrom said it is not uncommon to race under extreme climate conditions with temperatures in the single digits or even negatives. Competitors have penalty laps added to their course for inaccurate firing, increasing their overall times.
“For marksmanship training you don’t get any tougher than that extreme climate conditions,” said Bergstrom. “Marksmanship skills are pushed to their limits by the physical demands and climate conditions all under the stress of trying to beat the race clock.”
While the sport has its roots traced back to the ski divisions involved in the Great Scandinavian War in the 1700s, the development of biathlon skills continues to play an important role in modern winter warfare and light infantry tactics.
“The biathlon is a very military-specific event,” said Bergstrom. “In fact these events are still used today in European countries as part of their military training. It’s really challenging and a fantastic event. Once you get into it you get hooked.”
Bergstrom said the sport is not that widely known, especially in a non-winter snow sporting state like Missouri. He hopes that this event gains more popularity, particularly in light of his team’s recent achievements.
“We really want to push the sport and training in our state,” said Bergstrom.