As part of the Royal Canadian Chilcotin 202 Sea Cadets, Julia Rook has a multitude of activity choices.
She learns survival skills, can join her squadron band, can learn sailing and seamanship, and receives firearms safety training. But the best part about being a cadet for Rook is the chance to compete in biathlon.
She also happens to be quite good at it. The 16-year-old from Williams Lake was the top shooter overall in Saturday's Zone 1 and 2 cadet biathlon championship race at Otway Nordic Centre and won the 67.6-kilometre senior girls race in 45 minutes 43 seconds, hitting five of her 10 targets.
"Biathlon is my favourite, I just really like the skiing," said Rook.
"I work at shooting the hardest, because that's what I'm bad at."
Rook is not alone in rating biathlon high on her list. Half of the 22-member Williams Lake corps tried out for the biathlon team. With help from the Williams Lake Navy League, which supplies their equipment, eight made the grade for the zone championship.
Biathlon requires a well-tuned body and even muscle control for shooting and when Rook lines up at the rifle range she remembers a tip her father Andrew gave her.
"I blow really fast through a little hole in my mouth and that steadies my breathing so I can shoot better," said Rook. "Five out of 10 is a pretty good score for me."
Now in her fifth year of biathlon, Rook would like to get involved in a civilian racing program but that doesn't exist in Williams Lake. In fact, she has to travel to 100 Mile House just to find trails groomed for freestyle (skating technique) skiing. She ended an 11-year career as a competitive figure skater last spring, which helped her develop the physical strength and stamina that powers her ski strides.
"Skating is really fun, I miss it, but I just think this is more fun," said Rook. "I don't have the long legs for figure skating, and this is cheaper."
The top 12 finishers qualified for the provincial cadet biathlon championships at Mount Washington near Courtenay, Feb. 4-6. A dozen from that competition go on to represent B.C. at the cadet national championships, March 12-19 in Valcartier, Que.
Rook and Williams Lake Sea Cadet juniors Emma Davidson and Tanya Vigeant will form the female team for provincials, while their fellow corps members Alex Phaneuf, Al Ramsay and Colton Fraser make up the male team. The female cadet composite team qualifiers are Dana Rook and Miranda Doerkson of the Williams Lake Sea Cadets, along with Antoinette Bailey-Morgan of the Williams Lake Army Cadets.
The male composite team qualifiers include Bailey Van Der Meer and Carson Large, both of the Fort St. John Army Cadets, and Dalton Tom of the Williams Lake Army Cadets.
Three biathletes make up each patrol team and all must carry a knapsack of items. The race starts and finishes on the shooting range and each skier gets two shooting rounds. Coaching is not allowed, and the first and third skiers must stay within 30 metres of each other on the ski trail. While two team members are preparing to shoot, the other uses a scope to help zero in the rifle sights. Julia Rook was part of the Williams Lake patrol team that qualified for the junior national team event in Valcartier two years ago.
Brandon Moore of the Prince George Rocky Mountain Rangers Army Cadet Corps, 15, was the top male shooter Saturday, placing fifth in the senior boys race in 1:07:03.
"It was a fun race, it wasn't cold or windy like it was last year at provincials, and I think I did pretty good," Moore said. "The snow was a bit turned up and soft but my skiing was better than normal."
