Sarah Beaudry is back in the groove again.
Skiing fast and knocking down targets.
The 20-year-old from Prince George reeled off 19 hits out of 20 attempts in the shooting range and finished sixth overall Wednesday in the IBU Cup biathlon women's 15-kilometre individual race in Canmore, Alta.
"It's definitely one of my best races this year. It's just awesome to be at home, do well, hit some targets, have some fun in the mountains in the nice sun," Beaudry told Justin Brisbane, chief of media for the IBU Cup event. "I had some rough races at world juniors. I wanted to put out a solid race and remember what it was like."
Beaudry finished in 46:57.5, 2:25.31 behind gold medalist Karolin Horschler of Germany, who had just one miss at the range and won in 44:34.4. Kaia Woeien Nicolaisen of Norway won silver (44:36.6), 12.2 seconds behind Horschler, and Marine Bolliet of France took bronze (45:36.6).
Beaudry's results Wednesday were a significant improvement over her performance at the world junior championships two weeks ago in Estonia, where her best result was 15th in the individual race.
Back on Canadian soil racing in Canmore where she now trains, Beaudry knew the course well and used that to her benefit.
"It's so easy to be relaxed at home," said Beaudry, who sported a Canadian flag sticker on her cheek during the race. "It feels more like another NorAm in a good way. Knowing everyone out here and the volunteers."
While she was racing Wednesday, Beaudry was thinking about her father Pierre, who was back at home in Prince George having hip surgery. Pierre Beaudry served as the sport leader for biathlon during the Canada Winter Games. Sarah would have been on the B.C. team in Prince George had the Canada Games race schedule not conflicted with the world junior championships.
In other Canadian results in the women's race, Emma Lunder of Vernon, who won the silver medal in Saturday's sprint, placed 17th, Zina Kocher of Red Deer (the silver medalist in Monday's sprint) was 19th, Claude Godbout of Quebec City was 20th, Erin Youngblut of Wroxeter, Ont., was 25th and Melanie Schultz of Canmore was 32nd.
In the men's 20 km individual race, Matt Neumann of Prince George finished 37th out of 47 in Wednesday's race. Neumann had six misses in 20 attempts at the range and finished 8:42.2 behind gold medalist Mayvey Eliseev of Russia. Christoph Stephan of Germany won silver, 19.9 seconds behind Eliseev, while Vegard Gjermunfshaug of Norway claimed bronze.
Neumann was 34th in Monday's sprint after opening the IBU Cup event with a 43rd-place result in a sprint race Saturday.
Marc-Andre Bedard of Valcartier, Que., was the top Canadian in eighth place, 2:56.4 off the winning pace. In other Canadian results, Matthew Hudec of North Battleford, Sask., was 35th, Macx Davies of Canmore was 42nd and Scott Perras of Regina was 43rd.
Racing resumes Friday in Canmore with sprint races, followed by a mixed relay on Saturday.
In other biathlon news, nine Caledonia Nordics from Prince George including Beaudry and Newmann are on the 16-member B.C. team preparing for the Canadian national championships in Hinton, Alta., starting on Monday.
The list of local biathletes includes Arthur Roots, Bobby Kreitz, Claire Lapointe, Colton MacDougall, Emily Dickson, Logan Sherba, and Mark Hartley. Dickson and Lapointe are Canada Winter Games champions. Dickson won the pursuit and teamed up with Lapointe and Jennah Smailes of Kelowna to win the women's relay two weeks ago at Otway Nordic Centre. Dickson also won silver in the sprint and bronze in the individual race at the Canada Games.
National races are scheduled from Monday through to Sunday, March 15.
Two Caledonia Nordics -- Kaia Andal and Pippa Roots -- are entered in the Haywood ski national cross-country championships in Thunder Bay, Ont., March 15-22.
