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Biathlon Yukon continued with their Arctic Winter Games (AWG) trials this past weekend.

They held their snowshoe biathlon trials Dec. 2-3.

Due to a lack of snow, they had a running biathlon on the range at Grey Mountain Saturday and only skied at Mount McIntyre Sunday.

The Star stopped in on Saturday to see how the athletes were coping with running as opposed to skiing on snow.

Ironically enough, plenty of snow was falling during the trials.

The Star spoke with the athletes before they got their results.

Niamh Hup茅 finished first in the U15 Girls 3 km Individual category.

鈥淚t was good. I鈥檓 not really used to the running bit of biathlon but I鈥檓 happy to be back. It was a good race to be in.

鈥淚 think I did pretty well for my category. I think I have a good chance of making it to Arctics.鈥�

Hup茅, 14, hasn鈥檛 experienced anything like this before.

鈥淚 did two races running last weekend but it鈥檚 still kind of weird not skiing.鈥�

Hup茅 said it鈥檚 much easier to ski.

鈥淚 find I can control my breathing a lot better.

鈥淕oing downhill is so much easier skiing.鈥�

Hup茅 said she鈥檚 very excited to go back to the Arctics, which will be held March 10-16, 2024 in Mat-Su, Alaska, 50 kilometres north of Anchorage.

鈥淚 want to compete against the same girls as I did last year.鈥�

Hup茅 had mixed feelings about ski racing last Sunday.

鈥淚 guess it鈥檚 going to be nice to have a skiing race, but there鈥檚 no shooting involved, which kind of sucks, but it鈥檒l be a good chance to get onto skis.鈥�

Matthew London finished first in the U18 Boys 4 km Individual category.

鈥淭he conditions are a little bit worse than they were last year but honestly, just makes it more fun. Pretty tired right now, though. It was a tough race, for sure. I had an amazing time. That was so, so much fun.

鈥淚t definitely is a lot different of a dynamic when you鈥檙e running. You don鈥檛 get as much rest in the downhills, so you have to plan your race almost completely differently. It was really interesting and fun.鈥�

London, 17, said his shooting was 鈥渁ll right.鈥�

鈥淚t could have been better. I think I ran pretty fast so hopefully I鈥檓 up there.鈥�

London thought he had a pretty good shot at going to the Arctics.

鈥淚 think I performed pretty well today. We鈥檒l just see about tomorrow. I think I can do it.

鈥淎rctics last year was such a blast. This year, I just know it鈥檚 going to be even better. It鈥檚 just going to be an amazing time.鈥�

Lydia Brown and Stella Mueller pushed each other around the U18 Girls 4 km course. Brown came in first.

鈥淚 was just racing behind her the whole time, so she kept me moving,鈥� related Mueller.

鈥淚 was just trying not to let her catch me,鈥� said Brown. 鈥淚t was a good push.鈥�

Both girls would have rather been skiing.

鈥淚t鈥檚 too bad,鈥� said Mueller.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty sad,鈥� agreed Brown. 鈥淲e want the snow. And the snow鈥檚 super-soft, so it鈥檚 like you鈥檙e running in sand. But it鈥檚 OK, it鈥檚 still fun.鈥�

Mueller said she was pretty happy with her shooting.

鈥淲e both had quite a few misfires, which was unfortunate, but we have spares, so overall, I think it went pretty well,鈥� said Brown. 鈥淭he snow鈥檚 a little bit hard 鈥� my sights were covered a couple times.鈥�

Both girls figured they鈥檇 qualified for the Arctics.

鈥淭he two other girls in our category I think, are going for snowshoes,鈥� said Brown.

Athletes can compete on skis or snowshoes at the Arctics, but not both.

Mueller and Brown are excited at the thought of going back to the Arctics.

鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to go to Alaska. Its going to be really fun,鈥� said Brown.

鈥淭hey have a lot of snow there, too,鈥� said Mueller.

鈥淎nd apparently they have a really nice range,鈥� added Brown. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to check out their range. I鈥檝e never been to Anchorage.鈥�

Biathlon Yukon鈥檚 Sophia Brown said, 鈥淭he competition went really well today, despite the fact that we had to modify them slightly because of the lack of snow. Until this morning, we really didn鈥檛 have enough snow to safely ski the competition.

鈥淪o the kids were doing a shortened version of an Individual competition. So they had to shoot and they had to run and they didn鈥檛 have to do any penalty loops but if they missed shots, they鈥檙e going to end up having time penalties added.

鈥淎nd then tomorrow they鈥檒l do a ski race at Mount Mac where they will show their skiing skills and between those two competitions, we will have results to create an Arctic Winter Games team.鈥�

When asked how the athletes dealt with the conditions, Marnik replied, 鈥淚 thought they did pretty good. There was a lot of misfires, where extra snow in the rifles causes the bullets to not fire properly and so that made it difficult.

鈥淚t was a bit gusty and falling snow makes it hard to see targets but they did overall pretty well and when we get results together, I鈥檒l know exactly how well they did.鈥�

Marnik added, 鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful for the volunteers, for the coaches, for people coming out every time we have a competition and I get people that want to help us be as successful as we are.鈥�

Biathlon Yukon will announce the 2024 AWG teams next week.